Toy rotation {How I made it work for us}

I saved my sanity by recently implementing a new toy rotation system for Leila's main play area.  After just one day of less toys and books around our home felt less cluttered, Leila started playing with "new" toys, and I didn't spend all day picking up after her various messes.

In the first post of this series, I shared what I learned about toy rotation from Kim at Little Stories and a fellow mom, Meagan.

With limited storage space and a play kitchen set that is always set-up in the living room, I was worried if I could toy rotation work in our tiny space.

I started by getting rid of the junk.  I tossed broken and junky prize toys, gave away toys with missing pieces, and boxed up toys that were too baby-ish for her.  I did the same with our books on the book shelf.  This left us with way fewer toys and books for the rotation than I had expected.  I couldn't believe how many baby toys I still had out for Leila to play with ignore.

Next, I sorted the toys we were keeping in for the rotation into one of 5 categories.  Instead of pulling all the toys off the shelves (again) I made lists of the toys we have in a notebook.  I figured this would help me when I was ready to switch the toys out in two weeks.  No more thinking required...I already did the most difficult part!

Here's what my list looks like:

Thinking Toys- choose 3

puzzles, bead maze, wooden stacking train, crayons/coloring books, Magna-Doodle, pounding set, blocks (we have 4 different sets), play-dough, magnets, shape sorter, art/crafts 

Moving Toys- choose 3

balls, foam climbing blocks, wagon, baby stroller*, keyboard, musical instruments, vacuum*

Pretending toys- choose 3

kitchen set, play food and dishes, tool set, shopping baskets/bags, dress-up clothes/accessories, baby crib, Little People house, Little People zoo, baby dolls, doll clothes, stuffed animals, baby diaper bag

SCLaNs- choose 1

anything that turns on and has buttons to push

*I realize some of these toys can fit into more than one category.  This is how I chose to do it based upon how many of toys we have for each category and what her current faves are.

See...not nearly as many toys as I thought.  Clearing out the junk and packing up the baby toys really helped.

Choosing toys to have out for the first rotation was easy using my list.  I picked the correct amount of toys from each category, found a tub for them, and set them on the shelf.  Ta-da!

For this rotation-Thinking toys: 1 puzzle, wooden stacking train, MegaBlocks
Moving toys: keyboard, stroller, ball
Pretending toys: kitchen, baby diaper bag/baby doll, Little People house and accessories

I also decided that we had way too much play food and dishes available in the kitchen set.  I put them all into a giant tub for storage and chose two cooking pots with lids, three place settings, and five food items.  The available kitchen toys are neatly in baskets that fit in the kitchen set.

Ahhhh...so much better.

You may have noticed that I left out her GIANT Minnie Mouse and considered her baby diaper bag with the baby doll one pretending toy.  I also left out two shopping buckets in the kitchen area and decided to always keep the crayons and coloring books on the top shelf, out of her reach, until they are officially part of the rotation.

The important thing to remember is that this is your toy rotation system now.  You need to be flexible, bend the rules if necessary, and make it work for you and your child(ren).

Now, what on Earth did I do with all of the toys left out from this first rotation?

Stay tuned for my next post in this series...

Toy rotation {Storage and books}

26 weeks {Bumpdate}

How far along: 26 weeks

Weight gain/loss:  After not stepping on the scale last week I was a little scared to see the Thanksgiving damage.  However, I did get weighed in at my doctor's appointment on Friday.  AND, the doctor had the nerve to tell me I had put on a little Thanksgiving weight.  Who says that?!  Especially since I only put on two pounds these past two weeks.  Total weight gain so far = 13.5 lbs  

Feeling: In the holiday spirit!  

Maternity clothes: Yes!  And what is it about maternity clothes?  Mine always seem to get the strangest stains.  Luckily I won't be wearing them for more than a few months.  

Stretch marks:  Nope.

Sleep: I am happy that belly gravity, when sleeping on my side, is not too bad.  I can easily wedge a pillow under it for comfort but its not necessary.

Best moment(s) this week:  Getting our Christmas tree up.  I loved listening to Leila squeal from excitement as she discovered an ornament she wanted to hang.

Food cravings: Peppermint coffee, peppermint chocolate, peppermint candy canes...

Gender: It's a boy!

Movement: Lots!

What I miss:  Getting my drink on while wrapping presents.  It's gonna be more difficult to get them wrapped without wine. 

What I'm looking forward to:  I have the 1-hour glucose test on Thursday.  That means I got a babysitter AND that I can use the rest of my day to get some shopping done, alone.

Weekly wisdom: It seemed like just last week I was saying, "Only 4 more months."  Well THAT month just flew by!  This is going much faster than my first pregnancy.

Milestones: His eyelashes have grown.  I sure hope they are long like Leila's!

Due date: 3-13-13

Unsolicited pregnancy advice

Back in 2010, when I was 35 weeks pregnant with Leila, I found out that two of my best friends from home were expecting their first child.  I decided to share with them some of the things I had learned along my journey. 

Now my youngest sister is 36 weeks pregnant with her first child (my first nephew!)  I revisited the list of advice I titled: Candid Pregnancy Advice from a VERY Pregnant Jen and sent it to her too.

Well...just today, I found myself NOT following my own advice! (Will I ever learn?)  So I figured it was time to revisit my list once again, to remind myself of what I learned the first time around, and share it with you.

Candid Pregnancy Advice from my VERY Pregnant Self:

• Trust your instincts! Enough said. 

• Do not research anything on the internet! Just like no one talks about how many people made it home safely (without getting shot, stabbed, in a car accident, or plane crash) the internet only tells the BAD stuff. Make a promise to yourself that you will not research pregnancy related symptoms online. 

• Yes it’s normal. What?!!? Yep…it’s normal. Anything you can imagine can and will happen to your body. Of course it is important to know the warning signs of something atypical but again, remember #1…trust your instincts. 

• Never look at your butt in the mirror. I am seriously sad that I did. Really…do not. (BIG MISTAKE that I made today!)

• Cellulite will appear in places you never expected. Think of it positively…my baby needs this or it wouldn't happen. 

• It is okay to eat deli meat, drink caffeine (200-300 mg is in a cup of coffee or a soda), hot dogs, AND...ice cream cures everything. 

• You will need to buy bigger underwear. Granny panties rock. 

• Wear your regular clothes as long as possible. Maternity clothes were very exciting at 16 weeks…not so much at 35 weeks when you are still wearing the same stupid maternity clothes. 

• Buy lots of clothes in bigger sizes.  What you wear in the 2nd trimester will not necessarily fit you in the 3rd trimester. 

• Don’t get hung up on the 25-35 lbs weight gain suggested to you by your doctor. It will make you cry and want to eat ice cream when you pass it up. (Unless, of course, your doctor says something to you specifically about your weight gain or lack of at an appointment. Mine laughed at me when I was concerned saying that no one really stays within those guidelines.) 

• Buy lots of toilet paper. You will pee 800 times a day/night. I sit down, pee, wipe, stand up and repeat (2 or 3x) before I am ready to leave the bathroom. Lean forward when you pee to get the last few drops out.

• You will be thirstier than you ever imagined. Water will keep you from major swelling, but 3rd trimester swelling will come. It will be funny when you can’t make a fist, see your ankle bones, have chubby knees, and fingerprints leave indents in your legs. 

• Everything (yes, even an apple) can give you heartburn and indigestion. Be smart and take Tums before you eat. 

• Prune juice is not so bad. Splurge on the good shit…the generic is just not the same. It works wonders and is totally necessary.   I drink it daily. Just close your eyes because it looks a little like au jus. 

• One word: EXERCISE. It boosts your mood, helps you poop, and keeps you from feeling bad about the shit you ate the day before. 

• Take weekly pictures of your belly. You will look back and laugh at when you “thought you looked pregnant” (me at week 10) and pray to just have that little bloated bump again someday! 

This last one is so true.  Here's the first bump picture of this pregnancy...
  

Huge at 13 weeks, huh?!

What would pregnancy advice would you need to remind yourself of the second (or third) time around?

Toy rotation saved my life!

Seriously though...how may times have you tripped over your child's toy, stepped on a small block, or pulled out your back cleaning up the mess of toys left out by your kid?

This fed-up Momma is begging you to rethink how you organize and store your child's toys. Not only will you feel like it saved your life, your child will secretly thank you too.

Our apartment is small...like teeny-tiny small, without a garage.  I work hard to make sure everything has a place, but sometimes it just gets out of control.

Take our main living area for example; it includes our television, couch, Lazy-boy, kitchen, kitchen table, Leila's toy shelves, her play kitchen, her mini-table, filing cabinets, end tables, and a tall bookcase that holds everything from Leila's books to over-sized kitchen items.  Let's just say we utilize every possible space possible, including the walls, for storage,

Here's some scary BEFORE pictures of the upstairs play areas.  As you can see I had a lot of sorting and organizing to do.  The worst part...I feel like I JUST organized this after her birthday in September and felt good about it.  Yikes.

Before: Toy shelves

Before: Kitchen area

Before: Upstairs bookshelf

I came across a pin on Pinterest about toy rotation that sparked my interest. The link ended up leading me to my friend Meagan's blog.  Meagan gave all the credit of her organizational system to Little Stories, an excellent resource focusing on early speech and language development.

At first I was surprised at all the toy and book organization tips on a speech blog, but after reading Kim's posts for newcomers I could see the relevance.  If you are interested in starting from the beginning check out these posts for newcomers.  They are quick reads and you'll be hooked on her blog immediately.

Toy Rotation {What I learned}

I searched Little Stories blog for the posts about toy rotation.  I read them all, then read them again.  Here's what I learned from Kim's posts.

• Get rid of junk!  Broken toys, toys that have missing pieces, toys that are too baby-ish, and toys that are just junk (think freebies from Chuck E. Cheese) need to go.  Donate them, recycle them, or store the baby-ish ones for a future child...just get them out of the play area.

• Categorize and sort toys that are left into one of these five categories (for further descriptions read here):

1. Thinking toys (cognitive and fine motor toys)
2. Moving toys (gross motor toys)
3. Pretending toys (toys that help develop social/emotional skills and language)
4. SCLaNs (Shapes, Colors, Letters, and Numbers electronic button-pushing toys)
5. Books 

• Make sets of ten toys to have out at a time.  Choose 3 thinking toys, 3 moving toys, 3 pretending toys, 1 SCLaN, and 5-10 books depending on your child's age.

• Store the rest of the toys out of the play area, out of sight.

• Rotate the toys in each category every two weeks.

• Watch your child rediscover and take interest in her toys!  Save your life by having less toys to clean up, trip over, or step on!

Stay tuned for my next post in this series...

Toy rotation {How I made it work for us}