Itsie, Bitsie

My general rules for the kids bedrooms are:
1) In an emergency you can get out the door or window,
2) Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, Santa will not get hurt,
3) When company comes, beautify for the occasion.
With these in place, I'm ok with closing the door.

This is Nick's corner. Nick's issue is that he has teeny tiny pieces that get dropped, ignored then lost.
Preparation for the purge is to get everything out in the open, then attack. We cleared out from the window to the door, all the stuff shoved under the bed and dresser. There is a basket for the stuff that doesn't belong in the room, a donation and a garbage bag.

9 different bins

Sifting piece by piece putting things in the right bin or bag. Just this handful of stuff sorts into legos, bionicles, knex, erector set, school supplies, transformers, coin construction, yahtzee and garbage.

Only part of what needed sifted through...

Nick likes his toys compartmentalized. He uses ziplock containers to store pieces that he is working on. The colored bins are dedicated to different projects. Seriously, this boy knows where everything needs to go. To you and I, these itsie bitsie parts can be dumped into a box and we'd call it a day. To Nick, one is for a plane, the other is a gun part, a castle...




Nothing left under the bed nor dresser

All parts back in the respective bin

We finished everything in two hours. Nick got rid of 1 bag of clothes, 1 bag of books and toys, a bag of garbage and a basket full of items that didn't belong in his room.

Don't worry, Santa, I got your back!

Not only can the door to his room remain open, Santa will be unharmed stopping by Christmas Eve!! HoHoHo

Twice a year, though, I make them clean out every square inch of their room to get rid of unwanted toys and outgrown clothes; suck up dust bunnies; purge the hidden candy wrappers.