One Square At a Time

Elliot's room...sigh...has always been a challenge for me. It's not like I'm super duper strict on put-awayness. If you happen to stop by my house unexpectedly (which I love by the way), you will most likely find clothes-clean and folded- on the piano waiting for their owners to put them away. You will also find a pile of mail on the kitchen table, and probably whatever project I'm working on taking up communal space, but I do have some standards. I know he's only 6, so I try and keep in mind what his organizational abilities are. BUT, I do like to see the floor, not just spaces he has cleared out for footfalls. I prefer to have at least a somewhat clean path from the bed to the door for those in the middle of the night emergencies.

I have tried to help him create some method in the madness of toys. There are boxes (3!) for Legos, a box for Hot Wheels, drawer for Tinker Toys, drawer for Pokemon/Bakugan, and a whole toy box! I have sat in his room during cleaning days and asked where each specific toy goes. (He knows where they all belong, that's not the problem.) I've threatened to clean it all up and give toys to someone who needs them. I've even promised a fish if he can keep his room clean. Nothing has worked.

While lying in bed one night after another frustrating tuck in time, it dawned on me that he's overwhelmed with it all. I can tell him to pick up the K'Nex and as soon as he thinks they're all picked up, he'll find more and get discouraged. What if we took a different approach? What if we broke it down by sections?

The next day, I took painter's tape (one of his favorite inventions) and made a small square on the floor. I sent him to quiet time with the goal of cleaning up just that little square. I told him I would take a picture of the square before he got started to make sure items weren't relocated to just beyond his area. Here's what happened:

 

Even the dog thought this was a good thing:

Then the next day, another square

or two:

And more progress...

 

 

He still has more to do, but some improvement is better than none. Do I expect it to stay clean forever? NO, I know who I'm working with, but maybe, just maybe we can clean one square at a time.