day 105: toys

My mom took the kids for the day and I tackled my nemesis... the toys.  There are ALWAYS toys EVERYWHERE in this house.  I find lego pieces in the fridge, behind the toilet, in sock drawers, in couch coushins, you name it.  And I was DONE with picking up/stepping on toys constantly throughout the day.  Toys are one thing that is very hard to organize with kids around, so this day was perfect.

I first went through the house gathering every single toy I could find.  I crawled under beds, looked in every drawer, climbed every mountain, you get the idea.  And I dumped all of them in the front room to sort.  I gathered like toys and then divided the toys into 3 different bins.  Then I put two of the bins away in the garage and only kept one out. 

It's amazing.  The kids play with every single toy and it is so much easier to pick up.  For instance, right now, the only toys available are 1.)musical instruments 2.)plastic animal figurines 3.) jenga 4.)stacking rings 5.) one puzzle 6.)wooden train set . I also have about 30 children's book out at a time.  I rotate those as I rotate the toys.  It has been amazing that they seem to have much more organized play and stay interested much longer when they have a select amount of things to choose from rather than every thing we own.  I plan on switching out boxes about every 2 weeks so that it keeps things fresh. 

You cannot believe how simple it is to pick up when things are only coming from 6 categories rather than 27.  I also keep all the toys in one place now rather than all over the house.  There are still toys under the bed and on the toilet, but so much less of it, and I can pick up pretty darn quick.  It also makes it so much easier for my young children to clean up.  They can easily decipher where things go because they have so few options.

You should see how clean my front room is.  No threat of stepping on something sharp while making your way to the couch.  It's a miracle.