Toy Exodus 2011

I wrote yesterday's post a few days ago. After writing all of my helpful tips, I realized that my own toys were disorganized, which turned chaotic very fast.

Every single day, the playroom closet and both kids' bedrooms were so messy! Like unusually messy. That told me I just did not have a good system. It takes me a few months of living in a new home to get into a good groove.

This afternoon, the toy chaos just got to me, and I took action!! I literally found every toy we own and put it in our living room. (Those bins were all full)


I texted Brett and let him know he may not want to come home for awhile! It was a huge mess.
Four hours later (whew!), the toys are way more organized!

That's the playroom closet.
I got rid of two big bins of toys, which was impressive considering we just moved!! We haven't bought any new toys since moving in, but there were still plenty to purge. Most of the toys are random little ones that I did not think were a big deal....but they amounted to a lot!
Some things I did that I have not done before.....- I grouped toys together and put them in Ziploc baggies. I put them high so the kids will have to ask for them. It will be more work for me, but when they get them down, I can see that they get put back.
- I planned to do this before we moved in, but I did not do it yet: I only left about 3-4 toys in my kids' rooms (that they can reach).
- Toys that we own that are out of their age range (we get awesome hand me downs from my sister!), I put up high. Their older friends can see them, if they want to play with them, but Caleb and Chloe don't really play with them much.
- I separated our boys and girls dress up clothes. This sounds like common sense, but I had them mixed together....now it will be way easier to find what they want!
Anyway, I am so happy to have my mass toy exodus complete :). It took way too long, but it will save me time and energy each day!
I am tired!