Independent Play + Toy Organization

(If you thought this was going to be a how-to on organizing toys, wrong you are. Sorry. I'm asking you about that.)

(Along with that, I'm continually confused by the spacing issues in this post. Sorry.)

Something I am eternally grateful for is that Wells know how to play. He's been doing independent play for maybe 15 months at this point. I noticed that it began when we went to a playgroup and he'd go straight for the toys and just start exploring and examining. Then, we'd go to a friend's house and, he'd bypass the other toddlers and go right for the room with all of the toys and get started. Even at my parents' house, he knows where the box of toys is and it's all I can do to get his shoes off before he runs for it when we walk in the door. 

At home, this is fantastic. He amuses himself most of the day, rarely asking me to play with him or wanting me to get involved (there's even some "go away mommy!" thrown in there). He's extremely independent. He usually just comes to me when he's ready to switch activities or ask for something he doesn't have ready-access to, like kinetic sand. 

I bought Scout a dog bed and Wells decided it was his. 

Currently, we're working on picking up toys before we move onto another activity. 

For what it's worth, he's like this outside too. He'll wander around forever, just looking at things.

Tucking Lambie in for a nap.

My big struggle at the moment is what-do-i-do-with-all-of-these-toys. I have no idea. I'm so tired of picking things up and putting them away. Do I get rid of things? It does hurt a little to pack up toys he's aged out of, but I cannot possibly keep everything when we move again this summer and it seems like we've accumulated an awful lot since we got to Kansas. I let that happen, simply because our house has the space for it. It's not even that I buy it all for him; it's that he has this capacity to play and we have very generous grandparents and a very generous babysitter and they've spoiled him. It does provide the opportunity for me to organize and the chance for me to teach him how to clean up and organize too. 

Along with this, I'm not a mom who likes to play. Yes, we do exist. And yes, I feel continually awful for it. I think it stems from the fact that I, as a kid, played independently because I preferred it. Wells might get that from me.

I came across an IG story by a very popular blogger who said she didn't like to play and that was "okay" and she didn't feel bad about it anymore and part of it is because her third child was an accident and she didn't really want her (I'm barely paraphrasing this, guys) and she felt a lot of guilt over not wanting to be pregnant when so many of her friends were struggling to get pregnant, so she really doesn't like playing with her (all while her child..who was old enough to understand, imo...was listening to her make this IG story). 

I wouldn't put myself into THAT category, at least. 

My big question is: 

How do you organize your toys? 

I finally figured out organizing his books, by the way. Since I didn't want to buy a shelf, I got these wire baskets at Target and they are sturdy and perfect for sitting on the floor, at his level. I like that they are easily accessible and not on a shelf, library-style. I keep a few downstairs as "coffee table books", but all of his other non-holiday books are in his room. Holiday books are packed up with the respective decorations. 

Stuff and Things 5/14

+Listening to Nick Offerman's book prompted me to finally start Parks and Rec on Netflix.  I'd tried it once or twice before and it never quite got off the ground for me.  This time, I'm enjoying it.  It literally only took 5 1/2 years.

+We had a bit of a mix-up for Mother's Day.  I emailed Scott asking if we should send his mom flowers (because I'm sick of mailing boxes basically).  That was Monday.  By Tuesday night, I was like, "Well, better just order them" because I hadn't heard anything back from him.  Then, I find out he did, indeed, send flowers and I had, indeed, sent flowers and so she got two flower deliveries.

+Before you go off thinking I'm a horrible person, I got my mom a gift instead of flowers and it'll be here for her to pick up when she visits next week.

+I just, a week ago, mailed the boxes I had to send out for March birthdays.  In May.  One was a gift I was supposed to send out for VALENTINE'S DAY.  That's how much I hate the post office.  A double order of flowers, in this case, was a very small price to pay.  Totally worth it.

Speaking of Mother's Day...

Scott sent me flowers from the dogs.

+And I can't believe I didn't realize before that this pretty much sums up my feelings on camping and being outdoors in general:

+Since I'm an indoor person, I spent Sunday afternoon organizing the pantry.  

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Neatness is a virtue

I want things neat.  Messiness doesn't bother Scott in the same way it bothers me.  He likes to know where things are and gets a kick out of organizing all his stuff, but it doesn't scrape at his soul when there's a mess lying about.  I don't deal well with messes.

However, one day a few weeks ago, Scott went pheasant hunting with some coworkers.  He took them out and they came back here to clean the pheasants.  I should tell you that we have a rule:  no dead animals in the kitchen.  You see, there was an incident once in which 15 snowshoe hare were skinned and gutted in the kitchen sink and I ended up finding clumps of gray fur on the floor and in the dishwasher.  I completely lost it. It was one of those moments that would go down in the history of our marriage.  Like, it would get a special subheading in a book:  Snowshoe Hare Incident. Scott's friend's house served as the gutting/skinning/shelling/cleaning/plucking station from that day forward.  It was sort of a legendary moment that set forth a proclamation of "Let's go to Taylor's house. We know we can't do that stuff here anymore". That was in March of 2011.  Scott knows that the fish and birds and carcasses must be dealt with outside.  Of course, on this day a few weeks back, it was only 10 degrees out and they had a lot of birds to ...clean.  So I granted access to the kitchen.  But first, I suggested the sink in the basement.  Weren't we thrilled to have that thing down there for this very purpose?  Why yes.  Would Scott escort his buddies through the basement and into the laundry room before the plucking and de-feathering could begin?  No.  He could not.  Because "it's kinda messy in the basement".  At least he had the good sense to look sheepish when he said it.  You see!  He does care.  While it doesn't shake him to the very fiber of his being like it does for me, messes DO bother him.  This felt like a small victory.

Birds were cleaned in my copper sink.

He also had the good sense to clean and sanitize the space.  And then I went over it again with more Lysol because that's just what I do.  It's a trust thing.

Anyway.

Last week, I continued my mission of get-rid-of-all-the-cardboard-boxes.  We still have a lot of things packed up in boxes that came from Alaska and we've spent hundreds on Rubbermaid tubs in the last few months but organization isn't cheap.

Basement before picture:

After:

Those are boxes full of my teaching stuff and all of our books that cannot go on the living room bookshelves (because I'm picky about that too).