As Children Grow...

...so does their stuff!

Did you catch up on my dilemma on "The Bounty of Children" yesterday? Well that post was published exactly eight months ago. Ok, well I thought it had been a year, but either way here's a check up on how we're doing in the kid "stuff" department.

Remember those bookcases? They are still the bane of my existence. You see, The Hubs loves how they look in that space. Truthfully, it is an odd space and those two bookcases just so happen to fit perfectly. However, that leaves me to keep those individual boxes occupied. And that is what I hate--having to keep just enough to justify having the bookcases. The Hubs says it doesn't matter if some are empty, but I personally think it would look weird. All you interior design junkies--what would you do with such a space? Would empty boxes look weird?

Let's move on to the content of those cubby holes. In the original picture, it was hard to know that all four teal bins were full to capacity. As for the non-bin toys, about half of the original items are gone now, like the puzzles, helmet, musical instruments, and books. In order to fill those spaces, I divvied up the bin items into various categories. Also? There are some new toys, thanks to birthdays. In all, I do believe there is MUCH less than the original photo. Yet, it still seems like WAY too much.

Here are the contents of the bins now:
Mish-Mash Bin-

Stuffy Bin (most filled)-

BALLS! Bin-

Vehicle Bin (most of these are handmade by their Great Grandpa)-

As for the boys' rooms, not much changed. Noah's room is void of the large cardboard box due to destruction and has added a tunnel (borrowed from my parents). The rocking horse originally in K's room also made the journey into Noah's room. Keegan's room is now set for a big kid...and a band. The original photo showcased a baby tummy time type toy along with a mirror. Well, the mirror has since been donated, and large plastic toy is back at Nana's house. In their place, the boys acquired a keyboard from their uncle and a drum set for K's first birthday thanks to good ol' Craig's List. The only other addition is a dual step-stool/bench made by their great grandpa. It's beautiful and awesome, but the sucky part is that we have no use for it other than the occasional photo shoot of the boys. For now it stays, unless one of you amazing readers has a great suggestion. Oh yeah, and that art easel I was on the fence with finally made it to Noah's school's yard sale. As much as they paint and draw, those efforts never seemed to make it to the easel.

Then there's the backyard wonderland. Monster trampoline (best investment ever) and slide/playhouse are still loving residents. Otherwise, one tricycle was moved out to make room for Noah's third birthday present--the pink bike he begged and begged and begged for, but has only sat on once. Baby pool was destroyed, so that had to head to the dumpster. Also in the yard is the basket of toys, which was not originally posted. That basket has been significantly pared down, mainly due to high heat and crap plastic joining together to create quickly and easily broken toys.

Finally, we have an area I completely forgot about in my original post: movies. Ok, so these aren't necessarily toys, but are definitely used for entertainment purposes. In the last eight months, we've gotten rid of a handful of movies and returned the majority of those that belonged to relatives. I would love to get rid of more, but I keep a few in the chance the internet or Netflix are out or for road trips. If you have kiddo movies, how many do you keep? I hate keeping "just in case items," but when a kid is sick, a movie day is in order (and often the only thing that keeps them still and resting).

And this concludes our toy update. We've pared down by about 30%. I want to pare down another 50%, but am not sure where to go from here. Truly, it's those damn bookcases. Has anyone else noticed too that as kids age their toys just get larger for awhile? The kitchen. The musical instruments. The outdoor paraphernalia. There may be fewer toys in number, but they take up so much more space. Thoughts on this dilemma? Is this one of those wait it out scenarios? Can you tell that for a parent, I'm not really into being a kid-friendly household? As much as I love our kids, I hate their stuff even more. I am torn.

So help a motha out, would ya?

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