I didn’t get pictures but our school table was badly in need of attention half way through the school year. I cleared everything off of it Saturday and only put back school books, a folder for worksheets, a wire bin to hold papers, and his pencil box-of-holding (pencils, crayons, glue stick, scissors, buttons for math counters, etc.) A ton of papers got rehomed to a plastic drawer unit with several drawers designated for Kiddo to get into with scrap paper, colored paper, old magazines, stickers, etc. That drawer set up is a much better home than all over the table!
Oh and I added a letter board we were gifted forever ago. I thought about doing his sight words but quickly realized I don’t like fishing around for all the letters I’d need so something I can keep up for a month is better than his weekly list, so I put “It’s okay to make mistakes. Just try!” since a recent road bump has been that he’d rather shut down and try to get the parent to give him an answer instead of possibly giving a wrong answer himself.
If there’s just no way to keep it clear (I vibe with this – this is my coffee table), would putting out a basket to corral the stuff make it less frustrating?
(will delete solutioning if it is unneeded/unhelpful)
If it’s not flat on the table, the baby sees it, points, and screams because she wants to play with it toddlers are a DELIGHT. And she especially loves baskets. So many hidden surprises haha.
Plus honestly, if it’s not out in my way it’ll disappear and never get dealt with. So I let it annoy me until I give in and deal with it all. It’s a crappy and ugly system, but seems to be the only one that works
I distinctly remember my earliest memories and the happiest moments of my childhood involving baskets My favorite 90s off brand Cinderella remake production involved her being a washerwoman with a basket of clothes so I would sing and spin around in circles with my tiny little wicker baskets. I think there has to be a way of channeling a love for baskets into household chores help.
As you can see from just what’s in my front room/dining room, containers are The Best Toys around here haha. Things in. Things out. Between rooms. Repeat.
Here is BB at almost one year of age taking all the books off the bookcase because OBVIOUSLY they looked better in that large white basket. He was so very focused on this task, too.
We now have a 2 story house with the laundry and all bedrooms upstairs. This meant the toddler would sometimes decide to change clothes downstairs or we have kitchen laundry downstairs. Instead of fighting it we now have a cute laundry basket in the living room thanks to a Menards rebate!
I swear to god this table is my white whale. It doesn’t matter how much I work at it, it will ALWAYS have stuff on it. This is after having cleaned it up this morning already
In my house I would feed the sardines to the dog, accidentally lose the Kindle for 2 years, and drown my sorrows in that mug of coffee. But your goals may be more lofty.
PS I have a “white whale” section too. The only way it gets cleared is if I ask spouse to do it. He has, like, different eyes or something.
The herring is actually a preferred baby toy it comes in and out of the cupboard multiple times a day. It’s just there because it got set up when she was put in the high chair for breakfast. The kindle is my husbands and has an on again off again relationship with existence coffee is husbands- that is deeply treasured and will never be lost, but also never cease roaming the house.
I never realized how few high shelves there were in my house till I had a toddler. I recently added a small cardboard box to a shelf Mr. Meer cleared off just to have a spot to throw in things I don’t want Kiddo getting at freely (glue sticks, colored sharpies).
Also we removed the dog’s crate from our bedroom a month or two ago and since then I’ve realized how much I used it for putting crap on, like the laundry basket when I’m laying out clean laundry on the bed.
Boujie toys abound in this home, and she most enjoys:
An ikea popsicle mold
A container of kipper snacks
A crusty dog toy (okay okay, ALL the crusty dog toys)
My old hair brush
Anyone’s socks
Meal prep containers
I have always believed that the ideal house for small children involved tiles or concrete floors with a drain in the middle of the room, furniture mostly consisting of floor pillows, and a fairly high shelf running around the entire room.
That’s what those rubber mats that snap together are for. You can hose them down with the concrete floor and everything, even get letters for educational purposes.
(We might have a concrete floor, rubber mats, and a drain in the middle of our dog bedroom.)
toddlers are a DELIGHT. And she especially loves baskets. So many hidden surprises haha.
My favorite 90s off brand Cinderella remake production involved her being a washerwoman with a basket of clothes so I would sing and spin around in circles with my tiny little wicker baskets. I think there has to be a way of channeling a love for baskets into household chores help.
otherwise I’m on board haha.