We all have known those people who have a baby, and soon after (or sometimes even before the baby arrives) it looks like Toy’s R Us exploded in their house! Caleb informed me he did not want that to happen to our house. I totally agreed! Although, we women are pretty good at being sucked into the latest trends in the baby world! I have to admit that I thought I needed waaaaay more than I actually did.
This upcoming generation is so very covetous and we as mothers (and adults in general) are very good at joining in. Society tells us and makes us think our children need way more than what we ever did. No, they don’t.
What this results in, are children that have way too many toys, a messy house, and kids that get bored easily because they have so much!
We have a rule that whatever toys don’t fit in these bins go upstairs to their room. And you can ask friends and family who come to our house if we do this, and it is true! Not just internet sound good/look good stuff! 🙂
Whenever I notice they’re not playing with these as much or getting bored really quick once they’ve got them out; I’ll go and switch them out with some other toys and books. My oldest daughter, Hannah, is old enough she can go play upstairs with any toys she wants in her room.
They just recently got some bigger toys for Christmas that their room isn’t quite big enough to play with them in. So they go behind our couch out of sight!
Now, obviously, you’re the parent! So you know what toys your children will enjoy more often than others. Luckily our girls are very entertained with books. So that makes for less bulky toys downstairs!
The point is to avoid toys taking over your whole house! We always said the babies are joining our family, not taking over! This is what the toys in our living room look like. The other storage bin holds diapers, rash cream, and wipes!
I realize very young babies require a couple more things sometimes, ie. baby swings, bouncer seat, play mats. I had all those things in my living room a couple months ago when Leah was born. So situations dictate sometimes.
It also has taught our girls to put things away much easier because….1. There isn’t a lot to clean up. 2. It’s just a simple bin that they can easily throw them in and they don’t have to be too neat. Hannah was putting her living room toys away on her own at 9 months!
Hannah really likes to color too! I have a big drawer in my dining room that I keep games, flash cards, and coloring supplies. Hannah’s cousins like to color when they come over so it is easily accessible there! I usually don’t let Hannah get all the crayons out unless she has cleaned up her “living room” toys first! She knows that’s how it works now. I even have seen her throw her toys in the bin and run to me and say “color!!” So she caught on quick! 
Another thing to help cut back on the toys….don’t be afraid to regift some things! Hannah got a baby doll one time and I never opened it and put it in her closet. (She already had soooo many stuffed animals and baby dolls.) Later on, I regifted it to another little girl!
Let me know how you handle the toy overload in your house!
p.s. for those of you who think we deprive our girls of toys and fun things….we don’t! 🙂 They have a very occupied life with lots of fun toys! haha
That’s a really good idea. We have bins for toys but literally all of Quinn a toys are in my living room it’s a terrible mess all the time.
Yes, I definitely can’t hack too many toys in the living room…makes me so anxious, all the mess!! Lol