Am i being too harsh about the toys everywhere?

[Blossomhill]

Okay I live in quite a small 3 bedroom house and have 1 ds 7 and 1 dd 5. They both have there own rooms. They also have enough toys to fill the whole house, even though I therw loads before christmas.
Obviously when they were younger we had to have toys downstairs as I needed to keep an eye all of the time. I am now considering telling them they play with there toys only upstairs. For some reason I feel bad doing it but if I step on one more piece of Geomag
I seriously have toys in every room in the house and it's getting out of hand!

[lunavix]

Could you not get some decent toy storage?
Ikea have some great child-imaginative-friendly stuff, plus I always love an excuse to go to Ikea...

[ladymuck]

Is it possible to ban toys from a single room downstairs so as you have a sanctuary? I'd just fear being dragged upstairs to sort out fights etc all the time.

[zubb]

sounds sensible - I have just moved ds1 (3) garage and road set that he had for Christmas into his bedroom (which he shares with ds2) and I expect him to play with it upstairs. I still have a toy box downstairs as they are young, but if it doesn't fit in there then it's not allowed downstairs.

[zubb]

ladymuck - I'm doing it so that I don't have to sort out fights , as ds2 can't open the stairgate so ds1 can play in peace!

[galaxy]

ds is 12 (almost) and all his toys stay in his room. dd is 2 and has a small room so in the lounge we currently have:

Crawl to Slide Playground;
Toybox with jigsaws, bricks etc in;
Happy Land house
Fisher Price House
Happy Land railway
doll's pram


When she was tiny, everything was put away every night before bed but now I can't be bothered.

[weightwatchingwaterwitch]

I know the feeling blossomhill, especially as things that my 1yo dd might put in her mouth have to be picked up (aaaaggghhhh at Beyblade pieces and small lego bits!) but it wouldn't work in our house, I don't think so anyway. Nice idea in theory but I doubt I'd be able to enforce it. Can you have another clear out? Or tell them they can only have certain stuff downstairs? Ds doesn't have that many toys downstairs (we have a small house too) but will go and get something and bring it down if he wants to play with it.

[msann]

i had the exact same thoughts blossomhill...then my sister said 'well why DO you have all their toys downstairs??' so within an hour id moved them up in2 their rooms. At first they hardly played with them then....but now they often play in their rooms (together) and sumtimes bring stuff downstairs 2 play with. Its much easier to relax on a night without having to look at a whole heap of toys in ur front room!

[mishi1977]

hi
we have a small 3 bed house and only one ds who is 14mths..we have toys everywhere and its worse cos our dinning room and lounge are through but he does keep his toys in the dinning room part and its great because of a night when its away in the storage boxe thing hes got it doesnt actually seem to bad and as I say the living room is ours

[Merlin]

Blossomhill - they are old enough to play in their bedrooms. My DS (age 4) had a HUGE wooden castle bought for him for Xmas from his Nannie, and I told him it had to go in his bedroom or otherwise I would throw it away! Already have a train track running everywhere downstairs along with everything else! Plus I do try and get him to tidy up and try and encourage him NOT to get everything out at once - easier said than done I know! If they have to have toys in every room, do you have the space for a box/basket so they can just throw them in when not using them?

[snowyduck]

i have toys in every room too but, it's not so bad because i have a big cupboard under the stairs to tidy them into. I also allow ds2 a small cupboard in the kitchen to keep games and jigsaws.
I would like mine to make use of their newly decorated bedrooms that are full of toys but they don't. Not sure why, i remember heading straight upstairs after school as a child to play.

[milge]

Just ordered a catalogue from the Holding Company, as my sitting room is doing a pretty good impression of Toys R US, not to mention the kitchen, the kids rooms, the bathroom. Its everywhere, and its plastic AAAAARGH

[littlemissbossy]

I'm lucky that we have a playroom, so most of the toys are in there, however, this still means that toys are easy at hand and get dragged through the rest of the house! I have a small toy box in the lounge for a few bits and anything left in the lounge on an evening gets bunged in there - toys left anywhere else get literally thrown into the playroom and the door closed!
If I were you, I would insist that there's a room downstairs that is left (relatively) toy free.
Good luck!

[Carla]

I really do need to have a clearout. But I'm so stupid, for the same reason I can't get rid of their baby clothes, I can't get rid of their toys. I am mad. But even when they're home, and I'm usually doing something really boring (to them) like cooking their supper, I'd hate the idea of them having to be upstairs. But then our house is a toy-laden tip

[nightowl]

ds (7) has a bedroom full of toys and had a toybox downstairs. since the arrival of his lttle sister in january last year ive been slowly accumulating things downstairs. i think he was a bit put out when i told him his toybox would now have to go upstairs to make room for his sister's toybox but i didnt really have a choice! its only a two bedrromed house at present and i already have baby's large toys rammed up my back in this pantry as we speak! ive told him anything he wants to play with he will have to bring them downstairs one by one and take back up when hes finished..he's never played in his room anyway. plus obviously as someone said, dd keeps trying to eat his lego and other tiny things and im tired of chasing her around.