Please help me! I am going crazy with the constant mess with my twin toddlers. There are so many toys (lots of gifts from the grandparents) and I just need some ideas for storage solutions. We have lots of woven trunks, baskets, etc. and it never seems to be enough. I seriously don't think they need a million toys right?

I am setting up their bedrooms and wanted it to be very organized so they can put their own toys away. (They are almost 16 months and love cleaning). I was thinking of maybe some wall pegs with canvas bags or something? What else? How do you keep your regular living spaces livable for adults?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: jovtfam4,

when you find the answer, I'd love to know! I have 4 kids that range in age from 9 to 15 months and I am forever cleaning up toys! I have baskets and bins and a huge armoire that house toys, yet they never find their way back. I thinks it's inevitable.

quote:

Originally posted by jovtfam4:
Please help me! I am going crazy with the constant mess with my twin toddlers. There are so many toys (lots of gifts from the grandparents) and I just need some ideas for storage solutions. We have lots of woven trunks, baskets, etc. and it never seems to be enough. I seriously don't think they need a million toys right?

I am setting up their bedrooms and wanted it to be very organized so they can put their own toys away. (They are almost 16 months and love cleaning). I was thinking of maybe some wall pegs with canvas bags or something? What else? How do you keep your regular living spaces livable for adults?

WE've got a bunch of those brightly coilored toy bins that are suppose to go on a little shelf thingie. Each bin has a label with a picture of what belongs in thier. (Like Dora and Diego pictures are on the box for the Dora and Diego toys, My Little Pony pictures on the My Little Pony box, etc)

I also went to Home Depot and bought a large cabinet, I found it in the closet section, but it looks like a kitchen pantry cabinet, only all white with doors that have a trim detail (Piad like $150 I think) and the girls but all of thier toys into the bins and then the bins go into the cabinet.

About once a month I go through thier toys and seperate the ones they don't play with and the ones they've outgrown. The outgrown ones get donated, the others get put up for a while to get rotated back into toy circulation after a few months (it's like getting a new toy all over again without having to buy it.)

Hopes this helps you out a little bit, or gives you inspiration to come up with something. Best of luck, toys always seem to multiply until they are overtaking the house LOL

Oh and I love it when my brother (28) comes over and says, "When I have kids they won't have all these toys. I will just make them some handmade wooden blocks and that's it." I said, "Oh don't worry I am saving all these toys for your kids!" We have an armoire full of toys too. It seems that the stuff that is put away doesn't get used. They just play with whatever is out. And their favorite toys of course are mommy's pots and pans or the cupboard full of tupperware and travel mugs. It just seems so crazy sometimes. We don't even buy our kids all this stuff. Other people do. It's like we don't have any control over the influx of toys.

My kids are 1 and 3 and I've resigned myself to the fact that everyone who knows me knows that I have children and they will see toys when they drop over. That being said, when we have gatherings, I try to remove all the "floor toys" (Learning Table, Learning House, Cranium fort, etc.) and put them in the basement out of site.

On a regular basis, we have a toy chest and lots of canvas bins in our family room that we keep on bookshelves. I got the bends in dark brown so they don't stick out like sore thumbs when put away.

Gather them all up and put most in boxes in the basement TEMPORARILY. Then forget about them. Your kids will too .

Ha, ha. I know, couldn't I just pack them away and then give some of them back to them for Christmas? Is that mean? I mean they just got this big Fisher Price Loving Family doll house from the in laws, (it's used by looks pretty darn good after I cleaned it up) and I thought, "Shouldn't kids learn that getting big toys like that is a treat?" I don't want them just getting doll houses and such on a weekly basis. So I put it away for some special event.

Hi Jovtfam4, I'm CER.
I don't post much anymore but check in periodically.
I have two boys, five and two and I would like to share with you a few experiences and ideas.
I did not start having children until I was 37 and I had been married for almost 7 years. I worked a full time job but was able to keep up the house, make something somewhat creative for dinner AND do the laundry.
After Charlie was born I quite my job and thought I'd take up gardening to fill ALL that extra time I was going to have now that I was a stay at home mom. HA!
I went as far as trying my hand at compost.
I have always been somewhat of an "over achiever" and I've learned that nothing can humble you like parenting. By the end of the summer the weeds in my garden stood over 10 ft tall. When I got around to cleaning up that mess I had to take hedge trimmers to it.
More over the sad truth is that I would become increasingly resentful at my new born because I did not having the time to make my home magazine perfect looking. I was sure there must be something wrong with him because he needed SO much attention!
I hated the toys. All those primary colors clashed with my earth tones. Not to mention I was buying all these toys and my sons favorite object was a pair of kitchen tongs.
My husband is one of those everything has to look good types too so I had that fueling my fire.
Charlie did help with the laundry though, he set on the dryer and threw in articles of clothing in for me and it became a wonderful way to teach counting and colors.
To make a long story short when number two came along the new routine was shaken up and I went through a new stage of shock. And things only got worse...
Now I don't resent my children that my life and home are not immaculate, I resent the commercial industry for making me feel like less of a human because my home is not magazine perfect.
As woman we are sold on the notion that we can achieve this and be mothers as well but our experience is the exact opposite.
I'd like to redeem several moments of my first sons first year and go back and relax and enjoy. And it's something I have to tell myself frequently.
Don't get me wrong...my home is clean but on top of that clean is 20 match box cars and twice as many legg os...which all get left in the dust for the kitchen tongs, bugs under rocks (I have my kids outside whenever possible)kitchen pots and pans and sometimes real ingredients to pretend cook. They still think they want toys but they don't. They still get them and they get gathered up daily and put in a huge basket, sometimes to be taken back into the bedroom they never play in only to be dragged back out so forth so on etc...
Relax, enjoy.
I hope you have a helpful husband. Those are nice

This message has been edited. Last edited by: CER,

Thanks CER. I feel pretty relaxed about it most of the time, then it just gets overwhelming and I want to scream. I want my house to look nice, but I also really want it to be safe for my kids. I realized there are too many toys out when they start side stepping around stuff on the floor and I think, "Isn't that nimble of them, learning to move around things so well." One thing my kiddos love doing is "cleaning." I use a beater to whip up a bit of Dawn and water to a big bowl of frothy bubbles and I give them sponges and dish clothes and let them wash the floor, windows, cabinets. They love doing this. They really seem to put in effort to get the food off the floor where their high chairs sit. Then I take a wet cloth when they are done and wipe things down. Things actually get clean this way, and because I whip up the bubbles there isn't really that much soap on things.

My husband almost talked me into getting a flat panel LCD tv for our family room because the massive tv and corner cabinet we have now is blocking a huge under the stair area that could be a fine toy closet. I had to step back and say, "I am going to spend $1000 for a big toy storage closet?" It actually sounds well worth the money.

Anyway, I'm glad others are in the same boat. P.s. I love your coffee table!

quote:

Originally posted by qtpiemrw:
My kids are 1 and 3 and I've resigned myself to the fact that everyone who knows me knows that I have children and they will see toys when they drop over. That being said, when we have gatherings, I try to remove all the "floor toys" (Learning Table, Learning House, Cranium fort, etc.) and put them in the basement out of site.

My daughter has the Cranium fort too...Isn't that thing HUGE when it's all up...

On a regular basis, we have a toy chest and lots of canvas bins in our family room that we keep on bookshelves. I got the bends in dark brown so they don't stick out like sore thumbs when put away.

And my husband just came home for his lunch break and cleaned the entire family room for me. He said, lay down and take a break. I made him a sandwich, and he cleaned and then he grabbed it and went back to work. That is nice.

Wow, I think if I had a Cranium fort in my house I would climb in it myself sometimes and hide from all the toy mess!

I didn't have time to read all the posts so I may be repeating info. My guys are 3 and 5. I got some nice size see-through plastic containers with lids at The Container Store. I put all the Hot wheels and tracks in one container, all the wood train stuff in another, etc. I just stack them up in their closets and have a shelf in the garage too. Then I rotate the toys so they play with Kid Knex and Trains for awhile then the Megaboks, then something else. But I gotta say our place is still a total mess every afternoon. LOL!!

CER, your post really hit home to me. So true.

For me, it is also the inlaws who buy my kids 90% of all their stuff. Multiply that by 3 and I feel completely overwhelmed at times. Sorry I can't help you with the storage organization. I have found that when I moved the majority of the stuff down to the basement, the kids are better able to manage the stuff they have upstairs and actually play with it! Must add, it is also those same inlaws who seem to think everything should be perfect... Luckily DH doesn't mind the clutter and does help out. I do try to remember that this stage is so short and someday we will be missing it (all too soon.)

Good luck, and when you find the perfect solution, please share!!!

I think you are talking about the coffee table in the first pic I posted which was very fuzzy, so I posted a new one and there is no coffee table.
You have a great husband!
I know what you mean about nibble children. I watched my son wind his way through a junk room in almost complete darkness to get to a computer when he was about 11 months old. He was wearing green pajamas...it's etched in my memory with the unbelief he could manage that maze.

Yes Melk, someday when our kids are out past their curfew driving the family vehicle we will wish we were still getting legg o pieces stuck between our toes in the middle of the night while they are tucked away safely in their beds.

Heres a picture of a recent cook off the boys had on that very coffee table JOV. I drag it in on the vinyl floor and let them go to town.
Thanks for the tip, next time they can clean it up.
PM if you ever want to mom vent with me.

the dastardly duo

OKay, so mine are not toddlers anymore but I can so relate to what you are going through. I have 4 children, a 12 yr old, two 10 yr olds and an 8 yr old. I did really well keeping up the house until the twins came along and I learned not to sweat it. I did the best I could but understood that my kids were not going to remember that I tried to keep a perfect house but that I took the time to be with them, to spend time with them instead of cleaning all the time. Anyone who comes to your home should understand that you have kids. Your doing great by teaching them to clean. I had a big basket that I kept in my LR. At the end of the day, we would all play clean up and place all the toys in the basket where we would then take it and put them in the proper places in their rooms. When they got older, whatever was left in the basket by the end of the week got donated. It really helps to have a play room but no matter what, their toys always end up in places they are not supposed to be. I know this sounds really crazy but one day you are gonna miss this! Don't worry too much about your house right now....enjoy the time you have with your children.

Hi there. I have a 14 month old, so I'm sure we don't have the toys you have with 2 toddlers...but, I bought a beautiful cherry toy chest from Babies R Us that is in the family room, plus a basket with all her books. We also have the learning table and the Fisher Price Laugh & Learn kitchen set in our FR.
I've been thinking of getting one of these for her room:
http://www.target.com/Whitmor-Kids%E2%80%99-12-Bin-Orga.../601-2234029-8364142