The Battle of Stuff

There is a war going on in our home. It is a fierce battle which I am losing because the enemy out numbers me by many. Daily I struggle with the amount of things this family accumulates and, as of late, the kids are the biggest conspirators with the enemy.

Elves and Angels

Now, I get it, I'm a bit of a collector, I collect books and dishes. So I know the allure of having THINGS and I am not altogether against it. But we live in a ranch built on a concrete slab, with no accessible attic space and only 2 med sized closets to store all the stuff people with basements or garages store stuff in.

Already at 3.5 and 14 months my kids have boat loads of toys. Plastic things that light up, make noise and are just generally annoying. But the fact that these things are taking up precious space in my house is actually my second problem with much of it.

Every time one of my kids gets a toy that moves on its own, talks on its own and essentially plays for them, I think of the quote, "active toys make passive children." (One I have read many times, but cannot find anyone to attribute it to.) I am so on board with this. It's gotten to the point where my kid asks for me to change the batteries in toys that don't even have batteries. He wants everything to make noise or light up. And I really don't like it.

If my house was filled with toys that promoted imagination and true play, I don't think I would care as much about how little space we have. My dream play space for them (pictured) is full of toys made of natural materials that assist in their play, not dictate it.

Here's the problem though: these toys are expensive. Although I was inspired the other day to just sell all of the plastic, made-in-China crap that they have now and use the money to buy creative and sturdily designed new things. But...I think that might be a little traumatic, at least for my son.

The other problem, and probably the bigger one...and maybe I can't call it a problem, more of an issue... is that we are VERY lucky to have a huge family who love my kids more than anything and they revel in seeing their faces light up when presented with shiny trinkets. And, don't get me wrong, I like it too. Kids getting gifts, so fun! It's just after the fact, when I'm throwing another broken plastic toy away because they are made so poorly, that I start to think maybe I should totally be one of those super controlling people who dictate how and what people gift my kids. But I just don't think that's me.

And the battle wages on...

Looking for some inspiration for replacing some of your dictator toys? I was too, so I made a Pinterest board. Check it out. 

New Digs - Changing from a nursery to a shared kids room

I entered my third trimester on Saturday and had a moment of how-am-I-ever-going-to-handle-a-toddler-AND-an-infant. Luckily, Hillary and I had plans to rehab Beckett's little boy room into a dual kids space for him and his soon to arrive sister. Nothing helps calm pre-baby panic like nesting. So off Becks went to stay with my parents, near Chicago, I can't even begin to describe how thankful I am for them, and Hill and I emptied the room for painting.

I did an abysmal job at before photos, but you can see what we started with above. It's hard to tell in the photos but the gray in the before shots is much bluer than the gray we painted. Note the color of the dresser and changing table behind Beckett's percussion sesh.

As you can see my husband is a master at striping, he did the skate board hooks for Beckett's second birthday that you can see in the top left photo. These have been great for teaching him to hang up his coat and hat when he comes in the house. The yellow racing stripe goes up, across the ceiling and back down on to the other wall, so it touches all four walls. I'm very impressed with how it turned out.

The dresser and changing table were spray painted during some dude hang time on Saturday night while I washed and folded baby clothes. The white brightens up the room, but keeps it gender neutral. Beckett also gets a bedside table for his books and a reading light. I also have two small stools that fit under the table so it can be used for activities as well.

We desperately needed more closet organization, since I had almost nowhere to put infant stuff. I purchased that hanging cubby and a clothes rack extender, that you can barely see in the bottom right photo. This gave me a great space for hanging some of Beckett's clothes so he can easily reach them and start picking outfits out for himself.  Super easy closet upgrade and done for under $30.

 

For the final touch, we got a fun, fuzzy rug for playing on. We live in a ranch that's built on a concrete slab and the floors are super hard.   This addition is already enticing Becks to play in his room more often.

There are a few more things we need to do to complete the project - replace the light with a ceiling fan, hang the window treatments and do something cute over the crib to designate some space for our little girl. Hopefully it happens before she gets here, but I'm feeling pretty good at all we accomplished so far. 12-14 weeks isn't seeming quite as short a time as it did last week.