Spring Declutter Improves Your Family's Wellbeing

Gulnoz Saydamin
Mar 23, 2023
5 min read

Spring at Home

The birds are chirping, the trees are blooming, the warm sunlight... Spring is totally here! And it feels like cleaning-up! Declutter! Let it go and enjoy! Create space... Want spring at home! Don't you? Imagine, the fragrance of fresh flowers in the vase softens the air... Only the minimum needed in every room. Closets are nicely organized. Seasonal clothes are neatly folded or in-just-grab-it-and-enjoy-wearing state. Nothing is falling off the cabinets or hardly closing. The number of toys is only up to 10 only in the playroom. The garage and the storage space are incredibly in order. Your garden welcomes you to have a cup of coffee or a glass of wine outdoors... Continue this paragraph with your sentence. Use your imagination. Or start with reading my famous blog article with 19K reads at Discover Fresh Flowers at Home Make Your Family Healthier&Happier (modernparenting.online).

Declutter the Clutter: Hoarding disorder

I have hard time to let things go... I love beautiful boxes and packages. To reuse. Sustainable living. I have kept (for 13 years) the pushchair and the clothes of my firstborn from his first 3 years of life. Practical. We use everything for our second boy and, trust me, it saved us a lot of money. Moreover, I have a habit of simply falling in love with some items of my wardrobe and just cannot say goodbye to most of them. Even if I don't wear those things and actually never will... Memories. To explain it better, for example, I have found my school uniform skirt from my teenager times. I still keep it. For 25 years. It signifies the beginning of my emancipation journey at the American college in Istanbul (Turkey). I find a good excuse. Always. It's called hoarding. A disorder. I have it mild (smiling). At some point, it becomes too much indeed. Everyone in the family insists that I just toss those things into garbage or donate, if it makes me feel better. So, I have put some work to improve this situation. Though, there is always some space for improvement. Don't be harsh on yourself!

Signs and symptoms of hoarding include:

Excessively acquiring items that are not needed or for which there's no space
Persistent difficulty throwing out or parting with your things, regardless of actual value
Feeling a need to save these items, and being upset by the thought of discarding them
Building up of clutter to the point where rooms become unusable
Having a tendency toward indecisiveness, perfectionism, avoidance, procrastination, and problems with planning and organizing.

Excessive acquiring and refusing to discard items results in:

Disorganized piles or stacks of items, such as newspapers, clothes, paperwork, books or sentimental items
Possessions that crowd and clutter your walking spaces and living areas and make the space unusable for the intended purpose, such as not being able to cook in the kitchen or use the bathroom to bathe
Buildup of food or trash to unusually excessive, unsanitary levels
Significant distress or problems functioning or keeping yourself and others safe in your home
Conflict with others who try to reduce or remove clutter from your home
Difficulty organizing items, sometimes losing important items in the clutter. Hoarding disorder - Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic

Declutter Makes Your Family Healthier and Happier

Distraction and overstimulation. Too many objects in a room give me that continuous overwhelm, anxiety and stress. When you have kids, that number gets at least tripled or quadrilled (depending on the number of your family members). Mess. In. Every. Single. Room. Non-stop. I have become one of those robot vacuum cleaners 24/7! (laughing) Even when sneak out at night to use the bathroom, I pick up something off the floor automatically to put it back to its place or throw away to trash. Given that our 1-year toddler, aka our Little Destroyer of brilliant mind of an engineer, loves exploring things by dissembling and breaking everything on his way... and has his own particular (chaotic) order of things, mostly on the floor... Imagine our cluttered home. No spot even to make a step without stumbling on a toy or a piece of some broken object. You know what I am talking about, right? One of the best experiences of parents, isn't? (laughing)

Well, our organizational and household management skills skyrocket when we have kids. After having my firstborn, I have learned to make The spring declutter annually and do that regularly for the past 15 years. When I was pregnant with my second child, I have upgraded: I started becoming a big fan of minimalism. In 2019, I was fascinated by the work of Marie Kondo, the Japanese organization guru, and her methods of decluttering households. It is indeed incredible. Highly recommend to watch her shows. Finally, I have realized that declutter makes me feel healthier and happier. It makes my family healthier and happier. In addition, the spring clean-up gives valuable life lessons to my children.

Health benefits

Clutter and disorganization is stressful for both adults and children: by decluttering you decrease the family members' levels of the stress hormone cortisol;
Distraction by objects and cluttered environment lessens the efficiency of your brain activity to process information and increases the possibility of frustration. If you and your children get rid of the unused objects and organize the space with only the minimum needed, you will focus better either to study or to work at home;
Toss away the garbage and sleep better! You wouldn't believe but hoarding keeps us awake at night, deciding if to get something or maybe to get rid of...
Getting rid of unnecessary things and clean-up is mental-health therapeutic for every family member;
Clean-up and declutter is an excellent exercise! Play some music, danse and clean!

Educational advantage

Parents demonstrate the practice of healthy coping mechanisms and teach children by a good example of healthy habit to declutter;
Children learn to assess their needs, prioritize and discard;
Family shares with others (in case of donation), kids learn kindness and giving. Plus, we feel better when we give unconditionally, when we help the less fortunate;
Children learn the value of things in addition to improving their budget management skills;
Toddlers play longer with 4 toys than with 10 or 20 or 30 (count the blocks...). Feel free to minimize the number of toys displayed in the playroom.

Family bonding, efficiency and sustainable lifestyle

Doing spring declutter clean-up together with your family members strengthens your bond and connection, enhances the team spirit in the family: "We're in it together. So, let's sort it out together!" Create some happy and useful memories.
Filtering and recycling makes us responsible world citizens and teach our kids the sustainable lifestyle and environmental protection;
The less is better, i.e. the minimalism approach, saves our pocket and prevents us from indulging into consumerism.

How to spring declutter?

The methodology is personal. Depends. You should find what fits you better. Ussually, I start in March bit-by-bit. Just add "to declutter" corner to our weekly regular clean-up. It takes less time. Aint overwhelpming. Satisficing enough. At my own pace. Also, I liked the following step-by-step articles you'd like to check out below on how to spring clean-up.

Book Your Session NOW!

It's never too late to live better. Cultivate The healthy&happy environment at home. Make Your Move! Take Action! At Modern Parenting, we help new and experienced parents to take The well-informed decisions based on the most advanced scientific research and international human rights standards. If you'd like to learn more of our lifehacks on how to make Your Family Healthier&Happier, book your session now and here! Get a personal strategy customized for your family!

Happy Spring!

Gulnoz,

Your Life Coach for Parents (aka Oxford-graduated Human Rights Lawyer)