Taken Over By Toys

Among the many things the Gerber family is stressed about (flu, major asphalt face plants, SAHM identity crisis), one that always rears its head (especially as we think of putting the house on the market) is the crazy amount of kid stuff we have.

OMG.

It's like kudzu. It covers everything in sight unless constantly kept in check. Our preschool is about to have a consignment sale, and I'm considering a major streamlining.

I've been inspired by this family found via Little Green Notebook. Look at this playroom! The simplicity, the organization, the cleanliness. Amazing.

A mother of three, Lisa Mahar owns Kid O, a store that sell materials (not toys) for preschoolers, and says this of Toys R Us-type toys: 

"At best they’re pointless. At worst they’re harmful....There’s a lot of manipulation generally used for selling the product. And the images or the characters themselves are simply uninteresting, violent, insignificant, silly. I think it also takes away from children’s creativity in creating characters themselves." 

Her children's rooms inspire me to add more natural materials (like the shells) and living things (like the plants). 

Her entire house makes me feel like I've just taken a yoga class: calm & centered.

Says Lisa, "I’ve actually found if you’re really careful about how you set up a child’s room, to make sure that you give them that absolute best things that really interest them, that they find valuable, they actually do take care of their rooms.

My children do not mess up their rooms and they do put their things away. My two-year olds are little less good at putting things away, my five-year old is exceptional."

What do you think? Is this an unattainable dream? How do you organize your toys?