Kid's Bedrooms and Making Beds

We have a lot of kids. Kids have a lot of stuff. Stuff can get out of hand. However, the kids rooms at our house are clutter free. Why? Bedrooms are for sleeping. We don't store toys or books in their rooms. Each child gets a stuffed animal and a book to keep on their bed. More than that and they would just make a mess. Plus toys and books are a distraction at naps and bedtime. And we are really strict about naps and bedtime here at Casa de LotsaKids. Dirty clothes go right to the laundry room. No piles. No exceptions.

The boy's room

(Please ignore the hideous blue paint...
that was a previous owners choice...
if you're not busy come help us paint sometime!)

It is my goal to train myself out of a job and since there is so little in their room the boys can clean it themselves. Our oldest son can already dust and vacuum the room fairly easily and quickly, even at age 7, with very minimal assistance.

This next tip was a hard one for me but it really did make a BIG difference. My CDO* really flares up when it comes to beds. I am a "make the bed EVERY DAY" person. When I say "make" I mean tuck in the sheets, fluff the pillows, and bounce a quarter on the spread. I hate messed up beds AND once made I like them to stay that way! I'm a joy to live with I tell you!

This bed obsession was easy to deal with when there were fewer children, but as the boys grew out of the crib I was starting to have trouble keeping my own standards. Beds were made but (Gasp!) jumped on or then napped on and not remade. Aggghhh! Nooooo!

Then I noticed something. The baby's room always looked kept up. The crib was never a mess of sheets, covers, & stuffed animals and I never once "made the crib". Hmmm...why was that? The crib mattress only had a sheet, that's why!

A "made" bed

So in a complete departure from all things normal, I decided to get rid of all bedding but the fitted sheets on the big boy beds. Each boy has a blanket that he uses as a cover. In the morning that blanket gets folded and set at the foot of the bed. Little boys can fold a blanket a lot easier than they can make a bed. Voila! Neat looking beds without the need to "make" them! As they get older and can make a bed without trouble I'll let them decide if they want the whole bed set up. If they don't...that's fine with me!


*CDO--It's like OCD but with the letters in alphabetical order, the way they should be! :