Day 57: The Toy Vacuum

My 8-month-old son is NOT a neat freak. He, in fact, is the complete opposite. He is a super-quick, very messy baby whirlwind in perpetual motion. He scoots from one spot to the next, pulling things down, getting things out and throwing things around. There is no putting away. There is no cleaning up. There is no organizing. There is just chaos. Utter chaos!

And he doesn't just do this with his own basket of toys. He goes to the dog toy basket and completely dismantles that, too. (Actually, I think he might prefer the dog toys to his own!) :)


And that's why I need a toy vacuum. It doesn't have to suck up toys to be discarded later on. It just needs to suck them up and deposit them back into Iain's toy tub. I would even accept something that suctions them up long enough for me to move them back to the right spot without having to bend over or get on my knees to fetch them all! I am getting tired of picking up the same things over and over and over and over again! :) It's like I am a "reset" button, because I am constantly resetting every room in the house to its original non-messy state.

So... Please, dear companies of technological wonders and everyday household appliances, develop a vacuum just for toys and various kid-related doo dads ... so mommies and neat freaks everywhere can catch a break!


Now, THAT's neat!

Day 50: More Toy Management

My little boy is now about 8-months old, but he is already well-adept at making a mess! He also gets bored very easily. So, these two factors together translate into a bunch of baby toys strewn all about the house.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I used some canvas boxes to tackle the toy problem in his room.... but this did not quite take care of the toy problem all over the house, mostly because he's too young to go upstairs to his room by himself and play (and somewhat because I am often just too busy with other things to go up there myself).

Solution!?!? A flexible, plastic toy bucket. And it's LABELED... I mean, personalized, too!

I make these myself (you can check out my etsy store HERE), and there's not too much to it. Just find a good size and color for your container, and you can apply vinyl lettering (from Uppercase Living, one of my "little side businesses") to customize your creation!

Here is Iain IN his toy tub.


As you can see, it's quite handy, cute and WAY neater than a bunch of toys on the couch, in the Pack n' Play or all over the floor... where the dog toys end up! (And as soon as I get a "free moment," I'll post a photo of the tub with some actual toys in it!)


Now, THAT's neat!

Day 22: Think INSIDE the box

My newborn son got some really neat baby gifts and several fun toys for Christmas. Of course, he was only 3-days old at the time, so I just stuck them all in his room.

On the floor.

I figured I would deal with them later. (I was a bit too tired to worry about that, for some reason!)


Being obsessed with organization, though, I had to tackle this problem. Simple solution: I bought a few chocolate-brown canvas boxes to match the colors in his room.


Then I simply unwrapped all the toys, put them in one box and placed it on the floor, and I put the other miscellaneous items in the other box and placed it on the night table.

Instant organization!



(That's why I love baskets and boxes and use them in just about every room in my house!)

Now, THAT's neat!