I am not really sure where to post this - I'm not used to forums, but this one looks like a great one! I discovered this blog on a livejournal feed mid-2009, and have not only learned a lot, but also affirmed that I am a very organized person, if only I could emerge from my piles of clutter.
I will introduce myself,
My name is Kat. I am a work-at-home mother with 7-year-old twin girls who are in grade 2. I am also a home child care provider, which means that I work a 10 or 11 hour day consisting of small people destroying my house. :) My off hours feel the same as my work hours - I spend my life picking up after people who really don't think it's important to pick up after themselves.
My house is divided between precisely organized areas, with surface clutter that is easily returned to its home(s) and daily systems to ensure things run smoothly; and big scary areas piled high with things that have arrived in the house but don't have homes, or things that can't be easily put away because their home or container has gotten out of hand. My scary places right now are my bedroom closet, the garage, and the playroom. My recent successes have been to gut 1/2 of the bedroom closet pile, and to entirely clean and re-organize the main-floor toy/craft cupboard. I wish that I had taken before and after pictures.
My 2010 winter challenge will be the playroom in the basement. It is frightening. It is also my sewing/fabric storage. It has great storage, with a room-wide walk-in closet filled with utility shelves, and dozens of labelled toy bins.
Where I need help - now that my daughters are too old to play with the daycare toys, and are collecting their own new small non-daycare toys - I need to create a storage solution for their personal toys - and it's a great opportunity to purge the toddler toys now that my daughters don't play with them.
I need advice or a list - what are the core essential toys that any daycare has to have? (Train set, kitchen set, etc.) What are the toys that waste space, don't get played with, aren't essential? I can't decide based on what I've seen them play with - some awesome toys are blocked with clutter and never get rotated into play.
Thanks guys! Any advice you have would be very welcome.
Kat
