to spend ages putting all the toys back together

[curiousuze]

at the end of the day? DH thinks I am nuts crawling round, looking under furniture, muttering 'I know there's another fireman somewhere...'

He just sweeps everything under the sideboard, ready to be thrown around the room tomorrow.

At the moment we are missing:

two fridge magnets in the shape of cupcakes
a horse from his happyland farm
a rattly ball from his elephant game
a drumstick

DS is only 16 months; he hasn't even started on lego or jigsaws. I'm going to drive myself insane, aren't I?

(but I can't help hoping all these missing bits are in a secret hidey hole I've not discovered yet...)

I have a separate plastic box for each type of toy, and they all go back in the correct box at the end of the day, but I don't scramble around wondering if a piece is missing. Lego or playmobil pieces etc just go in their own big plastic box, I don't sort it by set, that would be madness.

I do have a small "odd bits" box, which little pieces that have lost their homes go into to wait to be reunited. Because I am totally anal Somehow I can tell easily at a glance which puzzle/board game/toy set a particular tiny piece came from, and DH is totally clueless (he can't even tell Lego from Playmobil), he tends to put a lot of stuff into the odd bits box, and I tend to empty it.

Oh Ladies (and Gents!) You lot are just what I need after a stressy day! I have just had a massive clearout because DDs 1 & 2 are moving out. Trying to squeeze a tear out here....Anyway just thrown out that shoebox with puzzle pieces and lego swords and bits of a pop up book that were ripped about 20 years ago, marbles, dice, Hungry Hippo balls,etc etc!!! And I used to love going into my DDs room and dressing all her dolls in their proper outfits with matching socks and shoes...she used to go mad and get them all naked again...Hope I'll be doing if for Grandchildren soon.

Not that it matters really, but it should read DSs 1 & 2.

YANBU. I do this too, making sure Lego sets are in one piece and accompanied by all accessories and minifigs.

This does pay off, as the Lego sets become discontinued and (having kept the boxes stored away ready for this moment) you can flog them on eBay and make an absolute killing (especially the Star Wars stuff).

I try, but the more children you have the harder it seems to get. My two have rules about not getting all their toys out at one time and spreading them all over the house - do they listen? Mostly but not always. They do pick things up, but rarely ever put things away in an organised fashion.

The result is I have regular clear-outs where I do it myself. Anything broken or missing a certain amount of pieces is thrown away never to be seen again!

Like PeaceEagle I used to do this and was on top of it all... then along came Playmobil ...

It's a real bugbear of mine actually

Toy manufacturers out there - if you happen to be reading this - please, please design a toy that is easy to store and replace in the proper box AFTER use.

Playmobil - please start manufacturing tailor-made storage units!!!!

Another example: DD's god-father bought her these beautiful construction blocks when she was younger here but the manufacturers have obviously assumed that parents have a spare 40 mins every night in which to carry out a Krypton-factor-esque exercise in spacial awareness trying to cram it all back in the box. (And yes, could get another larger box, but packing is integral to toy in this case.)

Grrrrrr

I was the same until my husband stood on a piece of a peg puzzle and broke it. Once one puzzle was actually impossible to complete, I had a minor meltdown and then had to accept that this was my life. Fortunately this happened at about the time someone gave me son those squeaky eggs, which are apparently incapable of not ending up under the dresser. Moving house did it for me - I found all the pieces of everything but most of them had been packed away by the time I was cleaning behind radiators, under the fridge and between floorboards, so there are some which may never now be reunited and I have almost made peace with that...

I used to do that too. Then I had another kid and these days I'm just happy if it's all pushed in the general direction of the baskets the toys live in to be honest!

Every so often I indulge myself and sort it all out (when they're in bed though so they can't undo all my good work as I'm doing it).

I was part of a large group of mums who met at each others houses. Your turn about every 10 weeks. About 10 mums and up to 25 children sometimes!It was chaos and all the toys got thrown around and toy boxes emptied...but you know what...it made me have a big throw out of broken toys and a big 'put together' of sets. Would love to go back to those times...

Marylou
You must be bereft !
What are you planning to do with their rooms ? Shrines to childhood or straight to Laura ashley for a fresh new look?

I thought it was just me! I drive myself crazy trying to locate that stray toy piece every night. I get irrationally irritated that every time my Dh and Dd play they loose pieces of toys. it drives me mad!

My ds is 15 months old, I make him put one toy away before he gets the next one out, today we were playing with the brio trainset and ds asked to get his garage down so I said yes, I'll get that down but first we need to put the trains away. He is very happy to help, we I sing a little song.

He does have "out all the time toys" a farm and some baskets of interesting objects but if he starts throwing things around I encourage him to play with a ball.

I think possibly I'm a mean mummy.

Waltonswatcher1...Yes quite bereft! And DS2 is only just 17...joining the Navy, like Big brother and moving in with him...Not that I feel you need any explanation but he's a lovely teenager and we are not kicking him out! My Mum always said 'he's always wanted to be an adult'. The flat is only down the road so not far. And yes, as we gave the boys the big room when we moved here, we are having it back!! Pink I think...already have wallpaper samples!

And ikeaismylocal...you are not a mean Mummy, you have just got one child and only 15 months worth of toys!!

Every toy has a place here. That may be in a big box of other toys, but I know which ones are in there. Toys get thrown into the right boxes each night. Every few days I pull all the bits for the toys together, every day would drive me potty. DS2 got 3 new toys which all take a slightly different balls for his birthday and everyone else keeps putting them in the wrong toy!

Glad to know I am not the only one who is like this OP I have had to attempt to stop fanatically finding things over the years as although it is great to keep all the sets intact, once playmobil and other tiny things make an entrance it becomes an impossible task and drives you mad! We lost a tiny bit from my daughters Fifi Flowertot world, it's a play set with ridiculously small people in it. It was a stick thing which attaches a minuscule wasp on to his house. Lost it for months then it appeared inside the washing machine door. I have never felt so triumphant... And the time we 'lost' a Handy Manny tool from the toolbox which I obsessed about and tried to find a replacement on eBay- then it turned up in an old tub of pens I had put away meaning to sort through and never did. It is seeing that empty space in a set or puzzle which does me in but they all turn up eventually I understand this now after a third dd still can't bring myself to put the microscopic sylvanian families bits into one big tub all mixed up together- NEVER BUY THAT STUFF.