Clutterbug - Real-Life Hacks and Tips to Declutter, Organize and Clean your Home Fast - Kids Paper Clutter | ClutterBug Podcast # 2

Episode Date: April 1, 2016

Contain kids paper clutter with a Kids Memory Binder and a folder just for all of those important school and extra activities papers! You can download free printables to make your own Memory Binder at: http://www.clutterbug.me Thanks so much and we will see you tomorrow! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So hey guys, welcome back to the second podcast here at Clutterbug. I'm going to still be doing kids stuff because honestly if you're a parent, kid stuff is probably the number one issue that you have in your home. And yesterday we covered kids toys and just a couple of simple tips to get on top of kids toys. So today I wanted to talk about, you know, the papers and the paper clutter that comes along with children, especially if you have younger kids that are always coming home with, you know, artwork and crafts and maybe even report cards and all the school papers, the newsletters, all that type of stuff. So there's a couple of different ways and things that you can do to keep that stuff under control. I'm kind of sentimental when it comes to kids stuff, but I don't keep

everything. But what I do to make it really simple and make sure that it's not overwhelming is I have a binder for each kid. So at the beginning of each school year, I just buy a one inch binder in a lot of clear plastic sleeves. And I put the names on the binder for each of the kids. You can do a little bit extra. You know, you can add photos and you can really customize it, but it's not necessary. And this really inexpensive binder is where I keep all of the stuff

that I want to keep throughout the year. That's memory-wise. So the photos that they get for their school pictures, their, you know, report cards, any artwork that they come home, I have one binder for each school year. and it's right by the back door, all the binders, that's where I keep them. So as soon as they come in the door and they've got all these treasures and we empty out their backpack, they go in there immediately if it's something special that I want to keep.

There are some certain things that we display for a little while, you know, on the fridge or on our bulletin board, and then when they're done, they go again in their binder. Now when you're talking about, you know, newsletters, things that you need to keep, you know, there's access codes for the bus to find out your codes for the bus and there's just a lot of those type of important papers. I have a file folder in my kitchen that's dedicated just to these type of papers. It also has phone numbers for their friends at school. It's where I put birthday invitations. Instead of covering my fridge with magnets and all of this type of stuff, I have one of these great little file folders. It's got sections in it for about 10 different things. And I've

I've labeled one school papers. I've labeled one calendars. I've labeled one newsletters. I've labeled one, you know, friends, phone numbers, and party, like friends' phone numbers and playdates information. And then I have one specifically for birthday invitations. So I know where everything is, all those type of papers. It's right on my kitchen counter, but instead of being spread out either on the fridge

or all over the counter, it's got a designated home for all those type of. papers. So, you know, my kids are involved in taekwondo, ballet, gymnastics, piano. And so there's all those type of things to keep track of too. So I've got a like extracurricular activity and a calendar folder in there as well. So everything has a home and I know where it is and the rest of the family knows where it is at all times. So that's really what I would suggest doing is creating a spot for all of that stuff, having a home for it to go. Now I also have memory been. for each person in the family. So in my office closet, I just have some dollars to our bins. Each one has somebody's name on it. And so if it's a bigger thing that they want to keep, like a

medal that they won, a trophy, something that they're not displaying in their room anymore. Maybe it was from a year or two ago. I put them in their memory binder. Also, if they have, you know, something, I don't know, like we have the binders from each year going there when I I'm done and the next year's coming. It goes in their memory bin. My husband and I have memory bins as well. We do something, you know, in the paper, if we, you know, have something special an award that we've won. We put those in our memory bins. So it just gives us a special spot for all that stuff to go that we want to hold on to for each family member. Now, obviously, these aren't big enough to store everything. So we have to be pretty, you know, cautious of what it is, is this really something special?

Is this really something we want to keep forever and then put it in there? I have a tendency to keep a little bit too much when it comes to my kids' artwork. So when it starts getting full, I just go through. I go through and purge and it's easier to get rid of when it's, you know, the next year or even the next month than right away sometimes. So hopefully, you know, that's a little bit helpful and a little bit inspiring. We also make sure that we have, you know, display boards in the girls' bedrooms. So in the girls and in Milo's bedroom, we have a wall dedicated to displaying their art. It's in frames, so I just switch it out.

It looks nice. You know, it looks part of their decor. But this way they can still display all of their artwork in a really meaningful way. And then when we switch over to another one, we either recycle that or we put it in their binder. So I would encourage you to, you know, really make a display wall for your kids' special artwork, especially if they're little. They'll appreciate it and it'll get it off your fridge. I just hate the look of all those papers all over the fridge.

And the other thing is, they fall down or you're putting papers on top of papers and you're just not even remembering what's there. And when you have important things, you need to remember, it's sort of lost in all the clutter of all the other kids' artwork. So I have a video about some of the different. art displays that we have, especially in Milo's room. It's so cute. It's just dollar store picture frames, but I love the way it turned out. And I also have a video of how you can make your own memory binder. They have the free printables. It's called a memory binder and time capsule right on my website at www.clutterbug.me. So you can just print off everything you need. All you need to buy is a binder and some clear plastic sleeves. You can print off all the printables to create a really special

a little memory binder for each of your kids for each of the different school years. So that's it when it comes to kids paper clutter. It's pretty under control. And yeah, I mean, don't get me, don't get me wrong. Sometimes they come home with like tests and I have to fill out like forms to go to school the next day. And there's just like, oh my gosh, so much to do. And so there are times where that stuff sits on the counter because honestly, if I file it, I'll forget about it. And like the math athon that just passed, I had it, I had it filed and I forgot about it. So my kids were so disappointed. I had to give them each $50 because they were supposed to raise money with friends and family and for this mathathon and I totally forgot about their

mathathon paper. So I mean, I'm not perfect and I still, I have a long way to go. But that type of stuff sometimes I have to leave out because out of sight, out of mind. But when it's things like a newsletter or things that aren't really pertinent like that, but you know, might need the information at some point, I do file all that stuff away. So I don't know if that's helpful or not, you guys. I'm just starting this whole podcasting thing. Honestly, here's why I'm doing it. Okay, you ready for this? I'm podcasting because I don't have to do my hair. I'm in my pajamas right now. And I don't have to put on makeup, that's the thing about YouTube videos is you kind of have to, it takes some prep work. I'm getting old, you guys. It takes prep work. You have to like, you know, brush your hair.

That sounds awful to say it loud. But as a stay-at-home mom, I'm home a lot. And so I don't always feel the need to get dressed. Maybe that's something I need to work on. But so I love podcasting because you can, you can do it from your PJs. Anytime of night after your kids go to bed. So it's really working for me. So I think I'm going to keep doing this. I really, really like it. So go to my website, check it out. I have, you can search on the side. You can search, you know, kids' memory binders

or how to make a art wall or whatever it is that you're searching for. And hopefully I've added categories to that blog and that stuff will pop up. I also have YouTube videos on all that stuff so you can search them on YouTube. Just make sure you put Clutterbug to find me or else you're going to find other people's videos,

which is cool too, you know? There's so many amazing videos on YouTube to learn how to get yourself in order and get more organized. They say I go to YouTube University. That's what my husband says, because I'm always on YouTube to find out how to do everything from unclogging the sink without draino to fixing the dishwasher to, you know, organizing a drawer.

It's definitely the place I go. I learn by watching and I learn by, you know, having someone explain something to me better than I do from reading instructions or reading a book I don't know, I just can't process information as well that way. So I love, love, love YouTube. I'm very addicted to it. So anyways, thanks so much for listening.

And stay tuned. We'll talk more about kids and kids clutter and some tips to really get that under control. And you can hear about my mean mommy ways that I make sure they hang up their wet towels when they're done and, you know, put their laundry in the laundry basket without being a super nag about it. we'll talk about kids chore lists and all of that stuff tomorrow so thank you guys so much and make sure you email me if you have something specific you'd like me to cover at cass at clutterbug dot me and thanks again and we'll see you tomorrow