Marie Kondo Admits Her Popular KonMari Method Is Hard To Do For Parents Of Toddlers

Marie Kondo’s tidying methods, known as KonMari, became popular after the release of her books and Netflix show, but in a new interview, she revealed that her techniques are difficult to follow for parents of very young kids, including herself.

Kondo recently talked to Parents about her new children’s book Kiki and Jax: The Life-Changing Magic of Friendship, which tells the story of Kiki, a squirrel who loves clutter, and her friend Jax, a tidy owl.

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In the book, Kiki enjoys collecting different kinds of items and knickknacks, from stuffed toys to pinecones, and storing them under her bed. Eventually, Kiki’s collection becomes so large and disorganized that she has a hard time finding the toys she wants to play with.

Thankfully, Jax swoops in to help Kiki become tidier with her belongings by using the KonMari method of asking whether these items spark joy in her. If a certain item doesn’t spark joy anymore, she should thank it and then discard it.

Jax encourages Kiki to classify her belongings into four piles: Throw away, recycle, donate, and keep. This then allows Kiki to see which items she wants to keep and which she can live without.

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The KonMari method has been helpful for many, but some parents of toddlers might not have the same experience. Kondo herself, who is a mom of two, says she struggled with following her famous tips after having kids.

According to the Parents article, Kondo reveals that after she became a mom, she became frustrated because she was unable to keep her home tidy the way she wanted to. Moreover, after she gave birth to her second child, Kondo says she didn’t even have the energy to practice the KonMari method.

With Kiki and Jax: The Life-Changing Magic of Friendship, Kondo says she wanted to “share the joy of tidying with young readers.”

She tells Parents, “When children learn how to tidy, they realize what’s important to them. Through tidying, the characters of Kiki and Jax learn to really cherish their friendship.”

Kondo continues, “My hope is that the story of friendship in ‘Kiki & Jax’ will not only inspire kids to tidy but also help families to discover its transformational magic.”

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The reality with raising children, especially toddlers, is that messes are inevitable. Kondo recognizes this as well and encourages parents to it’s okay for the home to not be perfectly neat all the time.

“Motherhood taught me to be more forgiving of myself,” Kondo writes in a post on her blog, KonMari. “The joy that comes from parenting exceeds any satisfaction that could have come from a perfectly neat home.”

Want to know how you can teach the KonMari method to your little one? Click here.

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