6 ways to stay organized as a new parent
We choose to live a simple life in our home. Screen free (as much as possible!), inviting organized spaces and being outside as often as possible! We choose to limit the items we keep and contain everything that we can to a set space. Limiting the things you keep can feel cold to some and not sentimental to others but for us it works because we plan ahead and decide what matters. We do have memorabilia that we keep of our toddlers big (and little!) moments. We have a box for items that we collect as our child grows up to remember her tiny little feet and hand prints, her first outfit, her baptism gown and other big moments in her life but everything will fit in that box and if it doesn’t we will prioritize.
A phrase my mother says, and became a rule I live by, “Containers are meant to contain… not multiply into more containers.” Having an organized (most days… we are all only human) house helps us sleep better, stress less, locate what we need easily and finally, and most importantly for us, helps our daughter become independent and thrive! If you are looking for ideas to limit items, organize spaces and rotate toys below is how we make it happen!
1. Have a container/bin to hold your child’s toys. When their toys are organized and put away they need to all fit inside this container. Enforce the rule of not expanding or over flowing past this container. In our family room, we have a storage ottoman with our toddlers’ free play toys, and you guessed it, they all fit inside of it. When we acquire new toys for our toddler and they don’t fit in that space we have three option; 1. return the new items to the store, rotate out a toy our toddler doesn’t enjoy anymore with one from storage or swap out and donate an item.
In addition to keeping our living room organized this helps our toddler not feel overwhelmed or overstimulated with too many choices. It also keeps our house from becoming one big play room. In the playroom we have a cube shelf and one wall for bigger items. Everything else is stored away for rotation or something we do not keep. Our toddler does not have toys in her room (she does have books!) but she has an easel in the kitchen for easier clean up. So we keep her stuff contained but as in all situations in life there can be the exception to the rule. The easel is ours. The amazon link below leads to an ottoman that is similar to ours if you are interested in an inspiration to start your search. What a time to be alive we can order furniture off amazon!
2. We are absolutely obsessed with our toddler and every little move she makes melts us completely. So needless to say, we have taken too many pictures of her… 5,873 by month six to be precise. To avoid printing this many photos, and having unorganized boxes of photos collecting dust, we upload to a free unlimited photo storage space through shutterfly. Shutterfly has some amazing perks and discounts if you use there services as well. I do not have a contract through them and I am not an affiliate of theirs but it’s a free service with free gifts so I want everyone to hear about it! Get your free photobook through shutterfly today! When we use shutterfly for photo storage we set it to auto upload. With this setting all our photos automatically upload to our account storage whenever we open the app.
Free up space in your closet from those bulky boxes of photos (and on your phone) and get a digital photo frame! We have one to showcase the perfection that is our toddler and the 5,000 pictures we have saved! The frame below we have… you can email the pictures you take from your phone directly to the frame! Technology am I right?! Enjoy clearing out the storage on your phone through shutterfly and a frame.
3. Baby books are digital as well these days! Avoid the bulky binders that take up space and tend to be forgotten. You can save your space by using a digital baby book platform. We use an app called Qeepsake and so far I 10/10 recommend. They send one or two questions every day by text and we answer them with a photo attached. In addition, they have spots for milestones, special memories and places where you can upload your favorite memories if the questions that day didn’t quite fit what you had in mind. Our toddler is 20 months old and I haven’t missed a day yet. You can also back date your entries if you do miss a day! Check Qeepsake out here! (I don’t have a contract and I am not an affiliate of their company… I just love it!)
4. This one was tough to get the right flow with a toddler. However, once there is a system it is much easier to keep things organized and it’s working! For our toddlers play room we have a 6 cube shelf and one wall of big items (like her play kitchen and grill) and that is it. Having limited options not only keeps your child engaged longer but it helps prevents overstimulation. With the 6 shelves we display one item in each cube. This helps invite out toddler to view the items and thoughtfully make a choice and it helps with clean up. If our toddler cannot remember where the item she wants to return came from, she looks at the six shelves and sees one is empty then understands the item she has goes there. Involve your children with clean up in everyway you can. As they mature so should their responsibilities. Our toddler returns all the items she uses back to their place and helps us clean up after meals so far. Knowing where items go and having the skills to find that answer if they forget helps prevent frustrations for our toddler before they even begins to feel them… it also helps prevent parents from giving constant redirections. I cover this more in depth in my program 4 steps to a screen free life with a toddler. On sale $20.00 $9.99
5. Another life skill I was taught by my mother, you never leave a room empty handed. To help stay on top of organization in a busy household every little bit counts. In the moments when you’re not carrying a child (or laundry… but I swear there is always laundry!) scan the room for anything that doesn’t belong (you know that one item that each time you lock on to it you think Gosh darnit I forgot to move that again) and take time to put something away as you leave the room. I am notorious for placing an item on the stairs with the intention to bring it upstairs when I go and then it sits there… and sits there for days on end. I recently went back to never leaving a room empty handed and I can proudly relay that my stairs are currently clear and I am loving it. A quick, in the moment, 5-10 second scan of the room to see what needs to be moved elsewhere is all it takes to prevent a build up of more work later.
6. Do not have a junk drawer. This is just a black hole where pens, rolls of tape, batteries and random bottle lids go to die. Many times you will waste money buying something you already own because you cannot locate it. Use a small basket on your counter for items if in the moment you are unsure of where they go. Having it on the counter is a visual reminder to find or create a place and not doom it for eternity in a black hole of a junk drawer. Create time for small organizational tasks, like emptying your junk basket, every day. Choose one quick organizational task to get done during nap or in that sweet spot between your child’s bed time and yours. I am a firm believer in sleep when baby sleeps so make it a short burst activity to prevent falling behind.
Rainy days are difficult in this house. We are an outside family and we love it! On days when we are stuck inside due to weather we try to set up new and excited activities for our toddler. This can be a messy upset to your organizational systems if you are not set up for this. Pro tip: have your spaces set up for our toddler to have as much independence and creativity as they choose! For more information see my 4 steps to parenting a toddler who thrives!
Jennifer Cryder | Author of Ope, you’re muted!
