My house, at times, resembles a very poorly put-together toy store. There are toys on the counters, toys on the floor, toys on the furniture, toys on the stairs, even toys in the bathroom. No matter what room my kids enter, they seem to be able to “shop” from a selection of toys. And this is with Alexander and me attempting to keep a handle on things. I can’t imagine what would happen if we gave up for a week!
When we moved into our new house, we had a grand idea: no toys in the living room. Okay, well maybe not no toys, but toys within limits. Toys that would not breed and multiply and leave us with no adult space. This has not happened.
I’ve explained before about the daily migration of Elijah’s stuffed animals. Other toys are now beginning to make the trip as well. The boys’ room and their playroom are both upstairs. Their playroom closet is filled full of see-through Rubbermaid containers. Each container is dedicated to housing certain toys. Noisy toys go in the “noisy toy” container. All things wheeled go in the “toys with wheels” container. Etc. The idea was we get out only one container at a time. The kids can play to their hearts content but before we can get out another container, all the toys from the first container must be rounded up and returned (in their container) to the closet.
Doesn’t that seem like a good plan? All (or most) of the toys upstairs – in the play area – and organized so that play and clean-up should be simple.
Well, if you haven’t learned it through reading my blog so far (or by experiencing life with kids of your own), I’ll say it again: Kids and simple do not cohabitate.
These toy containers have recently been rediscovered. And since there is no door lock Lij can’t master, there is no closet safe enough. Now the containers (usually all of them) come out and Mom is forced to watch as organization turns into one big pile on the floor. And these toys – the noisy ones and the ones with wheels – are coming downstairs. Into
It makes sense that the kids want their toys downstairs. We spend a lot of time down there. But I also feel that it makes sense to try and have a house not entirely overrun by things wheeled, operated by batteries and/or stuffed with poly-fil. I’m no longer attempting to refuse toys entrance into the living room. But how do I allow my kids the freedom to play and enjoy themselves while not sacrificing the whole of the house to them?
Do you have any suggestions? How do you corral the chaos that is kiddie clutter?
7 comments:
Sorry, I'm no help here. My children have taken over our house and I'm afraid it will be that way until they leave for College. Young children like to be where their parents are...and they like to play with toys. That combination creates a big mess in the living room/kitchen area because that is where we as parents spend most of our time, and occasionally we have to go to the bathroom :-) I know you want to keep the toys upstairs, but you may want to consider some organization for some toys downstairs as well. Good luck!
Our toys are everywhere too but I have been fairly creative with our storage... our armoire houses toys (our tv is on an old nightstand) and I have two oversized baskets that look like footstools with toys in them. Whatever doesn't fit in those is not allowed in the living room. Still, it's a lot of toys! So, I can relate. And, I am sorry I didn't realize you were pg! Congrats (albeit late). We are due about the same time it sounds like? I am 24 weeks and 3 days. :)
One of the best ways is to reduce the number of toys they have availble at any given time. I mean, really, can they play with 20 trucks at the same time?
What I did for my son was seperate his toys into three "sets" of toys. I put each set into a container and then rotate the sets through. Every few weeks he gets a new set. That keeps the toys more interesting to him, too, and reduces the overall clutter.
If you have a basement or someother off limits area, that would be a good place to keep the out-of-cycle toys.
Good luck!
Don't try the giving up for a week. I did that this week. What a nightmare!
laundry baskets. or wicker hampers, when i'm feelin a little classy.
" Into This-is-what-people-who-visit-our-house-see-Ville." I love that.
I have the same ideas as you. I was too scared of failure to actually execute them though. Maybe we should tip-tuesday this some time. Remind me.
I have 5 kids and the closest I've come to organizing the toys is thinking it would be a good idea to list the favorite 3 (or your choice) toys of each child, keeping them, and getting rid of the rest. In my case, that might mean the Playstation, the Legos and the K'nex for one child.
I find my children get so much junk on Christmas/Easter/your-holiday-here - and Happy Meal toys - that I really should be better about giving more toys to DI. It's a matter of actually finding all the pieces of said toys and not feeling guilty if one "little person" is not included with the "little people" school or garage.
My advice would be to do whatever you're going to do NOW while your family is this small. Otherwise, you'll find yourself up to your nose in kids and their toys, and the task will be completely overwhelming.
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