I had had it. I was over it. DONE.
A few weeks ago, I was on the phone with my Mother-in-Love thanking her for the kid's Easter outfits, (I'll show them to y'all in a soon-to-be-posted photo blog of our Easter trip to my Mom's. I promise it'll be worth the wait. They're adorable.) and the kids saw my distracted state. They took that opportunity to go BANANAS CRAZY. During this 5 minute window of insanity, they dragged out every single toy that we own. They emptied book shelves and overturned baskets. They turned my house into a four-walled pinata. And during this shift in the universe, they broke something of mine. It was a very, VERY dark day.
I got off the phone and surveyed the damage. It's amazing what two kids can tear up in less than 10 minutes. They stopped what they were doing and looked at me. Uh, oh... They knew the jig was up. I didn't yell. I didn't scream. (Although there was a large part of me that wanted to.) I very calmly- and systematically- picked up every single toy in my house. I collected every book, toy, gadget, train, broken crayon, puzzle, doll, rubber band, block, whistle, and Lego that could be found. I put everything into a laundry basket and perched that sucker on top of my dining room table. In the 20 minutes it took me to clean up I'd created a makeshift toy jail inside my dining room. It was a sight to behold. (I'm kinda sad now that I didn't take time to photograph it.) I told them that until they showed me that they could take care of their things without breaking them, I wasn't going to let them have them.
Later that afternoon, looking for parenting advice, I asked my best friend if an episode like this had ever happened in her house. She has two girls: one who is a few years older than Luke and one who falls between Luke and Josie, so she's already been through a lot of what I'm experiencing. And she is a bomb-diggety wife and Mom, so her council is always rock solid. (I ask her for advice about 17 times a week.) And guess what: SHE HAS HAD TO TAKE HER GIRL'S TOYS AWAY, TOO. Huh. So I guess I'm not the only one who had her house destroyed by overly rambunctious children. How 'bout that? Mom guilt: Absolved.
So, for a few days, I made the kids play without all their toys. The next morning, I gave them each ONE TOY with which to entertain themselves. Luke got a toy car and Josie got a stuffed Minnie Mouse doll. They played in relative harmony and, as the days went by, I slowly started giving them some of their toys back. And here's the thing that's surprised me most: They've played with the three toys I allowed them to have back more in the last week than they ever did when their bookshelves were full.
And now I have another problem: WHAT DO I DO WITH ALL THEIR TOYS NOW? I want them to have access to their toys, and to be able to play with the nice things that have been given to them- but I don't want to have a house that's so overridden with things that they don't really play with anything.
Before the great disaster happened, I had divided their toys in half: One half was left out for them to play with and the other half was in a big cardboard box behind a door in my dining room. I would collect and switch them out every few months. And that worked- to a point. But now I'm realizing that I need a better daily/weekly toy rotation system.
And this is my question to you: What do y'all do with toys in your house? Do you rotate? How do you store the lagniappe ones? How do you ensure that your toys are actually played with instead of being dumped out, stepped on, and broken?
A few weeks ago, I was on the phone with my Mother-in-Love thanking her for the kid's Easter outfits, (I'll show them to y'all in a soon-to-be-posted photo blog of our Easter trip to my Mom's. I promise it'll be worth the wait. They're adorable.) and the kids saw my distracted state. They took that opportunity to go BANANAS CRAZY. During this 5 minute window of insanity, they dragged out every single toy that we own. They emptied book shelves and overturned baskets. They turned my house into a four-walled pinata. And during this shift in the universe, they broke something of mine. It was a very, VERY dark day.
I got off the phone and surveyed the damage. It's amazing what two kids can tear up in less than 10 minutes. They stopped what they were doing and looked at me. Uh, oh... They knew the jig was up. I didn't yell. I didn't scream. (Although there was a large part of me that wanted to.) I very calmly- and systematically- picked up every single toy in my house. I collected every book, toy, gadget, train, broken crayon, puzzle, doll, rubber band, block, whistle, and Lego that could be found. I put everything into a laundry basket and perched that sucker on top of my dining room table. In the 20 minutes it took me to clean up I'd created a makeshift toy jail inside my dining room. It was a sight to behold. (I'm kinda sad now that I didn't take time to photograph it.) I told them that until they showed me that they could take care of their things without breaking them, I wasn't going to let them have them.
Later that afternoon, looking for parenting advice, I asked my best friend if an episode like this had ever happened in her house. She has two girls: one who is a few years older than Luke and one who falls between Luke and Josie, so she's already been through a lot of what I'm experiencing. And she is a bomb-diggety wife and Mom, so her council is always rock solid. (I ask her for advice about 17 times a week.) And guess what: SHE HAS HAD TO TAKE HER GIRL'S TOYS AWAY, TOO. Huh. So I guess I'm not the only one who had her house destroyed by overly rambunctious children. How 'bout that? Mom guilt: Absolved.
So, for a few days, I made the kids play without all their toys. The next morning, I gave them each ONE TOY with which to entertain themselves. Luke got a toy car and Josie got a stuffed Minnie Mouse doll. They played in relative harmony and, as the days went by, I slowly started giving them some of their toys back. And here's the thing that's surprised me most: They've played with the three toys I allowed them to have back more in the last week than they ever did when their bookshelves were full.
And now I have another problem: WHAT DO I DO WITH ALL THEIR TOYS NOW? I want them to have access to their toys, and to be able to play with the nice things that have been given to them- but I don't want to have a house that's so overridden with things that they don't really play with anything.
Before the great disaster happened, I had divided their toys in half: One half was left out for them to play with and the other half was in a big cardboard box behind a door in my dining room. I would collect and switch them out every few months. And that worked- to a point. But now I'm realizing that I need a better daily/weekly toy rotation system.
And this is my question to you: What do y'all do with toys in your house? Do you rotate? How do you store the lagniappe ones? How do you ensure that your toys are actually played with instead of being dumped out, stepped on, and broken?
(This is what is happening in my living room right now. The kids are napping and I'm trying to decide what to do with all this stuff before they wake up. Most of it is going into the steamer trunk until I can figure out a workable rotation option. So gimme your best suggestions. Please!)
I'd lean toward the ones that require them to use their brains and imagination... maybe let them pick one, giving a reason why they want to spend time with it. My kids didn't have that problem... but OH how they loved the tin cup, spoons, blocks of wood from grandpa's cabinet shop, and such things... love reading your "capers with the kids"... g brooks
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