How to Declutter Your Playroom

Recently, my family and I moved from a small city apartment to our first house, a Dutch Colonial in the New Jersey suburbs. I set up the playroom as quickly as possible, before my sons, Conrad, 5, and Dashiell, 3, could even think of breaching the living room (after years of sharing it with an exersaucer, I was determined to keep that space toy-free). In the playroom, we installed a high bookcase with 16 shelves and filled each shelf with tall toy bins that brimmed with the boys' many toys. The result: At the end of each day, after the kids had spilled the contents out on the floor (usually in search of one obscure thingamajig), the room looked as if some Lego-eating giant had broken in and barfed all over the floor.

Every evening, I would insist that the boys pick up. We'd sing the cleanup song, and they'd throw everything in the bins willy-nilly. I would have liked them to be more precise, but I also needed them to get to bed. So I applauded their effort, and once they were asleep I would painstakingly put everything where it rightfully belonged. The problem I needed to face was this: Why couldn't I, a grown-up, highly educated woman, figure out how to deal with something as childish as toys?

Obviously, I needed professional help. So I called Tonia Tomlin, author of Chaos to Calm, to help me streamline things. After I explained the whole situation, Tomlin said, "Sounds like your kids need to be taught how to take ownership of their toys." Um, yeah.