If you've read the book, Simplicity Parenting,

[Runningmom80]

This book

 

Did you implement any of the author's suggestions? If so, are they lasting changes, were they changes that were worth the work?

 

If you started and stopped, why?

 

 

I just finished it, and my mind is going non stop. It's going to be a big to-do list in this house! :laugh:

[PhotoGal]

I really enjoyed the book. I don't think I have changed too much, though I am more aware of not overloading our schedule. I also did a lot of decluttering last summer as well as attempting to store things so they are not visible in the environment (behind doors or in bins). I should really reread that book!

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

Loved the book. We don't have a ton of "stuff", but I managed to get rid of about half the kids' toys anyway. Very happy with the change. We no longer have a single battery operated toy besides snap circuits.

 

Our schedule was already pretty open, but I am finding recently that I need to get a bit more vigilant about keeping us loosely scheduled.

 

We don't own a TV, and we try to filter out "adult ideas" in general conversation.

 

I'm very, very happy with the general philosophy.

[Neige]

I listened to the audiobook, and I find myself going back time and again to different parts of it. I really like the philosophy, and it fits pretty well with what we were doing already (no TV, etc.).

[Runningmom80]

The toys and the tv will be the biggest challenge. I've relied on the tv as a babysitter while I cook dinner. I'm brainstorming now other ideas for my twins. The 6 year old doesn't watch much, but the 2 year olds do. :(

[briansmama]

The limited media exposure was the biggest take-away for me- I read it when my dc were still pretty young and they didn't watch TV yet anyways, but even as they've grown we still strongly limit screen time and media exposure.

 

The book is a good one- right up there with Hold on to Your Kids, IMO.

[Deee]

This book comes out of the Steiner/Waldorf community. We started out as Steiner homeschoolers (actually we spent 4 years involved in a Steiner School before homeschooling). The transition to no media is hard, but cold turkey is the easiest way. Put a cloth over the TV during the day. Out of sight, out of mind. It stops dominating the living space in your home. Tell the kids that you have learned that TV isn't so good for young children and that only the adults will watch it after the kids are in bed (and you have to then live by this. If you or DH must sneak TV in, do it somewhere the kids don't go). The kids will scream and kick for a couple of weeks, you will be the meanest parents alive, they will have no friends, etc. Eat chocolate/drink wine/whatever - this phase will pass. Once your kids rediscover how to amuse themselves, they'll forget about the TV and stop asking for it. But you'll have 2-4 weeks of whingeing to deal with in the interim. You can make this easier by organising their toys onto shelves, rather than piled in a heap, tossing rubbishy toys or setting up a toy rotation, as well as scheduling something nice to do together during peak TV time (not so good when cooking dinner - I use to put DS in the bath (close to the kitchen in our house) or sit him up on the kitchen bench for a chat while cooking. Play dough is another good "cooking dinner" activity).

 

HTH

D

[SFM]

I am reading it and really liked it. I implemented the toys philosophy, we already have a very moderate t.v. policy in place. I have not finished it but I really have enjoyed it so far and find myself agreeing with a lot of the philosophy.

[PeacefulChaos]

I haven't read it but it looks really interesting!

I'd never heard of it before now. :) Just added it to my list...Thanks!

[kdownie]

I've read the book and we especially followed the toys principles. I felt it was a very high compliment when my mother in law visited from out of town, looked at the kids' bedrooms and asked "What do they play with?" because they have few toys. The kids are very inventive and will use all kinds of random things along with their imaginations. We have had a "no toys for gifts" policy the last 2 Christmases, and it has been wonderful. I can't think of any battery operated things they own besides flashlights.

My husband would like for us to implement it even more. We have recently started cracking down on the tv watching, and the kids haven't made a big deal out of it. If it weren't for the sports my husband and I like to watch, we would simply get rid of cable.

[Runningmom80]

This book comes out of the Steiner/Waldorf community. We started out as Steiner homeschoolers (actually we spent 4 years involved in a Steiner School before homeschooling). The transition to no media is hard, but cold turkey is the easiest way. Put a cloth over the TV during the day. Out of sight, out of mind. It stops dominating the living space in your home. Tell the kids that you have learned that TV isn't so good for young children and that only the adults will watch it after the kids are in bed (and you have to then live by this. If you or DH must sneak TV in, do it somewhere the kids don't go). The kids will scream and kick for a couple of weeks, you will be the meanest parents alive, they will have no friends, etc. Eat chocolate/drink wine/whatever - this phase will pass. Once your kids rediscover how to amuse themselves, they'll forget about the TV and stop asking for it. But you'll have 2-4 weeks of whingeing to deal with in the interim. You can make this easier by organising their toys onto shelves, rather than piled in a heap, tossing rubbishy toys or setting up a toy rotation, as well as scheduling something nice to do together during peak TV time (not so good when cooking dinner - I use to put DS in the bath (close to the kitchen in our house) or sit him up on the kitchen bench for a chat while cooking. Play dough is another good "cooking dinner" activity).

 

HTH

D

 

 

That does help a lot! Thank you. :)

[quark]

We moved a lot throughout DS's early childhood and I was frequently giving stuff away as a result so I was naturally already implementing the suggestions re clutter. I have always been very overwhelmed by clutter (while DH and DS are avid collectors of anything that attracts dust bunnies) so it was nice to see the author validating those concerns lol.

 

The book was one of the factors that led to our currently very relaxed schedule. I haven't read it in a few months but it's always there on my nightstand and it is a good reminder to me to simplify.

[MrsH]

I also really loved this book and is one of my favorites, along w/ How to Talk so Kids Will LIsten and Listen so Kids Will Talk.

 

I love the concept of treating a soul fever as it really helps me to pull my kids in close when they're being so difficult. We light candles during dinner and that's been a delightful change.

 

Toys are mostly stored away on shelves and we rotate them regularly w/ ones in the basement. Only a few puzzles are out, rather than all 25. But they do puzzles regularly and so we just go down and pick new ones, trading out what we keep in our living areas. Toys still creep in but it's much more contained these days.

 

I love the section on rhythms. Each night, we preview the next day, and Sundays at dinner we pull out the calendar and plan our week. Many of our transitions have found a pleasant rhythm (though not all yet!) and we inserted a more intentional "snack time" in the afternoon, where we all sit together and hang for a bit.

 

Screentime is more and more limited, though continues to be a huge motivator at times. However, I think we've reached a point where we don't watch any tv about 3 days a week, and on the days that we do it's no more than an hour. I do notice a difference between when we have more screentime and when we have less.

 

I've read the book maybe 5 times now, and each time I walk away with a list of changes I'd like to implement. I really have to challenge myself to focus on only a few changes, to keep it manageable. I love his idea of staying close, insisting, and following through. It takes time and patience but really pays off when we can do it. It's a wonderful book to re-read, full of practical advice and ideas, and each time I still get new ideas for what might work for our family at this point.

[TKDmom]

I loved that book. I need to reread it. I dumped half the kids' toys without them noticing. I want to go through and do it again. Every so often, I also thin out kids' books that I hate to read out loud. It's very freeing to be able to let go of some of the "stuff" that clutters up our house. I have one ds who is particularly attached to "things" and gets upset when I thin out their stuff, so it is hard to do much more than I already have, and new toys are always creeping in. .

 

My new step-mother came to visit us recently and commented on how much stuff our kids have. Sigh. My only excuse is that there are 6 of us in a 3-br house and I have all this homeschooling stuff and no basement...but still I feel like we need to pare down. Dh and his excitement over Christmas shopping thwart my efforts to pare down every year. ;)

 

I had never thought about the idea that noise clutters up your house before reading this book. We don't allow electronics on Sundays, and dh pointed out to our kids last week that they seem to have a lot more fun on Sundays than they do the rest of the week. Deee, I think I'll have to implement some of your ideas. My youngest two show disturbing signs of screen addiction. :glare: I suppose I should lead by example. No hanging out on the Internet when I should be snuggling up on the couch with dd3 and a good book.

 

I had forgotten about simplifying schedules. That is something that I need to look at again. I am over scheduled and heading towards burnout right now.

[Runningmom80]

My 2.5 year old shows signs of screen addiction! She loooves smart phones. I've stopped letting her play with mine. I also need to lead by example.

[birchbark]

It is one of my favorite parenting books as well. We've had lasting changes from it, and I love what they've done to our home atmosphere. One of the most helpful parts for me is where he talks about overloading schedules for young children. It was so freeing to realize that it was okay --maybe even beneficial-- if my kids weren't signed up for every activity/club/sport that is available.

 

If you like this book, you might also enjoy Mitten Strings for God.

[....]

Did you implement any of the author's suggestions?

 

Yes! Here's what I focused on:

 

1. Creating rhythms in our schedule and family traditions. This was always a big problem for us. I even instituted a mandatory bakery day on Friday. ;) Every Friday, we go to this little bakery and buy breakfast. Each day of the week has its own set of activities, so my kids know what to expect and our week definitely has a set rhythm to it.

 

2. Decluttering. Yep. We had a little *ahem* clutter problem. :leaving: All I can say is, "Not anymore." That made a huge difference in our home environment. Kids need open spaces in the home to play, set up their zoo animals, etc. I also pay attention to what you see when you go into a room. Too many pictures, too many papers everywhere, stuff everywhere - can be sensory overload. We are probably as minimalist as we could be with a family of 6. I also try to make choices that prevent "stuff" from coming back into the house - like using the library for most of our schoolbooks, using one electronic device that does multiple tasks (instead of buying a device for each task)...

 

3. About toys... I started buying less of them (for birthdays/Christmas), but better quality. For example, when one of my daughters turned 3, I bought her one present - a handmade wooden Noah's ark with wooden animals. I bought it from a guy who makes wooden toys out of his home. It was probably the single most-played-with toy I ever bought. My daughter turns 8 this weekend and I saw her and the 5 yro playing with it yesterday.

 

4. Spending more time outdoors/connecting with the seasons/etc. I can't remember exactly how this was covered in the book and I'm reading The Last Child in the Woods right now, so my reading may be blending together... But, I try to give the kids time to play outdoors every day. My 5 yro is also doing Wee Folk Art, which means we read a picture book about a seasonal topic (like what ARE snowflakes, really?) and then we make a food or seasonal craft to go with it. More connection to the seasons and what's going on in nature is important.

 

If so, are they lasting changes, were they changes that were worth the work?

 

Absolutely. Simplicity Parenting is probably the best parenting book I've read. Like the previous poster said, I probably need to reread mine, too.

[Runningmom80]

Well, I decided to go cold turkey today. So far it's going as expected, the only one who is asking for tv is the 2 year old Thomas the train addict. :).

 

After lunch is nap time, and then it will be e home stretch with dinner. I can do it! Right? Lol

[....]

Well, I decided to go cold turkey today. So far it's going as expected, the only one who is asking for tv is the 2 year old Thomas the train addict. :).

 

After lunch is nap time, and then it will be e home stretch with dinner. I can do it! Right? Lol

 

 

You can do it!! :hurray:

[justme824]

Love that book! I am actually revisiting it now so I can get a handle on the out-of-control clutter that has taken over. Aackk!!!

 

We already have a very minimal screen policy here - best thing ever. I went cold turkey with my older many, many years ago. Now we do family movie night and it is special and enjoyed. He also is watching something with Dad once a week, which again is special time since it isn't always something he does. Now that he is older (9) he will from time-to-time watch a documentary or something during the day, but it is rare - like ever few weeks rare.

 

Toys aren't too much of an issue, but they are at the same time. We aren't overloaded that is for sure. We went to a neighbor's to play with my toddler and I know he was very overwhelmed by the amount of toys available to him. Also, we don't do noise making toys here so those were so overwhelming to him! But even though we aren't overloaded much, we need to go back through and clear out.

 

For my older it was hard. When he was maybe 5/6 I had him go through his room and get rid of a bunch of stuff. He is attached to everything, even scraps of paper. To help him I let him choose five categories of things to keep. If it didn't fit in one of these categories he needed to donate or toss. He thought really hard about categories and what was truly important. He came up with - building, Harry Potter, collections (we had issues with this one because it could become overwhelming for sure - but we figured out a creative way to display them so it was good), dress up, and stuffed animals. After he came up with that list it was a piece of cake to clean his room. And he felt so much more relaxed in his room after that.

 

For the main toy storage I keep them all stored in baskets in the hall closet. They are often forgotten about, but nice to remember on a rainy day!

 

Now I have youngers again and it seems I need to figure out how to control the chaos once again. I pretty much am thinking I will keep to the same rules - 5 categories - just make them up myself since they are too young to do so.

[Ecclecticmum]

BOOK: What I am doing is slowly going through the book, whilst implementing the stages. So I haven't finished it yet. I found it was easier to do it this way to avoid getting overwhelmed. I still have another 64 things on my to do list before reading onwards ;) but this is because I am completely re-arranging the house to get the effect I want for the "use" of our home.

 

TV/MEDIA: We have a bedroom at the back of the house past the sunroom (which is really just the hamper, dryer and dogs room :p, the sunroom that is). So I'll be moving DH's huge TV and chair back there (it was previously a messy storage room, I've cleared everything out, and will be re-organizing it soon, it will become DH's den. That way he still has his TV, he has privacy to play the violent games he plays (GTA, Battlefield etc) and it won't cause "marriage problems" that telling him not to play those games would of (he works really hard, so those games and the times he sits there is his numbing/calming down time....he probably pretends they are his bosses rofl...anway). So that removes one TV.

 

MORE TV/MEDIA: The other TV is a small All-in-One. I am thinking of moving this into my bedroom closet. This way its out of sight, but for the music lessons we take, we need the "teacher" who is on the TV rofl, so I can just open the closet door and voila, our Tv teacher :) The best thing preferably is to get rid of the TV's but depending upon the family in question, this is not always possible. So its better to remove (if you can) the TV from the central family space. These spaces are usually open and in a thoroughfare that everyone passes through or conglomerates at. You want it to be removed from everyday living, therefore a spare bedroom with a closable door is a good place to make the new "tv room".

 

TOY/INSPIRATION/PLAY: I used to have a library, and realized it was really just another storage room and being wasted space, so I removed the door, removed the bookshelves (except two, mentioned in a second) and turned into a sort of toy holding space. Its what I call the "spire" for inspiration/inspired. I hung a queen sized lacy mosquito net from the ceiling and placed cushions on the floor inside it, it creates a multi-purpose play space/quiet space for the kids (and apparently Jaspers (my cats) new harem, rofl. He sleeps in there most of the day on the cushions whilst Mischa (our other cat) lies beside him off of the cushions at his side, LOL!) I put a lounge room table in there thats become the nature/play table, its decorated by season, and the kids bring stuff in there we collect from our farm and they also have lots of pretend play on there. One mini scrolled bookshelf has become a place for all the little "bits" (it has can baskets on it with stuff like marbles, ribbons, wood turned dolls etc for them to play with), and the other taller bookshelf was turned on its side and laid on the floor and became a place for the bigger baskets (which contain rotating collection of carefully kept (we chucked/donated a LOT of toys) toys, a basket with scarves and a wood basket of wood bits) and the flat top of the bookshelf I got 3 of those cane woven long bread baskets, and put them near the back of the top, near the wall, and they have the rotating collection of books in them (sort of like a cheap, movable version of rain gutter shelving). The books are kept in the den, and have been divided up by month, and wrapped up like a present in newspaper. The kids get to open a "new" collection of books every month for their room.

 

CREATIVE PLAY: Our previous loungeroom was turned into an area that is more "blank canvas" than anything else. Its become a place we're the kids can run round, create "houses & huts" and generally create bigger things. Its also where we hold our morning circle, and sometimes our handcrafts.

 

PLANNING/BOOKS/TEACHER: The teachers desk that was previously in dining room, the back/shelving has been taken off it, and moved ontop of my computer desk in my room. This is where I do all my planning now (where I ended up doing it anyway, but it didn't have shelves before) and where most of the books I need on a week to week basis (minus out-of-season books and stored books) are located.

 

ATELIER/MAIN LESSON ROOM: "formal dining" is an alcove of of the dining and kitchen, I moved the old bottom of the teachers desk in here, pushed it down it the bottom setting (mutiple table height) and placed that in the centre of the room. on one side is my big on wheels whiteboard (soon to be whiteboard/blackboard), and the other side contains an old dressing table with a mirror and heaps of drawers for supplies, a short, fat bookshelf for more supplies, and a big old wooden toy chest, which I store recyclable material in. Theres also a built-in closet for "just school" supplies and around the corner where the teachers desk used to be I put one of the bookshelves from the ex-library and made it a shoe shelf (everyone has their own shelf for shoes) it also has hooks I put in the side which I hang our trolly dolly shopping bag and another hook I use when we come back with office supplies or something (I go to my office supplies place a lot, when we come home its nice to have a hook to just plop the shopping bag on till I get round to putting it away). And next to it is the old art cupboard from the library, I use this to hold most paper based items for the kids craft/art. This whole area came mostly from inspiration cleaned from Project Based Homeschooling by Pickert. I realized I didn't have enough accessibility for the kids, but tended to lock everything up. Now they have everything at their hands to create and do what they want, and also a place for us to do Main Lesson Book work.

 

SCIENCE: My kids are science mad, and the curriculum we are using may not intrigue them enough by itself, as such under the outside of the kitchen counter I plan to add a little "station" table with Lentil Science and stuff for them to freely explore/play with.

 

SUPPLIES: Supplies before were either locked away in the library or in the teachers closet. Now everything is "Freely" available unless its very expensive "school only" stuff. So anything they could need for art/craft is set out on shelving/cupboards in the Atelier, anything for extra science and similar is in the cupboards above the sink (stuff like borax, baking soda etc). "School only" special books, beeswax, and exxy paints/crayons are in the teachers cupboard, but there are similar materials laid out for their use.

 

OUTSIDE: We have a verandah that has a toy kitchen, hobo car bench seat as chairs and an old broken BBQ (lol, sounds very trashy I know) it was a thoroughfare and is not really used apart to have quite time and to put science experiments in the sun. I am in the middle of converting this to an outdoor messy arts area and herb garden for the kids. We'll keep the toy kitchen there for mud play and to store old kitchenware for the kids to play with (mmm mud pie :D ) eventually we hope to cut out a gate and have a fenced vegetable garden connected to the side of the house, and put an orchard in the back paddock, but thats a little bit down the road. The verandah is just off the kitchen and has a light so suitable for getting herbs for dinner or quickly rushing out to grab more lettuce. And obviously suitable for messy arts area. Eventually I hope to cajole DH into making an outdoor sink, but goodness knows how long that'll take (pity as he's really good at making furniture & intertwining it with technology.)

 

PLASTICS: We did throw a lot of toys & books away, BUT we did keep some plastics & characters. You have to keep in mind you are part of your family and whoevers advice you have taken isn't. The one way things fail is if you take & do everything that person/book says without stepping back and looking at your own life. Rigidly following someone elses example isn't the key. More, understanding and looking logically at the situation is. You know your weaknesses and the areas that are off-limits. I didn't touch DS's lightning Mcqueen collection for instance. Its both a character and mostly plastic stuff, but he has great imagination with those toys, knows each and every individual LM toy he has (even when I can't tell the difference lol) and has special needs that taking away that kind of item that he cherishes would only hinder, not help. I use LM for his speech therapy/exercises for instance, and for maths, counting, alphabet etc. We also kept two plastic babydolls & two plastic barbies. I honestly would of been quite happy to chuck them out, but you have to think of the childrens views and how they use these items. My two daughters (hence keeping two of each) LOVE to wash their dolls in the sink and like to take their barbies swimming in the bath. Wood or fabric dolls (of which they have too) would not hold up to this "abuse". The lovingly wash in baby wash, the baby dolls, dry them, put them to bed, before getting them up and washing them again. The barbies have had many salon/beauty days with makeup/hairwashing etc. I also kept a particular character for each of my children (DS was obviously LM, Eve's was her Dora stuff, and Atlas's was her Tangled/Rapunzel items), these are cherished, if gaudy, things. If the item is cherished, loved and well played with, there is no harm in keeping it (unless its a noisy flashing plastic POS. I dislike anything that starts flashing at me or that Bob the Builder phone that kept going off in the middle of the night. All of those disappeared into the charity bag with maniacal cackles of glee. Basically I am wary of anything that requires batteries). We also kept a few of the nicer plastic animals (mostly schleich (sp?) ) as these were nice, got the job done, and again, would seem to hinder rather than help if tossed. There is a bag of stuff that I was unsure about, or did want to throw away but we "just" got it etc (like the Chuggington train set DS got for his birthday, a few toys I wasn't sure whether the kids used or not), so this is stored in the cupboard in the back room. If it gets to midyear and I don't hear anything about wanting those toys back (so they were ignored enough to be forgotten about) then they will go to the charity shop. I keep the gaudy plastics and character stuff in the kids bedroom. The girls have a covered basket each of their "cherished gaudies" as I call them, thats their job to keep tidy and washed. If its found on the floor, it goes into my "detention bin" and the kids have to do a task to get it out. If that particular toy is caught on the ground 3 times, in the bin it goes, bye bye. I say stuff like "Oh the dolly was sad by herself, frightened on the ground. She told me to keep her until you show you can take care of her *give them task* she says if this happens (1 or 2 more times) she'll leave. She doesn't want to stay with someone who won't love her and take care of her." Its only happened once for Eve & Chaos, and twice for Atlas, and so far they haven't left their "dolls" out again :) bits and bobs are another story, but I'm still working on that one ;)

 

YOURSELF & TRANSITIONS: I think the biggest thing (at least when you have young ones) is changing your outlook. Children learn by imitation, and if you or DH treat things or do things a certain way, the children will copy that. I usually try to make everything a game as well. I have also found songs help. As long as I have a song for whatever we are doing (cleaning, getting ready to go out, getting them to be quiet when they are getting to loud) I am set, rofl. And they don't have to be masterpieces, i am known for picking up any tune I remember and making new words (I did it for an old pop song a few days ago when I was short on time and couldn't think), I am also trying this for getting them to remember/learn our phone number (mobile), that goes :

 

(phone number, ours ends with a three),

Whats my number, she asked me,

(phone number again...three)

Thats my number! said little old me.

 

I've used things like the hokey pokey for getting dressed (put our right sock on, pull the right sock up, Make sure the socks on, and shake it all about, I am getting dressed to go outside, and I've got to hurry up! hey! (told you, not a masterpiece lol, but it works).

 

SIZE DOES NOT MATTER/REMEMBER TO MAKE IT FIT YOUR SITUATION: We have a small house too, so it was just a fact of looking how long everybody is home for and what everybody does when they are home. This allowed me to re-organize the house to suit our particular situation (the dining table was also moved into the kitchen, so the whole family helps out with making dinner, then sits and eats together, which is a shift from something we weren't doing to something we wanted to do, and this was the arrangement necessary to create that mindset to make it happen).

 

Thats about all I can tell you/help with so far, hopefully its some sort of help anyway :)

xxx

[Runningmom80]

Well day 1 of no tv went pretty well. Right before dinner things started getting stressful, but that's always a rough part of the day.

 

I also went through the books, and took most of them down to the basement, I only kept about 12 upstairs in a basket.

 

My twins toys are fine. I have been super OCD about what I buy them. The one thing I did get rid of was this Sesame Street house & characters. They didn't play with it, so it was a no-brainier. It was also one of their only plastic toys.

 

My ds 6 room is going to be a big undertaking. Bins and bins of Legos, kre-o's, hero factory guys, transformers, ninja turtles, etc.

 

 

He actually plays really well with the turtles, he makes up scenes. I think I'll let him keep those and the Legos for sure. He's going to be upset if I remove anything, but his room is overflowing, it needs to be done.

[TKDmom]

I did some today, too. No screen time for kiddos. In spite of dd3's begging for a "shoooww". We did watch part of a science documentary together. The kids wanted to watch more of it after dinner ;) but I told them they had to clean up first. And that never quite happened. I started going through bookshelves. I filled up a bag with picture books for the library. As I was sorting through books, I'd occasionally ask one of the older kids for an opinion. Dd11 surprised me with how much she hates reading certain picture books to her little sister. She even suggested extra books that we should give away.

 

Ds7 got distracted by all the "new" books he found on the shelves as I was sorting. He spent the whole evening reading while laying in the middle of the Lego pile he was supposed to be picking up. Our house will never feel decluttered while it has little boys and Legos...

 

I also sat down with ds9 and had him pick some toy buckets to go into storage.

 

Tomorrow I'm going to pack up some boxes of books, like early readers and ancient history, that I don't want to get rid of, but which we won't need for a few more years.

[MrsH]

Well day 1 of no tv went pretty well. Right before dinner things started getting stressful, but that's always a rough part of the day.

 

I also went through the books, and took most of them down to the basement, I only kept about 12 upstairs in a basket.

 

My twins toys are fine. I have been super OCD about what I buy them. The one thing I did get rid of was this Sesame Street house & characters. They didn't play with it, so it was a no-brainier. It was also one of their only plastic toys.

 

My ds 6 room is going to be a big undertaking. Bins and bins of Legos, kre-o's, hero factory guys, transformers, ninja turtles, etc.

 

 

He actually plays really well with the turtles, he makes up scenes. I think I'll let him keep those and the Legos for sure. He's going to be upset if I remove anything, but his room is overflowing, it needs to be done.

 

Would it make sense to do a toy rotation for him? One kind of building toy in his room and one kind of characters? Then the others get stored away somewhere, and either he can trade something out to get to those toys, or in a few months you can say "so you haven't touched it, is it time to pass it on to someone else who can use this?"

 

Also, kudos to you for the no tv thing! That really is hard, as it can be such a convenient "babysitter," esp. during that pre-dinner time! I like to find little jobs for the children to help with. Tonight it was "hey, wash these grapes; now, take them off the stems and put them into this bowl." Not an essential task, but one that kept ds7 happily occupied for 10 minutes while I cooked. After that it was "please stir this chickpea salad." Again, didn't really need to be done as thoroughly as he did, and some of it was spilled,b it was nice together time. Another thing that works for us is sensory play. We have a ricebox that we can put on a tray on the kitchen floor, they can do playdoh, take a bath, "wash the dishes" (mostly tupperware that wasn't really dirty...), scrub the sink, or spend some time shredding our recycling. Really helps channel some of those pre-dinner crazies.

 

Good luck tomorrow!

[momtoamiracle]

I haven't read it but it has been on my amazon wish list for a while.

 

 

I've been declUttering for a while. Every other month or so I go through DS toys and throw out or give away stuff. Like a previous poster mentioned, you have to consider your own situation. I won't get rid of his large Thomas collection, his blocks, his heavy equipment collection or his stuffed animals. He plays a lot with all of those things. He has a very vivid imagination and always has something going.

 

We don't schedule extra activities or clubs, etc. not available in our area. We are very much home bodies.

 

Biggest thing would be tv. My dh watches it a lot at night when I want it off. He just changed jobs where is home evenings so its been an adjusting time for us.

 

 

We are hopefully going to be moving soon so I'm trying to get rid of stuff to fit into the new house as it has one less bedroom. I need to finally get the book and get motivated to the changes I want to make! Thanks for posting this!

[IsabelC]

I have the book, but it hasn't led to any major changes around here. Most of the ideas are either things that I love but am too lazy to do, or things that we do anyway.

[Runningmom80]

Well the no screen thing is going ok. I've let them watch 30 mins while I cook last night and tonight. We are moving in the spring, I'm seriously considering not having a tv in the family room. DH thinks I'm nuts. :)