We have been struggling since I worked full time and Laia has accumulated so many toys from the past occasion, like birthdays, Saint Nicholas, Christmas and so on. I decided to sort them for donations, to giveaway to her cousins in the Philippines and also really, some to throw. It is not easy when she has so many toys but she is not even playing all of them. Some books she do not really pay attention.
Learning from day to day basis as a parent lead us to so many improvements. We are not perfect, we can never be. The good thing about parenting there is no black and white. It goes trial and error, try this today, oh it doesn’t work as I am expecting it. Then we move to the next plan.
My obsession to organisation at home took me to this. At first I was just cleaning, then sorting, then, minimising to the level 2.0 yes I say next level this year as our level 1.0 was achieved last year. From our capsule wardrobe, documenting and files, digitalising so many things. I ended up looking for ways to simplify parenting and I came across Simple Families while listening to The Minimalism podcast and Denaye was their guest.
I learned from Denaye’s book, the method of toy and books rotation. I said a lot of work. Like each week you have to put some in a particular space. Mine is above Laia’s closet, there are two boxes. After choosing the right toys and books going in vacation this week. I have to work and convince Laia again for the next week. I tell you what, we tried every two weeks rotation. It works! Laia loved her spacious room and I am loving my little office corner in her room.
Fresh Space
I always say I want fresh space, from day one the light bulb of being minimalist touched my brain. Fresh, white space, spacious play space for Laia. A good way for me to sometimes swivel my chair backwards and there are space still. I am glad for having my own fresh space. And the good thing is, every two weeks. I will have a fresh space with new toys, new books. Feeling brand new, whenever we have to look at those accessible shelves. Laia enjoy her room so much!
Less Is More
The less toys we have the more time Laia can play with the essentials. The less she has toys around, the less time she will spend picking them up later. Putting them in place is easy piece of cake for her. Less time for me to remind her, pick up your toys and clean up right after. Less stress for me as working from home Mom.
I always had full days, working 8 hours and I let her enjoy her play space with less toys however more quality, creativity during her play time. When kids are relax, parents are not stress. More. ways for us to enjoy the simplicity of our daily living. More opportunity for language, motor skills, imagination our kids can have.
Peace Of Mind
The first thing I need when I know my daughter is playing in a clean, spacious home. The space where we stay 100 percent of our time this quarantine time. When there is less of everything, come peace. Less shouting (I am trying), less repetition of phrases to clean up over and over again.
When parents are not stress. Kids are also not stress. Remember, little ones are feeling our emotions. They absorb easily the energy around them.
Our goal is not just to have the day by ending with crying and stress of picking up toys when everyone are tired and hungry towards dinner time. We want it to be simple, the simple plain it is, the better for our well-being.
I am still thinking on what to do, how to approach accepting gifts. Some families are not accepting gift. An on going discussion I have with my husband. My take about this is same as Denaye, ‘Your presence is the present.’ My God daughter Lucie had her communion and her parents opt out for gifts. Instead, they asked for cash to be able to use doing exceptional experience like going to a themed park and having a real blast of excitement. I will share ours when the matter of discussion is done.
All the way, childhood is about learning, having fun and the same time not having too many stress being overwhelmed how to and which toy to start playing. The creativity I had during my childhood back in the day we do not have the means to buy a lot of toys when my books are hand over. My creativity is there, the best moment of my life was my innocent childhood days, playing mud, big leaves making tortillas to name a few. Now, that we have the means to buy all these toys. We also have a choice on how we educate our children. We choose to live with less. Creativity takes courage.
9 Comments
This is a well thought out and organised blog post Floby. I enjoyed reading it. I can see that you have applied what you have learnt, with all the research you have done over the months to make your living space for you and your family better.
Thank you for reading Helen. I am working out for a good quality post that is why I am less online.
We all need space to breath, think, and be creative and our kids are no exception! My kids play so much more with a clear space and toys they haven’t seen in a while. Rotating the books is also such a great idea!
I am thinking about how can we improve daily. But not putting pressure of being perfect, we can never be, reminding myself I am human. Thank you for reading and sharing your thoughts š
I’ve been wanting to do this for a while, but haven’t had the motivation. I think I’m finally gonna make it a priority to weed through all their toys and make it happen. Thanks for the inspiration!
I notice a big difference in how my kids play when I do a fresh declutter. It’s amazing how they will find new joy in forgotten about toys or books. You would think I bought new toys or something š
This is such a nice post and a good reminder to me. Space is luxury and since we don’t have that in our home, we have to get creative. Love the rotation idea and I think I need to apply more diligence to this to make it work. Thanks for the post!
Than you for dropping by a read, I am happy that my post helps. We are a family of a work in progress, so many things to learn everyday.
This is a very detailed blog post, thanks for sharing. I agree less is more – I started decluttering the house during this lockdown, so far so good with the noticeable improvements.