But at some point, I decided that I didn't want all that stuff out there. I didn't mind if the kids brought something out to play with, but I didn't want the designated location of such things to be the living room. I just wanted the living room to look like a grown up place when it was all picked up, not like it was owned by the children.
Don't get me wrong...right now with a baby in the house, we have a baby swing out here. And when the kids got an inside trampoline, we left it out in the living room. For the most part, though, if we have a grown up gathering, everything has another place to go. When my husband had his fantasy football draft for example, they could feel like manly men in our living room, no Winnie the Pooh anything!
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| My kid-free zone...when it's picked up anyway! |
But...there is one thing I can't seem to avoid having out here...
That is...
The Legos...
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| Above the china hutch. No, there is no china...we already packed it when we thought we were moving. :) |
On top of our china hutch is the designated location of the Legos. It's good because it's up high, and since Caleb works hard on some creations, I really have to keep it out of Gabriel's reach. I trust Caleb to get on a chair to get the stuff down. That might sound bad, but I've seen him do it countelss times, and it works.
When our house was on the market, and I knew I needed a spot for the stuff if the house was shown, I did make a spot in the boys' closet. But on a daily basis, it just wasn't practical. Above the china is what works for now. And since we have an open floor plan, the living room looks into the dining room. So it's not my favorite place for Legos, but it will have to do.
Other than that, we are free of kid stuff in the living area if need be! It's a miracle, actually. But I work at it to keep it that way.
What do you do with kid stuff? Do you have a kid-free zone? Or do you like their things in the living room?
4 comments:
Since we have an upstairs we do keep some toys downstairs but its mainly jonathan and annas stuff. Big boys bring down a few things but mostly their stuff is upstairs. I do look forward to jon and anna being at the age where they keep toys in their room like joe and sam do but for now I'm dealing with our living room looking like a daycare.
Since we have an upstairs we do keep some toys downstairs but its mainly jonathan and annas stuff. Big boys bring down a few things but mostly their stuff is upstairs. I do look forward to jon and anna being at the age where they keep toys in their room like joe and sam do but for now I'm dealing with our living room looking like a daycare.
My sister has B's stuff out so he can play with whenever he wants...but its not in the living room (although he is only one year old...so yes, things migrate). Her and her husband have their living room, then an in-between area that is his toy area, then the dining room, then kitchen. So although the 'adult' areas are kid-free zones in a respect, his stuff is still out and visible. This probably just varies on age of child, but it is convenient because we can play with B, and still maintain adult conversation with family/friends in rooms nearby.
We keep all of the toys in our daughter's room or in her toy room. We all pick up everything several times a day, before transitions like snack, lunch, dinner, bedtime, etc. Our daughter is getting better at helping, since she sees that this is a daily routine. I would not be able to handle having toys in the living room permanently. I think everything needs a home...preferably a labeled home :-)
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