The queen of decluttering Marie Kondo has ‘kind of given up’ on keeping her own home tidy after three kids, saying spending time with her family is more important.
Kondo, 38, made millions off her tidy lifestyle from selling 13million copies of her first book, starring on a hit Netflix show, garnering her a net worth of around $7million.
But after giving birth to her third kid, she’s realizing what so many mothers have screamed for so long: There’s just not enough time.
‘Up until now, I was a professional tidier, so I did my best to keep my home tidy at all times,’ she said at the event, according to the Washington Post. ‘I have kind of given up on that in a good way for me. Now I realize what is important to me is enjoying spending time with my children at home.’
Marie Kondo, 38, has ‘kind of given up’ on keeping her own home tidy after three kids, saying spending time with her family is more important
‘Up until now, I was a professional tidier, so I did my best to keep my home tidy at all times,’ she said at the event. She and her husband now plan family time into their days and find small activities that spark joy, including burning incense and drinking a cup of tea in the morning
Kondo gave birth to her third child, a son, in 2021, adding to her gang of two girls with husband Takumi Kawahara, whom she married in 2012.
‘My home is messy, but the way I am spending my time is the right way for me at this time at this stage of my life,’ she said.
Her new lifestyle still ‘sparks joy,’ as she famously coined in her first book, but her embracement of the mess has inspired her fifth one.
Marie Kondo’s Kurashi at Home: How to Organize Your Space and Achieve Your Ideal Life hit shelves in November 2022 and it focuses less on tidiness and more on kurashi – a Japanese concept that roughly translates to ‘the ideal way of spending our time.’
It focuses on decluttering one’s time, rather than one’s space.
‘Tidying up means dealing with all the ‘things’ in your life,’ she wrote in her book. ‘So, what do you really want to put in order?’
Kondo gave birth to her third child , a son, in 2021, adding to her gang of two girls with husband Takumi Kawahara, whom she married in 2012
Kondo gave birth to her son in 2021 and has been juggling three kids as she embraces her new lifestyle
‘When it was just the two of us, my house was pretty close to that ideal; now, those pictures are just the ideal I aim for. My own home really isn’t completely tidy – I guess I could get to that point if I did a proper blitz for an hour or two,’ she told Daily Mail’s You Magazine writer Julia Llewellyn in October.
‘But I tell myself: “You have different priorities and right now what sparks joy is playing with my children, spending fun time with them and it’s OK if it’s a little bit messy.” I don’t want to waste time getting annoyed. Your children are only small once, so don’t worry, enjoy that time.’
Since moving back to Japan from the US – which she moved to after the success of her first book – she has forgone a nanny and now only has a babysitter.
Her new lifestyle has inspired her fifth book Marie Kondo’s Kurashi at Home: How to Organize Your Space and Achieve Your Ideal Life, which focuses on decluttering one’s time, rather than one’s space
During her interview with Llewellyn, the mom-of-three had to dash off to change her son’s diaper and even bounced him on her knee at one point. Her daughters also made appearances here and there, showing that Kondo’s new life is much like every other mom’s.
‘My lifestyle has totally changed. When I started out, I was working really hard and that was my ideal. I was doing lots of [tidying] lessons, helping lots of people, getting loads of experience. But now I want to spend more time with my family,’ she told Llewellyn.
She and her husband now plan family time into their days and find small activities that spark joy, including burning incense and drinking a cup of tea in the morning for Kondo.
And as her children grow, she recognizes her lifestyle will too, saying: ‘I will keep looking inward to make sure I am leading my own kurashi.’
