When Toys Take Over

I am sure it comes as no surprise... just from the short month you have all had to start getting to know me... that there would be toys everywhere at my house.

Yep. Everywhere.

Even when I think that a zone is toy free, one will pop up. Like the glow stick in my bed last night. The bucket in my shower. The set of plastic golf clubs in the master bathroom (no doubt hidden from brother vs brother warfare). The pink plastic boat in my lawn out back. The cars in my purse.

The list can go... and go.... and go.

And we all know the road to hell is paved with good intentions... and that's why I am stuck here. Because once upon a time, I bought this shelf and buckets from Ikea to fill with toys... out of sight.... but in the family room because I didn't want my baby playing in a room out of my clear view.

And because I bought some plastic totes for sorting toys for garage sale about 6 months ago... only to end up filling them with inventory for my party business. And then no toys ever got sorted. Nothing ever sold. Nothing ever gone.

But everyone knows that toys have a funny way of reproducing on their own and growing and taking over. Because I didn't buy those toys... right?? What was I thinking??

So I was reading Courtney's blog as she is taking the YAWYK Challenge, and she talked about tackling cleaning at naptime, which was exactly what I did. Except I waited until the boys were both in bed for the night and I was waiting up for my hubs who was on his way home from a roadtrip... I had a while.

I pulled out a big pink rubbermaid tote and started going through one bin at a time. I trashed everything that was broken (beyond repair), sorted the toys into like items, and put all toys that had been outgrown or replaced along the way into the bin. My son had a birthday last weekend, too, so all of the cardboard puzzles were put into the sell bin while the wooden puzzles stayed. Books that had been eaten (by kids) or balls that had been destroyed (by dogs) also headed to the garbage.

After a 2 hour cleaning party at that shelf... an overflowing tote was moved to the garage and 7 less than full bins were slid back into place!

And you want to know what really made this all worth it? Two days later, the boys still haven't realized a single thing is gone.

To Trash:
125-130. Books that were destroyed.
131-136. Balls that were destroyed.
137. Random flashcards that were scattered everywhere
138. 1/2 bag of trash

To Sell:
301-380: (YES! 80!!) Toys... everything from a ball popper to the little McDs "Prizes".
381: Playmat for baby

Now, I need to figure out some more organization to make this even easier for little guys... :o)

I have also decided not to do the happy meals anymore... #1, the prize is a peice of crap that my son doens't even remember 2 days later, and #2, it's sooo much cheaper to just buy the hamburger and chocolate milk for each of my kids and a small fry for them to share.

Alright... I need to go get ready for the weekend... by finishing up those socks! OH! And we are over 1/4 of the way there... and believe me... I feel it! :o)