A recent morning at our house: My first-grader can't find her sneakers and is wearing mismatched slip-ons. Her 9-year-old sister heaps jackets on the floor as she searches for the one she wants. My husband nurses his foot after stepping on a tiny but deadly action figure. And I'm hunting for the kids' backpacks.
"Why can't we get it together?" I wonder.
Pam Gibbard, a professional organizer in Chapel Hill, NC, has a reassuring response: "It's not just you -- many homes have changed. Children used to spend more of their time playing outside, and bedrooms were mostly for sleeping and clothes. Now they often play indoors, and they have a lot more toys."
How can we get our kids' clutter under control? Some solutions from resourceful parents as well as professional home organizers:
Diane Baker is a freelance writer in Berkeley, CA, specializing in articles on parenting strategies.
