How do you declutter when you have kids?!?

Lately, I've been trying to tidy up and declutter our home.  With the kids off from school and more free time on our hands, I am able to set aside a whole day to reorganize closets and cabinets. 

I couldn't be happier. 

I love it when our home is neat and tidy

Of course, this is not often the case, because I've got kids.  Three of them.

My girls are artists.  They love to create and design and build.  This is wonderful.  Except that we end up with a lot of stuff lying around here and there.  And everywhere!

For the past couple days, they've been working on an Olympic Snack Shack for their American Girl dolls, inspired, of course, by the Summer Olympics.

Yesterday, they spent hours drawing and cutting out cardboard and construction paper to build a hot dog stand, a salad bar, and an ice cream stand, complete with miniature food - cupcakes fashioned from play dough and mini paper hot dogs wrapped in aluminum foil.  They even created their own mini napkin dispensers and straw dispensers.

The living room was littered with paper scraps. 

Of course, the neat freak in me was screaming in my head.  But I was very impressed with not only the girls' work, but their dedication, attention to details, and resolve to complete their vision. I set aside my urge to scream and instead asked them to make sure they cleaned up afterwards.  Which they did. 

(I still noticed teeny tiny pieces of scraps here and there, though.  But ok, they did clean up.)

Now we have this beautiful oh-so-realistic mini snack shack in our living room.

Here is my dilemma. In about a week or so, they will most likely stop playing with this snack shack.  But they are absolutely not going to want to get rid of it.  Rightfully so.  After all, they spent so much time and effort on it.  But now it's going to join the rest of the finished but semi-forgotten projects that have been accumulating in our dining room.  I say 'semi-forgotten,' because the moment I try to clean up, they remember their joy creating/playing and they plead for their artwork or creation to be spared from being thrown away.

We have plastic bins that store some of their memorabilia like books they've written, medals and ribbons, little souvenirs or trinkets.  All sorts of stuff that are near and dear to their hearts.  But those bins are getting full. 

Our closets and cabinets are getting full.

So I've been trying to organize using the "KonMari" way.  In Marie Kondo's book Spark Joy: An Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up,  she suggests getting rid of anything that doesn't give you joy. 

The problem is when I try to apply that method to my kids' things, especially with my youngest, the answer is almost always, "Keep."

Some friends have suggested getting rid of things when the kids are not around.  Most of the time, they won't even notice, they said.  But that has backfired a few times when I inadvertently donated some beloved toys. 

So, now, out of respect, I try to ask first.  But then that brings me back to the problem of not being able to get rid of anything.

Well, I should probably finish reading Marie Kondo's book... Maybe she can assist me with my dilemma.

But first I'm going to indulge in some paper salad, maybe a burger, and then some play dough cupcakes.