Ok, obviously, there’s not exactly 1,000 toys in my living room, but sometimes, it sure does feel like it. Brad and I are pretty good at *hiding* toys at 8pm when Zoe goes to bed, I still have my aversion to all things toddler after she goes down for the night. But, during the day, I wade through a sea of primary colors, dancing monkeys, baby dolls, and cardboard books from sun-up til sun-down. When I’m on top of my game, we do a “30 second pick-up” that really takes about 15 minutes right before Brad gets home. To be honest, that’s the only time I clean up the toys during the day. I don’t even clean them up when company is coming over. Sorry. But that’s the truth.
So, what do we do with the slew of toys that came along with Christmas? So glad you asked. The first thing we did, about a week before we knew all the new toys were coming is throw out about 1/2 of the old ones. I use the term “throw out” loosely. They’re in a bag, in our garage, waiting patiently for child #2 to come along and play with them. I believe 150% in hand-me-downs. We did this mini purge when Zoe was asleep. I recommend not trying to throw out toys with a toddler who wants to play with everything they see {for at least 30 seconds until they get bored and move on to the next toy}. We did not purge anything that Zoe plays with every day, nor did we throw out anything that we know she loves. The toys mostly came from the bottom of the toy chest, or they were baby toys that made the cut during the last purge, and now are ignored in favor of toys that light up! and talk! and can be pushed from one end of the hall to the other! You know, cooler toys.
Truth be told, my daughter is super easy when it comes to toys. She, like most toddlers, has very little demands. Sure, the toy is way more awesome if it lights up and talks to her, but she’s also perfectly content with homemade toys too. Also, we have to be very careful which toys we let her keep out and about as our lovely dogs like to eat her toys… particularly wooden blocks, puzzle pieces, stuffed animals, and Little People farm animals.
After the purge was complete, we simply waited for the influx of new toys. They came almost every day. A super cool vacuum cleaner, baby dolls, teddy bears, half a {large} living room full of toys from my side of the family’s Christmas, a box full of Elmo stuff from Indiana {including a pop up tent that Zoe has already discovered is a GREAT place to hide with a book}, a coloring table, two drum sets {one had a full marching band contained inside and the other lights up and plays music. Both are incredibly cool, and I’d be lying if I said Brad and I don’t play with them when Zoe’s not even around.}, a dancing monkey, a dancing dog, a box from Virginia that has Abigail the interactive bunny rabbit and a book. The list goes on…. Seriously, I don’t even have an estimate for you yet. I can’t keep track of all the new toys she got. I mean, we came home from my family with an entire car full of toys. A car full. I just know that they’re everywhere. And, I know we’re not talking about clothes, but I think she got about 20 outfits from Brad’s mom. 20. Can you imagine how awesome it would be to get 20 new outfits in one day? I digress.
So far, we’ve let her play with everything. Most toys are opened immediately and then she can have them for several days. This is new, at her birthday we just immediately put 1/2 of the toys away, unopened. But, this go around, we’ll start sorting through the toys by the end of the week. Once I get a good grip on how many toys she got, I’ll go through them one by one and hide about 1/2 to 2/3 of the toys. What I really care about is having at least 7 toys hidden away. This isn’t going to be a problem {at all!}.
Then, once {or twice} a month, Zoe gets a new toy! How awesome is that!?!?!?! I do this for two reasons, 1) So that Zoe doesn’t get overwhelmed by the amount of toys that she has, and only plays with her favorite few. 2) So that we always have something “new” for Zoe to play with. Oh, and 3) So that I don’t have 1,000 toys in my living room. The only problem is that now I need to find a place in my house that Zoe doesn’t have access to. Back in July, she never went into the guest bedroom, and even when she did she never found the toys, so they were safe. But, now, she knows where everything in the house is. And, I promise you, if she sees them one time she will try to get them, every.single.day.
There are certain exceptions to this rule, for instance, my parents bought Zoe a Weebles Musical Treehouse. I had every intention of not even taking this one out of the box for a few months. I was thinking maybe March. The box waited on a table in our hallway to be put up with the other toys. But, a few days after the Tate Christmas Zoe walked down the hall, stopped in front of the treehouse, and started patting it. Then, when that didn’t work, she came and got me, walked me down the hall, and started patting it again. I asked her if she wanted it right now. She said “yes”. So we sat down and opened the box, Zoe standing over my shoulder. {I’m not making this up}. She inspected every move that I made putting it together, and then when it was completed, she acted like she’d just been given Barbies Dream Playhouse! That girl loves her treehouse. She plays with it every day, several times a day. She carries her little Weeble people around in her shopping cart. Toys like that, where she specifically asks to open them and play with them… she always gets those toys immediately.
Zoe actually lucks out majorly in this scenario. Not only does she get “new” toy to play with every month, her birthday also falls in the {mostly} dead center of the year. So in 7 months there’s a new influx, then 5 months later it starts all over again. That girl is one spoiled little girl!
Happy Wednesday Ya’ll!
So, how do you manage kid toys at your house?
PS. One slight twist that me might try this round, to see how it works, is to have certain toys for the upstairs guest bedroom, so that she’s entertained if Brad or I are up there watching a show. It doesn’t happen often, but when we do, it works better for her to have tons of toys and books up there with her.
Confessions of a Reluctant Housewife 