Mommies with Style Articles

I think that toys might be the one thing no one warned me could get so out of hand when I decided to have kids. If you are shaking your head yes, then you know that it's hard to organize it all. What's even harder? Purging what you don't want anymore. However, most people do not realize is that children's toys are the most covetted in the resellable world of children products.

Here's my plan for you on purging the toys and then reorganizing what's left. I do this every 6 mo and put them in a bag to sell at my next local consignment sale. Remember a toy that goes unloved could be someone else's beloved toy.

Suggested Tools:
*garbage bags
*ziploc bags
*Sharpie
*wipes of some sort
*plastic bins of various sizes
*scotch tape

Tips to clearing out the toys:
*make different piles: toss, sell, keep and donate
*do this when children are not around - either nap time or bed time is the best
*if a piece is missing toss it - the liklihood of you finding the piece missing is slim
*if they haven't played with it or even remember it exists toss, donate or sell
*If you have puzzles that have no real home put them in a large storage ziploc bag and label the bag with what puzzle it is and how many pieces
*If the toy has several parts put it in a ziploc storage bag and label. Do the same if you intend to donate or sell.

Once you've decided what you're keeping toss the bag of trash, and put the bags to sell/donate away and out of site. Then wipe down the grimy toys so you can be sure that all starts out clean.

Tips for Organizing:
*Keep like toys together: for instance all small cars in one tub. All Barbies in another tub
*When stacking tubs and you want to be sure you have control of when they are removed put the heaviest on top. If you want the kids to be able to do it themselves lightest on top.
*Using a piece of scotch tape on the outside write what is in there on the tape. If you change the bin, you can remove the tape and rename the bin.
*Keep all craft supplies in bins that can be closed, and keep out of reach.

First timers: this can take a couple of hours, but I guarantee that the organization will make you feel a lot more in control in the chaos filled world of mommyhood.

Posted by Candice at 11:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

OMG. I'm with the boys and visiting my parents in Florida right now. We went with my Mom to a local Target and as if the beer and wine aisle wasn't awesome enough (in a Target! *swoon*), but I completely stopped short at the section of "wine cubes" and "wine boxes." Seriously, they sell "juice boxes" of wine. I bought a few and tried the "cube" of white sangria tonight - not bad!

So Dear Hubby, please get a job in Florida so I can pack these on play dates. Oh how much more entertaining those playdates would be with a couple of these stuffed in my diaper bag.

(I wonder if these'll stay good if I smuggle a few back to Philly?)

Posted by Whitney at 02:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Sometimes I take a moment to stare at my boys, and the thought crosses my mind, "my kids are INSANE" They tackle, they run and jump - I'm constantly crossing my fingers as my two hazards on tiny feet race around my house. I go back and forth between screaming and laughing when I find the two of them doing something like running and jumping at one another on the couch.

I know it's a boy thing and I have the conversation often with friends. My one friend argues that girls are harder - as her 6-year old has a whole lot of attitude and gives her much more grief than her 3 year old boy.

So when I saw this article on CNN today from Parenting Mag, I was intrigued to click over. According to them, they're both hard! Well, yah. But check it out - the piece is interesting as it breaks it down to different aspects of parenting - like how boys are harder with discipline but girls are harder with self-esteem issues.

What do you think?

Posted by Whitney at 08:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)