A little pick-me-up

Yesterday was a bad idea. We got some discouraging news. I was operating on little sleep and dealing with a horrible cold and ended up driving in "heavy flurries" (didn't know such a phrase exists, but it does according to Environment Canada) to the doctor's office to get antibiotics.

While I was cleaning up, I discovered that darling daughter had tucked in her dolly on our bed. There she was, propped up on pillows and covered with the small afghan my grandmother made me when I was a baby. Darling daughter had made her comfortable before she headed off for preschool. Despite all the crap I've been wading through lately, this put a smile on my face.

Toy confusion

This plastic baby bottle with bow-tie pasta and brown rice is darling daughter's favourite toy today. I quickly put it together this morning. And she loves it.

Sometimes I wonder why I buy her toys. Give her a couple of face cloths, a bib or a pair of her own shoes, she's happy for hours. Buy her a new Little People set or an Elmo World phone, they might capture her attention for a couple of minutes throughout the day.

So now I'm on the fence when it comes to Christmas gift giving. I've got three Little People sets sitting in the storage closet for her for under the Christmas tree. (I bought them when they were on sale). While she isn't all that big about the big Little People sets, she does enjoy playing with the actual Little People. But isn't three Little People sets too much for a little girl? The good thing with these sets is that I can keep them and save them for later, or give them out to others for birthday gifts. They certainly won't go to waste.

Some of the moms on one of the online message boards I belong to employ the something you want, something you need, something to wear, and something to read policy. Plus, Santa may leave a little something under the tree and in their stockings.

I really like that policy. I really do. But I've got a tendency to overspend at Christmas and I don't know if I can hold to that policy. Last year I did okay, but I have done better and stuck to the original plan of being thrifty. Because at the time, darling daughter was only five months old and she really didn't need anything. Plus, it looks like dear husband is becoming worse in the gift giving department. He couldn't resist and bought her several toys last year.

As well as the Little People sets, I also bought her a wooden puzzle and a rattle with bells, for her stocking. So if I think about it, one of the Little People sets could be filed under the something you want category. Since I bought a bunch of books for her in recent month, I'll replace the book with the puzzle for the something to read category.

I'm stumped when it comes to the something you need category. She's 15 months. She doesn't really need anything. So I may just use one of the Little People sets to fill that vacancy or buy her some Fred Penner CDs. We do need more music CDs. And for the something to wear, well, she's a clothes horse. I've spent a lot of clothes in recent months, but I may make her a hat if I find the time.

The third Little People set can always be given to her from Santa.

So yeah. If I stick by that plan, I should be good. But I find it so hard not to cave in and buy more at Christmas. I'll keep you updated in how I do.

Rethinking my love for Trofast

A couple of weeks ago, I blogged about my new Trofast unit. At the time, I was so excited when dear husband assembled our new organizational unit for darling daughter's toys. I still take some enjoyment in its plastic and pine glory, but I am so sick of picking up toys.

It didn't take long for darling daughter to figure out how to get the plastic bins out the pine unit. And when she isn't taking the bins out of the unit, she is tossing the toys out the bins. For a 15 month old, she is a smart cookie.

So once darling daughter is done having breakfast, the toy chaos begins. Toys are flung in every direction. Bins are pulled out from their drawers. Once everything is on the floor, darling daughter will hunker down in a bin and will chew on a toy or two before getting bored and toddling off to the next adventure. And by the time I know it, every block, Little People, ball, stuffed animal and gizmo is underneath my feet. Since getting the Trofast, the usual toy mess seems to be getting messier these days. But to be fair to the Trofast, it isn't exactly its fault. It is just doing its job, despite the fact that darling daughter has figured out how to get the bins onto the floor.

So lately I've been cleaning up toys at least five times a day. I guess I should stop complaining and just accept the fact that I'll be cleaning up toys off the floor for awhile. I'm just waiting for the day that darling daughter helps out, but that day may be long in coming.

Toy organization at its best

This may sound superficial of me, but I can't stop starting at my new Trofast unit in all its pine wood and plastic bin glory.

I love you Trofast unit. I really do. You have made my life so much easier since you arrived on Sunday.

As part of my recent decluttering purge, I made a couple of trips to Ikea. I'm not a big fan of Ikea. (I know this is such a sacrilege statement to say as many people adore this store.) Although most of my house is furnished by Ikea, I can't stand walking through the store. I'm an in-and-out type of girl. I don't go to Ikea to browse. I hate crowds. I go with a list and to deal with people just browsing or stopped in the middle of the aisle to gawk at a display makes me absolutely mental. Stopping suddenly in an aisle is akin breaking in fast flowing traffic on the Queensway. Why are you stopping? No, don't stop to chat. I've got no time to hear your conversation as I'm a mission, which involves getting my items and getting the heck out of dodge.

So in the last two weeks I have made three trips to Ikea, which is a record for me. The first trip was to conduct research as photos on a website don't cut it for me. The second was to buy two Trofast units and the third trip was to purchase the bins. (I didn't buy all the bins at once as I wanted to get an idea how many I needed in various sizes.) One unit is for the main level and the second is for darling daughter's soon-to-be playroom.

Before I decided to invest in these organizational units, we were using a very large blue pail given to us by close friends of ours. It worked great for an entire year, until darling daughter started to take all of her toys out of it and pushing it around the living room. One day she even fell into it. That is when I decided that we needed to invest something that is a bit more toddler proof. And as for the blue pail, I'm sure I will find a good use for it in a different capacity other than toy storage.

Now, I'm able to organize all her toys. There is a container for all her stuffed animals and another for her stacking toys. The Little People have their own container and the blocks are stored in another. Yep, life has become much easier with Trofast. And as weird as it sounds, it is almost becoming a joy to pick up darling daughter's toys.