Did I go overboard?

[JesseMomme]

Last night I was having a bad night. I chased messes all day, and the baby kept whimpering for my attention (where was my sling?) he's just so heavy to carry around for more than a half hour or so with just my arms - anyways - I even got to have a nap but still was in a bad mood. I made dinner and they didn't want it. An hour later I knew I had to tackle the mess in their bedroom, they had all of their toys everywhere and had emptied a few clothes dresser drawers, again. And the sun was setting and I knew I wouldn't be able to see, as they broke their lamp last week.
So I got the baby and got both of my boys and took them all to their room, and I set the baby down in the crib so I cuold work and he'd be safe for ten minutes, and tried to get the boys engaged in "helping mommy" but they refused, now I wasn't surprised to see my almost 2 yo wasn't interested so I didn't push it, but my almost four year old....so I picked up what must have been 300 legos etc etc thinking about how I'd have to do it yet again in a day or so, so I put everything in the toybox in a flurry, put the lid on the toybox, and put the whole thing in their closet. Then I found a child safety thingy (so that toddlers can't open certain doors) and put it over the doorknob.
So now, 95% (what escaped was what I didn't see and their stuffed animals) are totally locked away out of my sheer fustration.
Today, they seem to be surviving...but I felt like I was punishing them for being normal kids getting their toys everywere....I think we do have way too many toys, I don't know what happened, it just got out of control. Today has been so much easier for some reason! I haven't stepped on a single lego! (Those things hurt!) The house isn't a disaster! They haven't even asked for or tried to get to them, but I still feel guilty....

[Mallory]

Well after christmas I got rid of half of our toys- like if we had six building systems (blocks, legos, duplos, lincoln logs, ect) we got rid of 3.

I also got rid of almost all of our books, and try a lot harder to get to the library. I hate rereading the same 6 books all month anyway.

It was amazing how much more they played with thier toys, and even if most of them are on the floor it isn't too bad to leave or pick up. So I say get rid of some or even a lot. It will be great!

[Trishy]

I know just what you mean. One day dh and I were talking about how ds has way too many toys and the next he brings home a huge back of super blocks that his boss had at work and told him he could take home. Yeah they are nice blocks but all ds does is pile them all in front of the gate. My mother lives in New York and does not see ds often so she sends a package at least every two months filled with clothes and toys. Most of the clothes he does not wear and most of the toys he just throws around the room. A couple of weeks ago I went to Wal-Mart and got a small toy box for about $8. I picked out the toys he plays with most and filled the box. Then I put the super blocks on the bookshelf. The stuffed animals went in his cubby in the entertainment center and there is a pocket on his workshop that I use to store books in. All of the other toys went upstairs into our bedroom. The old toybox went up there and is about half full. Every day after his nap he spends at least 30 minutes playing with his toys. This gives me a chance to clean the bathroom that is just across the hall or to take a shower. I also bring laundry up there to fold while he is playing. I have thought of donating a lot of this stuff but my mom has bought most of these and I know it would hurt her feelings if I got rid of them.

[mamui]

Yeah, I'd just leave them up there if I were you. At some point the oldest will probably request to play with the legos and them you can get them down for him. tel him in a kind voice that he will need to put them babk away in the box when he is finished or they will be put away again. He should be able to make a decision about what to do. Whatever he chooses, just react calmly. Say "Thanks for putting those legoes away" if he does or "ok now I will put them away in the closet" if he dosen't. Don't overreact either way.

I notice my dd does way better in picking up her toys when she has very few out. I try to rotate them. Also the open ended "toys" most of which aren't manufactured to be toys get used more often and for longer periods.

[JesseMomme]

Well, I did this Thursday night, and it was finally today (Sunday afternoon) when they asked if they could have a few toys to play with. Well Kieran did anyways. (and anything Kieran does, Donovan follows suit) SO I opened the door and let them pick out a few things they wanted, and then shut the door. I kept meaning to have them help me pick it back up but I kept forgetting LOL b/c the "mess" wasn't all that bad, FInally! I have no problem at the moment waiting until tomorrow night to do it.
All weekend was wonderful. I wasn't going crazy and the kids did fine w/ just a few things to play with. We have cabin fever though but I have combating it games of memory, reading, and watching movies (yeah I am bad about that, we must have seen Harry Potter 200 times by now) and getting dh to take at least one of the older boys with him when he runs errands.
I think one of these weekends when I get a good spurt of energy/motivation I am going to really pick through and donate what they don't seem to play with - most things in there are pretty new, mostly gifts from relatives, etc. It would look as if we went on a toy shopping spree but really it is just a four year accumulation. It did seem to me though that it was litterally overnight LOL but now that I have thought about it.
Books and clothes are another issue too. Their dresser is full, the closet is full, and the storage space has tons of boxes of clothes, and I have bags and bags in the storage waiting for dh tot ake them to the SA if he can ever rememeber to. :
That would be combo of anyone who has boys older than mine handing stuff down to me, which I'm always thankful for, and Dh who loves to clothes shop (who knew :LOL)
The books I either set atop their dresser or threw in the toybox, and Donovan has destroyed most of them already - so I think I am going to try the top shelf in the closet.
This weekend I felt sane, I no longer feel guilty at all!! (I deserve a moment of sanity right?)

[sleepies]

im guilty of lego hiding

i put all our legos into a big plastic box and will get them out IF and WHEN anyone ever asks.

so far no one has said a word.

i think we have over $500 in fancy legos (no joke) and no one touches them.....except me picking them up.

i hide them.

[JesseMomme]

Re: im guilty of lego hiding

Originally posted by sleepies


i think we have over $500 in fancy legos (no joke) and no one touches them.....except me picking them up.

i hide them.

Are you sure you are not talking about my house?
My Dh works for a bookstore adn they did a Lego kiosk over the holidays, and so he had many a fancy smanchy lego sets to bring home, like Harry Potter and Star Wars. He put together the Hogwarts train and Aragog sets and set them on our bookshelf to show off, well, temptation city to my toddler!! (Could have killed Dh) So finally DH relents and let's Kieran play with the train, saying, Oh I'll put it back to gether (yeah all 700 pieces dear?) Oh he won't be able to take it apart! Well guess who has been picking up train wreck and spider bits for the past three weeks. I finally hid those Thursday night too. I still look on the carpet and go "Is that the minature Hedwig, or a piece of cereal?"