This is what our playroom looked like yesterday, less than 2 hours after the kids got up from nap time/rest time. I really struggle with toy messes at our house. I know that my kids have a real need to play and that they will make messes but there has to be a better balance between their need to play and my need to not have my house look like something in the path of Hurricane Katrina.
The other aspect of toy messes that I struggle with is the picking up and how much responsibility to put on the kids. The playroom was obviously a complete disaster but Avery’s room needed to be picked up as well. So, in an attempt to establish a weekly ritual where she picks up her room on Sunday evenings, I sent her upstairs to tidy up. I felt like it would be asking too much to have her then come downstairs and help clean up the playroom even though she had, no doubt, been one of the main culprits in the playroom mess.
That left me standing in our post-Katrina playroom with a 19 month old and a 3 year old. I recruited their help with some age-appropriate tasks but the bulk of the work fell to me, Mom. What a shock…
So, my rhetorical question is this: How do I allow my children the freedom to play and be creative without having my house turned upside down at least once a day? And, how do I balance the need to teach them to be responsible for their things with not wanting them to feel as though they spend their entire day picking up?
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