Minimalist Experiment

Today did not start well for our little household. Miss V has been very good this morning, aside from pushing Bubby down once this morning… but really, things like that are going to happen with kids these ages. What wasn’t so good was Boogie’s attitude and back-talking. I had enough. I gave her many opportunities to clean her room, many opportunities to earn back the dress up box and the Little People princess castle she had already lost this week… but no. Instead she turned to me, rolled her eyes and said, “No, mommy. I will NOT clean my room because I said so.” Uh huh. Really?

So begins our experiment. I’m sick of it being a battle to clean her room (and this applies to both girls, not just Boog). I’m sick of her not appreciating the things she has and YES, I know, she’s only 2 (but almost 3!). And YES, I know… this is how she learns. Well, I have made the decision to go about this a different way. Maybe LESS IS BETTER. Maybe, she is overwhelmed by everything she has. Maybe, just MAYBE! This will work.

I have now confiscated a GIANT tote of toys, so many toys that frankly, I’m a little embarrassed by how spoiled my child is. I also did not return her dress up box or her Princess castle. All of that is now in a closet and out of reach and out of sight. I left a box of blocks, her Doc McStuffins doctor kit, ONE baby in her baby bassinet, a few stuffed animals, her VTech Tag Jr, her sorting shapes block, and her dollhouse. That’s IT. And so far… no tears. No complaints. No asking where her toys are. The girls have not fought ONCE.

Here is Boog’s room after removing ALL of those toys.

Sorry for the grainy quality, I decide to snap some quick pics with my phone this time! As you can see… not much left! The pink cube shelf literally only has ONE canvas tote full of blocks. The rest are EMPTY. The 3 plastic drawers… only one drawer has her doctor tools in it. The kids also have two shelves of board books in the living room, and I have a full shelf of other books in the closet. And LOTS of arts and crafts, coloring books, etc with our home school stash. Bubby still has his toys, but if this goes well… I may actually get RID of the toys I confiscated and then go through Bubby’s toys as well.

The girls are done with their morning snack… so let me know your thoughts on a minimalist room for your kids! Comment here or on my facebook page (which you can find to the right of this entry). <3