Sick of Picking Up Toys? Try This.

Does anyone reading this get sick of picking up books and toys?

I do.

I did something recently that is helping simplify my life in that regard.  I pulled about half of Logan's toys out of his toy baskets and almost all of them out of his room.  I am doing a toy rotation.  The extra toys are in baskets in a closet.  I'll change them out when he starts to get sick of the ones that he has.  Half as many toys is half as many to pick up.  I am doing the same thing with books.  I only keep 5 or 6 books out in his room.  

Benefits I've seen so far:

1.  It is easier to keep the house clean.

2.  Logan is learning to help clean up his own toys.  It is not overwhelming for him because there aren't very many toys to pick up.  He will work with me until the room is clean instead of getting distracted and making another mess.

3.  Fewer books allow for more repetition.  We read the same books every day for a week or two.  Logan is learning new words every day (he has about 40).  Many of them are from the books we are reading.

4.  Logan is focusing on one activity for longer periods of time.  He has fewer distractions.

5.  When I rotate the toys, Logan gets excited because he thinks they are all new.  This gives me more minutes during the day when he plays independently.