Decraptification: Kid's Room Style

Decraptification.  Love that word.  Love what it means.  Love what it's purpose is.   It gets my kids...and I....in their rooms, together, and going through every single inch, nook and cranny of their rooms.  I like to do this every couple of months, to be completely honest with you.  It's something that just is needed.  Especially when a room, with a young creative mind...and messy little body....looks like this.   And yes, that is a closet door...on the top of his bed.  This was the easiest way to clean the entire closet, take the doors off. 

(Just keepin' it real, folks)

This last year for Christmas when we asked our kids, "What do you want for Christmas?" they actually couldn't come up with anything.  I'm not complaining.  My kids are not greedy kids.  They have seen us struggle, financially, in the past.  They are not spoiled.   They see needy families and they are involved in our community and have helped deliver toys and food to those who are in need.  So, when they are asked, "What do you want for Christmas?", and we get a list of nothing on it, that means my kids have everything that they need to survive.  They have food, they have clothing, they have love, they have attention and they have enough toys (more then enough, given the previous picture).  Right?

But of course, they get things.  They have grandparents, Auntie's and Uncle's, cousins, that all get them things.  Which leads me into the Great Decraptification of 2013.  At least that's what I'm calling it.  This will be a mini series on the blog, as we Decraptify the Mix of 6 Home.

This little guys room was set up to be organized before this mess happened.  A place for everything and everything in it's place.  He has a storage container for everything in his closet.  The problem?  Well, big brother, had recently decraptified his own room and in result of that, handed down A LOT of stuff to little brother.  Lots of Nerf toys, more Lego's than one family needs, Lincoln Logs, clothing, etc.  You name, it's there.

We started off by removing all of his laundry of the floor, of course...silly little boy.  We then started taking every single item out of his closet and went through it.  One. By. One.  Remember, you should only keep what you love and what you have room to store.  Yes, this was an extremely painful process.  There were tears.  There was whining.  There was gloves on and maybe a little bit of playing.  But more importantly, there was also a little trooper of a boy, who eventually saw the light at the end of the tunnel.  I am very grateful that when I asked him, "Keep or Donate?" he doesn't even think twice about donating. 

We were able to get 2 boxes of toys for donations and some clothing.  One of my coworkers has an affiliation with a homeless shelter, so all of the toys will be going there.  I couldn't imagine being homeless with my children.  So, if a child could have some small toys to play with or a stuffed animal to cuddle with while their family goes through a difficult time; and that provides them with a little bit of comfort, I am glad that my son is willing to give his toys with them, to help calm another little one.   I also found out that there is a school in a nearby area that takes in kids clothing only for needy families.   A coat closet of sorts.  So all the kids clothes will  be going there.  Any books that we have will be donated to the kids' school library.  I'm not opposed to donating to my local thrift store, but if I can give our things where they are going to be needed and used the most and not a profit made off of them, then that is better route for us to take.

We still have the whole top of the closet to go through and a few other changes to make, things to hang and possibly things to rearrange, but until then, this is how it looks now.  (His room is really small)  When I got home from work today, he was playing in his room, making things with his Hot Wheels cars and Lincoln Logs and Lego's. 

 Life is good again for this little man. 

What are you doing to get organized?   Have you gone through your kids rooms yet?