Does anyone feel like me?? Never had a routine and don't know where to start??

Mrs_Pepperpot_2

Yes loved the stories. Loved the idea of getting a variety of animals to do the housework while she was small!!!!

can I just say that when I say I tidy the kids stuff after they have gone to bed what I actually mean is I chuck it all behind the sofa! :eek:

I know there will be gasps of horror from the tidies amongst us but this is the only thing that works!
I can stand in the middle of the living room and throw everything that belongs to kids behind the sofa - it takes about 2 minutes and the place instantly looks better.

I know it's rubbish but it stops me from being embarrassed about the state of the living room.

moggins

Mrs_Pepperpot wrote:

can I just say that when I say I tidy the kids stuff after they have gone to bed what I actually mean is I chuck it all behind the sofa! :eek:

I can't do that! My Inspector Morse DVD's are behind the sofa, I would never find them again

Mics_chick

Mrs_Pepperpot wrote:

can I just say that when I say I tidy the kids stuff after they have gone to bed what I actually mean is I chuck it all behind the sofa!

I wish I could do this as well but there just isn't room behind my sofa for anything - my lounge isn't that big... yearning for more space again (naughty naughty!!)

Spendless

Hi - My house sounds similar to yours. You mention having a kitchen/diner. When mine were younger I gave a kitchen cupboard on the dining room side over to their toys. Is this a possible solution?

Mine also have toys in boxes that go under their beds. Even without the lids on, the younger one (aged 3 3/4) has only recently worked out that this is where her toys are and to pull them out if she wants to play.

Re toys, have you gone thru them and got rid of toys that they have out-grown & ones with broken/missing parts.

Mics_chick

Spendless wrote:

Hi - My house sounds similar to yours. You mention having a kitchen/diner. When mine were younger I gave a kitchen cupboard on the dining room side over to their toys. Is this a possible solution?

Thanks for the suggestion Spendless but this doesn't work in my place cos the kitchen is really loads of cupboards on 3 sides and a small table squeezed in the middle so there's not really room to play in there at all...

Spendless

Mics_chick wrote:

Thanks for the suggestion Spendless but this doesn't work in my place cos the kitchen is really loads of cupboards on 3 sides and a small table squeezed in the middle so there's not really room to play in there at all...

Would it work as a storage area downstairs though for toys to be played with in living room? You mentioned having loads of cupboards:D

Mics_chick

moggins wrote:

No. I see where you are coming from with rotation. But you still have the problem with a heavy ottoman that they can't operate themselves.

That's why I suggested moving stuff from plastic box into ottoman for a week and then opening it for them to get their stuff out each morning and then encouraging them to help put it away at night - My 3 1/2yo dd is definitely capable of doing this cos she helps my mum when she stays over and I thought the promise of another story for the first few nights might give her an added incentive (I find bribery works wonders )

Or thinking again I could use the ottoman as a "craft" box cos at the moment she doesn't use it much as it's stored in a cupboard in her bedroom and she won't be able to get at it easily in the ottoman! Yep - that's probably a better idea then (when I've sorted their stuff out into boxes) they can have 1 box per week and I can store them in a little alcove next to sofa that you can't see from most of the lounge...

Do you think it's better to group all the same sort of stuff into 1 box or do a selection - I'm thinking more of my 2yo ds than my dd cos he has lots of educational type toys rather than certain categories of stuff like my dd has. So is it best to give him a few cars and a few toys he can build with / make noise with / press buttons on or do all cars 1 week and then all "ed" stuff the next to give a marked change or do you think he'll get bored with a week of just 1 sort of thing...??

Please help - I've never really believed in horoscope sort of stuff but I read recently that Librans are supposed to be indecisive and I think that I'm proving that in this thread...:rolleyes:

Mics_chick

Spendless wrote:

Would it work as a storage area downstairs though for toys to be played with in living room? You mentioned having loads of cupboards:D

Yep that is an alternative place to store plastic boxes...Thanks Spendless :T I'll need to sort cupboards out though cos they probably full of junk at the minute :rolleyes: so I'll concentrate on sorting the toys out first and then the kitchen cupboards.

It must work that if I manage to cut down the !!!!!! then it'll be easier to deal with...???

Spendless

Mics_chick wrote:

Yep that is an alternative place to store plastic boxes...Thanks Spendless :T I'll need to sort cupboards out though cos they probably full of junk at the minute :rolleyes: so I'll concentrate on sorting the toys out first and then the kitchen cupboards.

It must work that if I manage to cut down the !!!!!! then it'll be easier to deal with...???

That's the theory I'm working on at the moment,;) currently about 90% there. Glad I gave you a suggestion you think could work :T don't forget some ground rules though, if you're using kitchen cupboards, eg only you are allowed in them, so they don't move onto your best china plate cupboard and make sure any household cleaners etc are locked away.

Let us know how you get on.

conradmum

I agree with the poster who said GET RID! If there are toys that haven't been played with for months then the kids have too many toys, and you're just making work for yourself trying to deal with them all.
I was feeling guilty that ds3 had so few toys compared to a little friend of his. He has a shelving unit that's about 5 foot tall in the living room, and that's it! Whereas his friend has toys in every room of the house, far more than a 3 year old could ever play with. And when it was her birthday recently I was stumped for what to buy her as she already has two or three versions of most toys for that age group.
But ds3 plays with most of his toys quite regularly and doesn't seem to want for more. All he's really interested in is trains and railway tracks anyway.:rotfl:The advantage is that his toys are very easy to keep tidy and there's no need to spend time on working out rotations to ensure everything gets played with.
When you think of how few toys children managed with in the past, I really think we've gone to the opposite extreme and now kids have too many.