Organizing E's Toys

I am pretty sure I previously mentioned that I rotate Eliza's toys. Eliza is learning to clean up after herself-sometimes. It is a work in progress. However, I think it is much easier for her to clean up when there are not too many things to mess up.

I am NOT a fan of toy boxes. I refuse to buy one for Eliza because I think toys end up broken, with missing pieces and mostly forgotten. There is nothing more annoying that attempting to play with a toy or game that has missing pieces. Up until now I have been storing E's toys in all kinds of hidden places around the house. It wasn't really working for me and Marcy suggested I try some clear plastic bins. SCORE! I love this idea. I purchased four clear bins to organize and rotate her toys. Now, every week or two I can just rotate the bins. As she receives new toys I will make adjustments to the bins.

Here is my plan. I would love to take pics but hubby has the camera on a photo shoot today.

Step one
Round up all of E's toys from various hiding places. I am going through them to check if anything is broken. Also, if she no longer is interested in a toy I will either find it a new permanent home or put it in storage for baby #2. So far, I have two missing pieces that I am attempting to track down. This is extremely annoying. I have searched high and low and still can't find the pieces. Hopefully, something will turn up soon.

Step 2
Arrange them into the bins. I plan to divide the puzzles up, stacking toys, sorting toys etc. so that there is usually one of each kind in each bin. I have a LOT of puzzles so I will either double up or or put some away for a long while.

Step 3
Find a place to put the bins! :) They need to be accessible to me but not to E!

One of our favorites!

One of my favorite toys for E is her play scarves. What I love is that they are so simple and open ended. She loves them as well and will play with them endlessly.

Here she is in action with her scarves.

and if she gets bored she can find creative uses for their container...

What's you stance on toy guns?

Yesterday I took Eliza for our usual evening stroll. This is one of my favorite times of day. Yesterday was no exception. The weather was beautiful, the birds were chirping and the sweet smell of honeysuckle filled the air. I used this time for quiet reflection. I tell you it is much needed after a day of boisterous kindergartner.

I usually walk all around my mom's neighborhood. I like to walk for an hour but sometimes I run out of places to go. One place I do walk is through a path at my old elementary school. It is a tiny little path with houses on the right and a wooded area on the left. There are usually kids playing basketball and and just hanging out enjoying the weather.

Anyway, on a previous walk I was just about to get to the path, which is right past the kids playground and a kid jumps out from behind the dumpster with a toy gun. It totally freaked my freak. It turns out that he wasn't trying to scare me- his friend was coming up on a bike behind me. Nonetheless, I just had the creepiest feeling. I am always on high alert when I have Eliza. I feel like a mother tiger ready to strike at the first sign of danger. My mom lives in a good neighborhood, but I am small and pretty much anyone could hurt me if they want to bad enough. I guess it is the wooded side of the path that scares me a little. Granted, I used to play in these woods all the time when I was in grade school and I never gave it a second thought. Now, I err on the side of safety and never walk there if it is too late or too dark. And I always carry my cell phone.

OK. I kind of got off topic. Anyway, yesterday I walked to the school and there were tons of kids playing. They were holding relay races; probably in preparation for a district track meet. Some kids were on bikes and skateboards and other kids were shooting hoops. Then I look behind me an I see two kinds, probably middle school age, walking with a big toy gun. Again, I was so creeped out by these kids. Unfortunately, I think they were going to play in the woods and were walking bend me on most of the path. So I spent most of my walk with a weird feeling in my gut.

I know they are kids and it shouldn't bother me that they are playing with toy guns. I don't care for guns- real or toy-they creep me out. Well, I don't think I would be scared of a musket. But I don't see too many people using muskets these days. I have had quite a bit of gang training in my school district and have seen countless pictures of kids holding guns. It is just scary to me and very sad.

All of this just got me to thinking about where I stand on kids playing with toy guns. I usually think of this as boy's toy- but who knows these days. I have to admit I don't think I would ever purchase a toy gun for my children. It just doesn't sit right with me. My husband said he played with them when he was little. And I guess he turned out okay. haha In my head I know that a well adjusted child can probably play with a toy gun, or a violent video game and everything will be fine. However, I always think there is a small number of children who just can't distinguish fantasy from reality and something terrible ends up happening.

What are your thoughts?