Experiment

It's been a rough week! I'd planned to blog more this week to keep hubby smiling and up to date on the girls since he left for Valdosta on business Sunday evening. But, life got the best of me, and I've been trying really, really hard to declutter our living quarters as the stuff is driving me absolutely nuts! Did I mention that I'm sick too, and I think I've run a fever every day since Sunday evening? Of course, that goes hand and hand with hubby being out of town. And of course Sophia is teething, sick and wakes me 3 to 4 quite possibly 5 times a night! I'm not complaining, just stating the facts.

If it were up to me, the purchase of toys would come to a complete halt. I have watched Sophia's first year fly by way too fast, and it has occurred to me that I haven't truly enjoyed her because I've been completely overwhelmed with the amount of toys in this house. I spend more time cleaning up Annabelle's messes than I do reading books and playing Barbies.

So this week (or this year really) I've made a commitment to simplify our lives. If we don't LOVE it, it goes! I have thrown stuff away left and right, and I filled a 70 quart Sterilite storage box with puzzles that will be used, but that doesn't need to be left out for little hands to pull out just to pull out and not even use. Hmmm...perhaps a 70 quart box filled with puzzles is too many puzzles. My goal is to dispose of all toys with little educational value and rotate those toys which instill creativity such as games, puzzles, Lego's, and Bristle Blocks.

Annabelle (nor Sophia for that matter) does not need more than two dolls. She doesn't play with them anyway. And the stuffed animals have got to go!

So we'll see how this little experiment of mine goes. I have been inspired quite some time by the author and columnist John Rosemond. I just haven't been able to dump the toys faster than they have entered our house. The thought that Sophia has a 1st birthday in less than a month makes me quite anxious. I don't want to lose momentum. But, I want ALL of us to enjoy our lives a little more instead of despising the very home we come home to and spend time in.

Exploding Imagination

Do you see what I'm talking about? Random "toys" created from trash. Please tell me that my child is not the only strange toddler who does this.

Those white styrofoam things you see. That is packaging for a Crockpot I bought months ago and finally decided to open at Christmas. I hadn't discarded of the box yet, and last night, I pulled out some of the plastic and cardboard packing and tossed it. But, I left the white styrofoam things and the box to use to pack away some wine bottles to make this house look more open.

Speaking of wine, anyone need any? We have 12 full, unopened wine bottles that have been collecting dust for the better part of 8-9 years. We rarely drink wine, and we never drink wine at home, so I'm not even sure why I'm packing these bottles. I should just toss them!

Anyhow, back to my story. So, Annabelle, again on her own without prompting, decided to use these white styrofoam things to build a house. She found them in the Crockpot box too. They weren't just lying around. Well, according to Annabelle, each individual hole between the white styrofoam turned out to be bedrooms, one for me and one for her.

So, she added a door to her bedroom. The door is the princess lap desk. And, she placed some things into our bedrooms to make us feel more at home. Her room included her sticker book, a box of crayons, a pine cone and blue rocks. My room included blue rocks. The pillow you see was to be shared by the two of us. She placed it between the rooms on the interior walls.

The best part? She actually used her door to enter her bedroom.

She's a character, isn't she?

Toys for a Three Year Old

If you are in the market for toys for a three year old for a birthday, etc., you may want to take note of this list. Well, this list will start off small and gradually grow as I think of things to add.

I don't know about all of the other parents out there, but my sweet child rarely plays with those nice toys that everyone buys her that just clutters my house to no end. Instead, she just uses her imagination with my stuff or trash for that matter! I've added a date since I plan to grow this list during this year while she's still my little toddler.

1. Empty Christmas envelope from Aunt Mary (December 2009) - Used as "wrapping paper" to "wrap" presents for her Mommy. She would say to me, "Here you go Mommy. Do you want to open your present and see what's inside?" She had stuffed the envelope with random "gifts" for me. This empty envelope has been sitting on my kitchen counter since December because at first I was afraid she would ask for it again after I had thrown it away and then I've been meaning to blog about it so it has laid there as a reminder to me. And now, it is time to throw that envelope away! Rid my house of this clutter!!!

2. Cedar blocks and cedar hanger rings (January 2010) - Used as "chicken nuggets." Oddly enough, she even received a McDonald's play food set for Christmas. But, like I said, what three year old really needs toys when they've got an imagination!

3. Empty child-sized McDonald's cup with lid (January 10th, 2010) - She considered using to make a "rattle." See #4 below. She thought of using the McDonald's cup first. She told me we could put grapes in it to make it rattle. My thoughts were, "You've been hanging out with Grandmama way too much! This is a piece of trash that we discard. It is not to be used as a rattle."

4. Silo cups (January 12th, 2010) - Used to make a "rattle." On her own, without me even saying a thing, she placed a crayon inside of a red cup and then placed a pink cup on top of the red cup facing the opposite direction of the red cup and said, "We can make it into a rattle." Yes, I guess we could. Or, we could just drink out of them! I did offer to tape them together though.

5. Styrofoam packaging from a Crockpot box (January 13th, 2010) - Used to make bedrooms. See blog post, "Exploding Imagination" on January 13th for more detail.