Crafts, and Paper, and String, oh my!

First off, an apology for the poor picture quality. My 11 year old Canon is giving me an error message that I can't fix so I've resorted to my phone camera which leaves something to be desired....

Nothing gets your rear end into gear for cleaning and purging than having company stay overnight at your house.  Well, family is coming to stay this weekend, the girls' room was WAY overdue, and they were even asking for it to happen, so we tackled it.

A couple weeks ago Hannah and I whittled her wardrobe down to 40 items and it made it a lot easier to fit everything in the dresser and closet and I've found she gets dressed in the morning a whole lot quicker!  So, while cleaning up this disaster, we did the same with Madeline's as well.

If I had my way I'd eliminate all the clutter on the dresser tops but I got to let the girls express themselves somehow and homemade trinkets and crafts are their language right now.

Top three tips (or, at least the ones I implemented this time around!) to helping kids purge their things:
1) Have them be a part of the process. This can be tedious at first, especially if they want to keep everything, but eventually we get into a groove and they started to get pretty excited about seeing how much they really could part with. 

2) If they have a hard time choosing, I hold up two items: 1 item I know they love and 1 item they rarely, if ever, touch. They have to choose 1. This helps make the decision a whole lot easier!

3) Eliminate furniture and boxes. I am still in the process of this. The more furniture you have to hold things, the more likely you are to fill it up. The girls currently have a dresser (3 drawers a piece) to hold their clothes. As we pare down their wardrobe to the most manageable, I hope to get it to the point that items are either hung up in the closet or stacked on the shelves in there, too. I have done that with my own clothes. No dresser, just hangers and a few cloth boxes for the unmentionables. You only have a set amount of hangers and when those are filled, you have enough.

I would love to get their room a whole lot more minimalistic, but I feel like we are on the right track. One thing I wouldn't eliminate, though, at the two collage groupings I put together. I just, well, I just really like them.

 Now, I will venture into something that will most likely have some varying opinions. Above was the Declutter Part and below is the Counter Jones part.

It wasn't too tough to go through the girls room because, in reality, they don't have a lot of toys. They do have a lot of stuff (those crafts I mentioned?!) but most of those things are homemade and free.  One thing we have been from the beginning of having kids has been low-toy-inventory. I could probably count on one hand the number of toys we have actually bought for each of our kids.  The grandparents, aunts, and uncles do their part and are appreciated for their gift giving. But if our kids really want something, they have to save up for it.  This can be a bit Counter-Jones, as I know we there is the desire to make sure our children never have a want or need.

The needs. Those are covered. The wants. Well, they are learning some delayed gratification on that one.  I was encouraged when I came across this article the other day that my friend posted on social media. It echos a lot of where Paul and I are coming from in living on less and giving away more:

 Counterintuitive Joy
Contrary to our intuition, Jesus calls us to lose our lives to find them (Matt. 10:39). And as we lay down our lives for his sake, we find he satisfies us with good things (Ps. 103:5).
And the same is true for our kids. We must exchange what the world says is best for them with what God says is best for all of us—himself, his calling, and the works he created in advance for us to do. Only in his presence can we—and our kids—can find fullness of joy (Ps. 16:11).
Here’s the real kicker—the counterintuitive truth that will revolutionize both our families and our kids’ futures: When we forego what our culture deems best and instead chase God’s best, it is in fact our kids’ best. When we serve God and not our children, our children actually benefit.
It’s good for our children to be dethroned and for God to be enthroned. It’s good for a child to miss out on piano lessons because her family has chosen to save up for an adoption. It’s good for a child to forego the best school because a family has chosen to settle into a neighborhood where they might shine a bright light. It’s good for kids to miss summer camp to go on a mission trip. It’s good for children to miss out on all kinds of “bests” in order for families to participate in kingdom-minded activities that glorify God and not our kids.
Fellow parents, let’s live for a bigger kingdom than the one inside our own homes. In the end, it’s what’s best for our kids.

For the full article click HERE.