I can't believe I finally did it.

I've written about my girl's bedroom in the past.

It's probably the most discouraging room in the house.
The girls are good about doing chores in the house,
but when it comes to their bedroom, they just don't keep it clean!
No matter how many times I help them put away and organize,
it always goes back to the same old mess!

Clothes all over the place..mixed with toys and dolls and a collection of priceless artwork from cousins and pieces of jewelry and rainbow loom bracelets and googly eyed stuffed animals and hundreds of glasses of water from the night before and single sock balls and the other shoe we can't ever find....You get the point, right?

It's a combination of laziness and too much stuff with no place to put it all.

Well, last week I was feeling better than I had been in a while. I decided we (the girls and I) were going to tackle their bedroom. So I read an inspirational story from this mom's blog, to get us motivated and in the mood to purge and clean and organize. :)

We started cleaning. I was putting things into piles and sorting...the girls were helping, but not helping.
I had them carry the Lego's out to the hallway where they began to play.
I called them back into the room.
I had them put away clothes. They started playing with stuffed animals.
I told them to stop. They did...until they were distracted by a sticker book found under the bed.

This was about the time I finally lost it.

For so long I dreamed of doing what this mom in the story had done.
After multiple threats over the past two years, I finally did it! I emptied their bedroom.

It made sense. Simplicity and freedom of excess is exactly what my girls needed!

I am NOT a lover of clutter...
it overwhelms me and I could clearly see it was overwhelming my daughters.
They couldn't keep up or manage their own things. It was too much.

So I sent them downstairs for garbage bags and we pulled empty bins out of the attic.
I told them we were doing what the mom in the story did! Everything was going!
I was expecting tears. Or at least a look of shock. They did neither!

They were excited. They told me they wanted a clean and empty room.
They grabbed garbage bags and started filling them. They put the important things into bins.
THEY WERE HELPING ME! No complaining. No distractions...just helping!
Seriously, non-stop working!

Toys, stuffed animals, the thousands of pieces of jewelry...we even got rid of the dresser!
Everything went.

When we were finished, their room consisted of a bed, a small bench that has a bookshelf under it,
a crate with a lamp and a jar of roses they dried from their Granny on it and a small basket of stuffed animals.
That was it. That IS it!

Everything that was in the dresser went into little canvas totes on a shelf in their closet.
Important toys are packed away in the attic. Everything else is gone.

They told me thank you at least ten times that day.
They told me they couldn't wait to go to bed so they could sleep in a super clean room.

The next day their oldest brother painted the room...colors of choice, light pink and white.
They wanted to keep all their horse decor on the walls.
 It feels so bright and airy and simplified. I love it. and so do they. :)

Today they even said they LIKE to make their bed now!
If you're wondering whether or not to take all your kids toys away...the answer is Yes!
Your kids will be so much happier. You will be so much happier.
XxOo