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Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Out with the old and all that jazz…

We make our kids clean up the playroom every evening before bedtime. And they usually do a pretty good job with it.

But in November and December when things were pretty hectic, the nightly cleaning ritual got pushed to the side in favor of let's just get them to bed and the sooner the better.

And occasionally I would go into the playroom and quickly throw toys in toy boxes so they kids would at least have a way in and a way out. And I would have trouble breathing because the mere sight of the mess made my chest feel tight.

And as Christmas approached and our trip to Massachusetts got nearer and nearer, I went into the playroom less and less.

I knew that it needed to be cleaned out. I knew that we needed to get all the old and broken toys out so that all the news toys could come in.

And in the back of my head, I kept hearing the words, "Whenever a new toy comes in, I make sure an old toy goes out."

Why oh why do I read organizing blogs? And seriously, do people really do that?

But as Christmas approached I kept hearing these words like a nagging voice in the back of my head and they haunted me because I had no time to clean out the playroom. It was all I can do to purchase presents, pack, volunteer at school and plan Christmas parties. I had no time to be sorting, rearranging, tossing, and organizing.

I had no time for removing old toys so that new toys could be brought in.

So Christmas came and went. And as expected, the state of the toy room got worse.

And even though, there is joy in the mess, my breathing grew more and more labored every time I approached the playroom. This mess was out of control.

I knew what needed to be done.

My husband knew what needed to be done.

Even the kids knew what needed to be done.

So we spent all day yesterday doing what needed to be done.

We sorted plastic food, baby dolls, dress up clothes, Lego bricks and swords. We tossed broken toys. We removed unused toys. We rearranged.

And we whined a lot. We even stopped in the middle of our work to go to Dairy Queen.

Because a Chocolate Xtreme Blizzard is a great motivator.

And our playroom went from this...

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To this...

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I can breathe again.

siggy-2

24 comments:

Courtney said...

Wow! I've got a few rooms for you to do over here. I'll even buy you a DQ Blizzard!

Seriously though, great job!

Melanie said...

Wow... great job! Wanna visit my house next? ;)

Heather said...

Could you do my playroom too? Where is there a DQ nearby???

Jill @ Sneaky Momma said...

Your playroom looks awesome! I wish we had one. :)

Chris said...

Oh wow! That is just plain INSPIRING!!!!

If it were MY house in the pics, it would have qualified for a MIRACLE MONDAY post! :)

GREAT job!

RR Mama said...

Looks amazing! I tackled the garage this past weekend! And I wish we had taken a DQ break!

He & Me + 3 said...

Wow...that is awesome!

Robin hill farm said...

I hear ya, Beth! We always get rid of old toys when the toy box can no longer hold all of the stuff. We have yet to do that this year, and everytime I go into the kids bedroom, I can't help but cringe. Thanks for the little reminder. Seeing your kids spotless play area is very motivating. :)

Annikke said...

We just cleaned out our playroom too! What a mess it becomes and so quickly it happens too!

BlondeMomBlog (Jamie) said...

You go girl! Mom. Fueled by DQ. Inspired by broken toys.

Debbie said...

What a transformation! Good job.

Megan said...

i LOOOOVE me some organizing before and afters!

nice job!

jennwa said...

You did a great job. I hope my kids don't mess it up too much when they come over.

Anonymous said...

Good for you! I am still in the ignoring the problem stage myself.

Denise said...

Wow, you have been a busy bee.

Rebekah said...

Nicely done!!

Debra Kaye said...

Beth,

I don't have a play room anymore but I'm sure impressed with what you did with yours! Great job! Amazing what a DQ blizzard can do..maybe you should submit it for a commercial! lol

Happy Wednesday to you!

Alicia The Snowflake said...

Great job! I have this feeling about my son's room at the moment. I am definitely avoiding it. It helps that his room is upstairs and I mostly stay downstairs.

Take care my friend!
I hope you're having a great week!

Fantastic Forrest said...

Yay, you! I am VERY jealous. I am also inspired. Think I'll clean up Amazing Daughter's room. Won't she be surprised when she comes home from school.

Wendy said...

Great job! A Chocolate Extreme Blizzard always inspires me too! Just an idea to give you more usuable space though. You might want to get some book shelves to put your smaller storage bins on. That way you can store more in that one space opening up more floor room. I also really like the cubbies made by the closet storage companies You can find them at Target and Lowe's) where you can either just stack things in there or get those fabric drawers to put the toys in and slide them in their spot.

Grandma T said...

So that's what the room look like!

Jaina said...

Great job, it looks fantastic!

Andrea said...

I found my trick to toys and the playroom...they have two toy boxes full of toys (that most of the time aren't even played with). When the toy boxes get too full to close the lid, we get rid of toys!! To me it's fun, not to Tanner and Alex as much. All my two like to do anyway is crafts and pretend play.

Your playroom looks great - good job!

Daisy said...

Impressive! Can you come do my computer desk next?