Toys for the Small House

Disclaimer: This intention of this post is NOT to guide people in buying gifts for our children.  If you are thinking of buying something for us, please resist the urge and instead come over, share the gift of your company,  and play with us--using the many toys we already have!

Now that that's out of the way: I've been thinking a lot about toys this month.  Which is a change of pace for me.  As a parent, I fail at knowing what the latest and greatest children's toys are.  I don't like shopping, and really despise it when my children are with me--which is always.  In fact, in the last three and a half years I have probably purchased four toys for my boys--and all of these were bought as bribes.

Luckily for Mason and Fergus, other people do get them toys.  Friends and family have been so good to us--total abundance around here. So much, in fact, that I frequently take away bag full of un-touched or over-sized ones to my Mom's house so we can have fresh ones there.

When we downsized, I entered a new toy realm I will call: size concious.  Suddenly we couldn't fit just anything.  We had to be choosy.  So, I started paying attention to what they actually played with.  Maybe this will help you in your gift giving this year for the little ones in your life.  Once again, please don't get our boy's anything--we have more than enough!

Here are some winners:

• Wall Mirror: One of the best things about this is that it employs a very underused space in our house: the bottom 3 feet of the walls.  Plus, the boys love it!  The favorite activity lately has been to "cry" in front of it to see what they look like.  Hilarious!
• Anything that can be and do many different things (thanks, Sarah!)--such as blocks, train tracks, magnets, farm animal sets.
• Blankets and pillows for forts.  This play is just starting for us, but it's really involving for the boys.  And very easy for me to re-incorporate the building materials back into our space.
• Clean laundry and a basket to toss and move around (much to my chagrin, this really is a favorite activity).
• Art supplies and Games.  I put these two together because Mason is just starting to enjoy these.  With Fergus (18mos) they are a disaster.   So, we keep the locked up and try to do them when F is sleeping, otherwise the dog eats a lot of crayons and play-dough.  They store so well, though!  Good space:use ratio.

• Books, books, books. By volume, we commit the most space to books.  I purchased this book rack at a book store going out of business for $25.00.  It only projects 4" off the wall and, once again, only uses the bottom 4 feet of the wall.  Plus, easy for the boys to re-shelve their own books.
• The great outdoors! Snow shovels, sandbox, trees, balls.  Plenty of room outside to keep these!

• Doot-Di-Doos.  These are the long or short cardboard tubes used to loudly announce: "DOOT-DI-DOO!" (Eternal thanks to the Bradley brothers for introducing me to these.)  Not only do the boys love to practice their vocal skills, but also to ride cars through and, god forbid, play swords  with them.  I'll never forget the look on Mason's face when my mom presented him with about 8 of them, all diferent shapes and sizes.  Good gift!
• Lastly, work-related items: sponges to clean, spray bottles, mini brooms, hammers, levels, etc.  You get the picture.  They love to work, and we are happy to oblige!

We wish you all  happy, sane, down-sized holidays!  Come over and check out our mirror and doot-di-do collection! When used together, it is really an amazing performance!

Food Before Floors

What's in your bowl?

A skill I used to enjoy was a keen ability to prioritize.  No more.  I have lost that ability in the slush-pile of our lives.  I have a minor crisis about this daily.  In fact, right after Mason was born, I saw a counselor about the sudden evaporation of my sense of priorities.  "There is so much to attend to--more than one person could ever take care of. What do I do first?"  She gave me really great advice in the form of a parable:

A professor has a cup in his hand.  Next to him on the desk is a pile of rocks, a pile of sand and a bowl of water.  He fills the cup up with the rocks and asks the class, "is the cup full?" 


They reply, "Yes!" 


"Wrong." He commences to add sand to the cup, fulling in the cracks.  "Now is the cup full?" he asks.  


"Yes!" they reply.  


"Wrong." Next he adds water, filling in more gaps again, until the cup really is full.


"What is the lesson?" asks the professor.  


The student in the front row responds, "No matter how full your cup is, you can always add more!" 


"No," says the professor.  "You better put the rocks in first!"

This is a great parable.  One I think about often in the form of "what are my rocks today?"  Of course they are always my people--my family and friends.  I recently had the revelation that I am a rock that needs to go in, too.  Don't know why it took me three years of motherhood to discover that!!

One clear way I care for all of us is with food.  If we don't have good food in our bellies, it's tough to do much else--maintain energy, health or well-being.   I don't show my love with the latest and greatest toys (because I hate shopping), or with money in the college fund (because it's all going somewhere else right now), or by keeping the house clean (because it's truly impossible.) Instead,  I put up some Colorado tomato sauce and help butcher a local hog.  Needless to say, our pantry and freezer and bellies are full, but not the bank account or vacuum cleaner.