I thought we had an organization problem
I tried everything.
Pinterest bins. Labels. Baskets. Hooks.
None of it worked the way I hoped.
Eventually I had to admit something I didn’t particularly want to admit.
We didn’t just have an organization problem. We had too much stuff.
And a lot of it was there because of me.
I was the one bringing it in
My mom and I are clearance-rack detectives—if there’s a $50 toy marked down to $9.99, we can sniff it out from two aisles away.
For years, I convinced myself I was being practical. Stocking up. Saving money. Grabbing things for “next time.”
Saving $40 on a toy felt like saving money. It took me a long time to recognize that buying something we didn’t need wasn’t really saving us anything.
And when she fell in love with a new show or hobby, I went all in. A favorite series? I hunted down the collection. A new craft? Suddenly we had ten versions of it.
I told myself it was all for her. But if I’m honest, I enjoyed finding and giving her those things just as much as she enjoyed getting them.
Then I made “stuff” part of our reward system
I’d tried reward systems and charts without much success, so eventually I found something that gave me an immediate result:
“If you take a bath, I have a surprise.”
“Try on the new clothes and I’ll give you something special.”
“Get ready for school and I’ll give you a treat.”
It worked—until she started asking:
“What did you get me today?”
That’s when I realized I hadn’t just accumulated too much stuff. I’d also helped create an expectation that ordinary tasks might come with something new.
She loved getting things. I loved giving them. And eventually there was simply more than she could reasonably manage.
I started noticing it in the way she played.
She’d dump out bins of toys but barely play with them. Pull out every dress-up outfit but wear the same two. Pull out all the markers and sometimes never actually start drawing.
More toys weren’t creating more play. More craft supplies weren’t creating more creativity. They were mostly creating more things for both of us to manage.
I Stopped Trying to Organize All of It
Once I realized I couldn’t keep organizing my way out of having too much, I stopped looking for another storage solution and started reducing what we had.
So we started decluttering in phases. If something was repeatedly dumped out but rarely used, I’d move it into storage for a while. If she didn’t ask about it after a couple of months, I’d consider whether it was something we really needed to keep.
Now that she’s older, we go through things together. When there are lots of the same thing, instead of asking what she wants to get rid of, I ask her to choose her favorites. That’s been an easier question for her to answer.
I also stopped making everything accessible all the time. Some craft supplies, makeup and other tempting items could simply be put away until we were using them.
And I noticed something: when everything was available, everything was an option.
With fewer choices in front of her, she seemed more likely to actually use what remained.
What Organization Looks Like for Us Now
Once we had less stuff, organization became much simpler.
Her craft supplies live together in one organizer. For most of her other toys, I bought five larger bins:
- Barbie dolls and accessories
- animals and accessories
- LOL dolls and accessories
- Playmobil toys and accessories
- unicorns and accessories
We used to have lots of smaller bins with more specific categories. The broader categories work better for us. A Barbie accessory goes in the Barbie bin. An animal goes in the animal bin.
She can find things and knows where they belong. I can reset the playroom much faster.
We still needed organization. We just needed less stuff and a simpler system.
I still love a bargain.
I still see something marked down and immediately think about how much money I’m saving.
But now I try to ask myself a different question:
Do we actually need this in our house?
Because for us, getting organized didn’t start with finding the perfect bins, labels or storage system.
It started with having less to organize.
More Posts You May Enjoy
- When Homework Becomes a Battle for My Child With ADHD: When Do I Stop Pushing?
- Nobody explained to me what ‘advocate for your child’ actually meant. Here’s what I’ve learned it looks like in real life.
- How Parenting My Neurodivergent Child Changed the Way I Move Through the World
If you’re also parenting a neurodivergent child and figuring out what works for your family, you’re welcome to follow along. I share what we’re learning as we go—the things that work, the things that don’t, and the things I wish I’d understood sooner.
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