For six weeks, our family of four were blessed to be able to live in my parents lake house in between the sell of our old home and the purchase of our new home. The lake house was about 850 sq ft, it had two bdrms and two baths and really was quite comfortable. But it was about half the size we were used to living in. Not a problem, as we just put all our stuff and storage and moved in! :) It really was blessing in more ways than just having a roof over our heads. The girls spent a ton of time outside, Keith got to accomplish some fun projects and I'm pretty sure we were all in bed by 10 PM every night.
My children are not perfect, but they sure are cute. One of the things they really struggle with is picking up their toys. This was an ongoing battle at our old house, but we had a play room and I would simply shut the door and deny it existed. But at the lakehouse, this was not the case. The girls were able to bring the toys that they could fit into their toy chest. It was less than a quarter of what they owned and yet every day we seemed to have a battle about picking up. I had had enough. I finally told them if they decided not to pick up their things, I would simply pick them up and fix it so they could no longer play with their toys. I guess they didn't believe me...but maybe they should have.
I borrowed the shrink wrap packing stuff from work and that night we wrapped up their toys. And the girls didn't even miss them. Not kidding. We went over five weeks with no toys at the lake house and they did just fine. They played outside a lot, they colored and put together puzzles and perfected their T-ball skills. They rode their little 4 wheelers, blew bubbles, picked up a lot of sticks and played in the dirt.
Fast forward and we are now in our new house. It was like Christmas morning when we started unpacking the boxes for the playroom. It lasted a month. My kids have very few toys right now and I kind of like it. After having asked them to pick up their toys before dinner and telling them if they failed to do so, I would gladly take care of it for them, I did. While we were getting ready for bed that evening, I went and took a look. They had gotten some bubble gum toothpaste and very generously washed a dolls hair in it. They had filled up cups from their play kitchen with water, and it was everywhere. Not to mention almost every single Barbie, doll, blanket and other toy they owned was still on the floor. And this Momma had had enough.
In about an hour, I had packed up every piece of doll clothes, every doll, Barbie and accessory. In a box went every stuffed animal and I even put up the coloring books, crayons and markers. If it was on the floor, or stuffed, it was no longer theirs.
That was last week, and the only toys my kids have are a few of their kitchen items, some puzzles and a basket of small princess figurines. I've confiscated a few more toys they refuse to take care of but other than that, they've miraculously managed to get their things picked up and put away with not much hassle. I'm thinking of moving the play room to a smaller room. Doing a major purge of what I did pack up and go simple. I don't want my kids to be entitled. They should appreciate, care for and treasure the things they have. What I've figured out, is that they have too much stuff and they take if all for granted and I'm on a mission to correct that!
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