[daisymommy]

I am currently re-reading Heaven on Earth. In it, she talks about the need to have the children's play area in the common room (ie. the living room or kitchen), because children want and need to be with us.

While I completely agree, I feel sad, because our rooms in this house are oh-so-small and can only hold so much. In our living room we have minimal furniture which still takes up most of the room, a large area rug for the kids to play on, and a shelving unit with baskets of kids toys in it. So there are 8 baskets of toys, books, and wooden puzzles in the main space. Definetly stuff to play with.

But the wooden play kitchen, play stands, dollhouse & farm, all the dress up stuff is in the downstairs basement play room. It's a very nice playspace, but DD and DS don't like to go down there a whole lot because they don't want to be alone

They just drag stuff back and forth from there all day long. But they can't bring their beautiful kitchen set or playstands, etc. up here.

Somehow I feel like a bad mom or something because I can't give them a Waldorfy play area in the main living space, the way I am reading that they need

Anyone else in my situation?

 

[LuxPerpetua]

We live in a small space too. I've definitely had those inadequate mom feelings because I'd love for my child to live on beautiful rolling acres with chickens and cows, and I'd love to be able to buy the entire Nova Natural catalogue, but then reality hits. She has more than enough. She does. She has wonderful parents who love her dearly, she has warmth, she has fun, she has food to eat . . . I'm not short-changing her just because I'm not perfect. It's one of those things that's just nice to repeat to yourself often (especially if you're a perfectionist like me!). Every year I try and rethink our living space and see if I can come up with a better arrangment--which, I think, is just kind of good practice even if I decide that nope, I can't make it any better. We don't have one playroom of things but rather each of our 3 main rooms has little nooks of playthings, and our living room is our primary space. I think the author's main point was that children want to be near their parents and that's important, not so much that you must have a huge living room with space for playstands, which means that maybe you could have as part of your daily rhythm time where you're all downstairs together or something. Would something like that work? I've also found that my dd's favorite toys are NOT the approved Waldorf ones, but rather things like pipe cleaners and paper clips . . . and really, those things are more Waldorf than things like wooden barns anyway. It can be a bit humbling after all that money I've spend on a gorgeous dollhouse, but I hold out hope that at some point in her childhood she'll play with it. *sigh*

 

[RoundAbout]

We live in a smallish place right now, but fortunately its very open so it helps because we can see each other from pretty much anywhere in the house.

I agree with the PP about maybe scheduling in some downstairs time as part of your daily rhythm. Frankly I'm a little envious because whenever I sit down to play with my son I get distracted by the laundry and the housework and everything else. The best play time we have together is once a week at a dedicated play group or when we are outside.

Other suggestions: bring ONE big thing up to the main living space each week and maybe even build a play theme around it with stories and stuff like barn toys with farm stories, farm songs, etc.

Maybe host some play groups/play dates with similar minded families once a week. The kids might be happier to play downstairs if it was a more social atmosphere with new friends.

 

[zech13_9_goforgold]

What about moving all the larger things upstairs and the smaller bins downstairs. It seems like it would be easier to move the smaller things up and down the stairs than the large things. Would you have room for that?

Also, would you have room to set up a bedroom downstairs instead of the play room. I know a family that put a love seat in a bedroom and put all their toys in there. Mom had a place to sit off the ground for bfing and such while the older kids could play. Then, they also had a more "formal" living room set up in a different room.

 

[daisymommy]

Thanks gals

While there really isn't any space at all for the big things--none--I really like the idea of scheduling time in during our daily rhythm to spend time together downstairs in the playroom. Hadn't thought of that one! I couldn't bring the baby down to nurse, lay on his blanket, bring a book for me, and still be accessible for games and play with DD.