Help me reclaim my living room............

[SheSellsSeashellsByTheSeashore]

What do you do with all the xmas presents? ATM my room is filled with toys in giant boxes that niether of them have any interest in opening yet.

Mine too!
DH has gone to watch the football,I need him to help stash boxes etc in the garage, god forbid I mess up the bloody garage! Had a nice afternoon tho, have been rotating toys so they've held the boys interest longer. Much fun was had by me all with the mountain of new lego and Playmobil sets.

Mine are 11.6 and 9 and they have to take all their stuff upstairs on xmas day before lunch - that way I can shut their bedroom doors on the mess and downstairs looks tidy.

we lifted everything upstairs half an hour after opening the presents. we had family ccoming for lunch so needed to get organised.

everything was displayed for family to see on beds but dd's knew they could take things away with at anypoint to play with as long as it was brought straight back

i put away a few things unopened last night that i will bring out again in a few weeks when they get bored with everything else.

i remeoved the packaging from everything else (amazing how much the pile shrunk after this) and found homes for it all in toy boxes/craft drawers etc.

we opened all the tpys yesterday, got rid of all the packaging, put new clothes away and was left with a toy box of stuff for each DC!!!!!

Thats the thing though both toy boxes are already full! Methinks a trip to the charity shop tommorrow is in order.

lol we did charity shop sort out on tuesday and managed to empty 4 small boxes and a large box so its all sorted now, all toys in conservatory and nothing in my lounge apart from the wii and the wii games!

we always get rid of all the packaging asap as it makes the pile a lot smaller. We then use big christmas bags to store stuff in for a couple of days before being put away in toy boxes etc. Although do need a new storage box for all the barbies dds got between them

oh and like bonkerz all toys are in conservatory[ i knew there was a reason we had it built]

Yep all packaging gone and it looked so much smaller, thankfully had a huge sort out in playroom earlier this week so mpost of it has fitted in the cupboard space I cleared, I also bought a huge clear plastic box for all the dolly accessories (nemo we have one for the barbie/princess dolls although that is kept under dd1 bed) few things that are more 'precious' to dd1 in the toy box in her room and a few bits of dd2's in her room, just ot to get a small stacking system to sort all the peppa pig toys and then we're back to normal

I'm also taking decs down this weekend so I can have a week of normal house before dd2's birthday which is a week on monday (and thankfully I know she hasnt gopt many big toys as lots of people giving ehr elc vouchers so she can have something nearer spring for the garden)

if they haven't opened and played with by now i would be very tempted to tidy away and recycle them tbh

Re the packaging, we try and keep space for it in the loft. In a year or two I will sell the stuff (when it is outgrown) at the NCT sale and it will go for a lot more in decent packaging. Or if it goes to the charity shop they will make more money on it. It was a problem before we had loft storage though.

That's why I want to keep the packaging (sooo much Playmobil).

Also why we need a conservatory!

My lovely Grandad who is 87 bought tons of really complicated craft stuff for my dd's aged 2 and 4 - most of it more suitable for aged 8+. My poor dh grappled for 40 mins this morning with some wire and beads to make a 'butterfly' before giving up and putting it all away. Tonight we're going to get all of the unopened craft stuff and stash it away for future usage or charity. At the moment I can't see the lounge floor as have been to IL's today and come home with another haul so will have to do something tonight.

I'm not bothered about a tidy house at Christmas. We are all off next week and I'm happy to have thing's downstairs down stairs. It means I don't have to bother doing much housework!