Smart Woman: Clearing Up the Clutter

Thursday, December 23rd 1999, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

When a child starts out disorganized, they will be likely to grow up even more disorganized. Sue McMillin, a professional organizer says kids especially, crave order. And that order, says McMillin, will pay off for parents too. â€œSo when mom says put away your Legoâ€™s or put away your socks, they are going to know where to put there socks, where to put their underwear.â€

 Have containers to keep like items together- crayons in one, cars in another and balls in another one.
 Throw out the extras. McMillian says children donâ€™t need 20 pairs of socks. Instead, determine how many they need and donate or sell the rest.
 Get children involved. If you have them helping during the organization process, they will be more likely to keep it organized later.

For Adults Too:McMillian says children look to you as a role model. All of the rules she uses for organizing childrenâ€™s rooms apply to any area of your home. She says the same principles apply to a kitchen: get rid of all the extra cooking appliances that you only use once a year, put all your bowls in one area and not spread throughout different cabinets, and toss out old ingredients that you call upon, only once in a while.

1.Set a regular time for activities such as homework, music practice, going to bed.

2.Teach children that everything has its place such as completed homework goes on the kitchen table, keys go on a key holder, etc.

3.Break large assignments such as science projects into smaller, more manageable pieces.

4.Create checklist to help them keep track of their chores and their completion of chores, this will help them build habits.

For more information, contact:

Sue McMillian
With Time to Spare
2485 Little River Rd.
Haymarket, VA 20169
(703) 754-1004
E-mail: organize@withtimetospare.com
Website: http://www.withtimetospare.com