A messy post

So over the weekend we took a day of the internet and decided to bake and socialize and, as I was baking with one kid in the kitchen the other one took the task of demolishing the kids' room to heart. It was a mess. It was frustrating. We expect them to clean their room and pick up their stuff but they are still little and they can't do it the way we expect them to or the way we do it. And it once again made me realize that they have too much stuff. As you can see in this photo there were toys and clothes everywhere and the place was full of paper. I had this idea that they would make a bunch of art and crafts from scrap paper because my eldest showed interest in collage but...no. I just can't be all recycly and zero waste in the moment. I choose sanity. If you wonder what the hell Zero Waste is, it's a step further from recycling. It's using all you have to it's fullest. So I saved a bunch of beads, and pearls, and papers and tids and bits so we could make art but it took me a few frustrated, tired, rage cleaning episodes to realize just how bad of an idea that was. So I threw it all away. I decided to go with minimalism over zero waste.

And that got me going. I decided to minimize everything I could. There were a few things I couldn't touch or I already minimized before, like clothes (even tho, I will admit there is room for progress), board games, puzzles, and books. Books are off limits and, in my opinion, a true investment in the future of any kid. I focused on toys, plush toys, paper, art supplies and cushions. Yes. Cushions.

My grandmother has this thing for cushions and every time she sees my kids she gives them cushions. And that's really lovely until you have like 15 cushions in the kids' room. So I left them with a pillow and an extra cushion they got from their uncle @zija2022, each. Those are really special, cloud-shaped and with their names on them. Wich comes in handy when they fight over which bed belongs to whom.
And another thing that is a must on their bed's are their Brigošes. What's a Brigoš you ask? Well, a Brigoš is a special plush toy, also handmade, you tell your worries to before you go to sleep. And my kids really use them. Like when their mean mother doesn't let them watch cartoons over the week. Brigoš is made by an artist Anja Leko and if you are in search of a special gift for a dear person be sure to check them out.

Next on, plush toys. I know many kids don't play with plush toys so they wind up collecting dust, but my kids really do. I managed to bring them down by a third, so that was ok. As far as toys go I didn't really throw away much. But I did put them away in our attic. I left them with the toys they play with most often these days, and that would be Peppa and ponies. I left blocks, Lego classic, Lego Duplo and wooden blocks. These wooden blocks are one of our favorites. They can write with them, they can stack them up, turn them into cupcakes and cookies. Last night they were the salad. It was a genius gift our friend @schkure and his wife gave them for their birthday. They are made in Croatia by Pongetoys. They make didactic wooden toys and are really high quality.

I do plan on throwing and/or donating most of their toys but some of the toys I plan on keeping and rotating. The concept of rotating toys is to switch the toys up every few months so the house stays clutter free and there is a feeling of getting something new every once in a while. They have really great toys like wooden puzzles and wooden figurines, kitchen toys and tools and playdoh toys they find fun and useful and I plan to keep around.
I am ok with kicking that can down the road and leave the rest of my planned toy downsizing as a project-to-be. And one I am actually looking forward to in spring.

My kids are really artsy, especially my eldest one. She produces at least two to three drawings a day and that is her bare minimum. She draws all the time and she's really good at it. So I tend to keep lots of her art and I used to stack it all up on the shell that is their closet, but I decided not to. I will put them away in the box, and I plan to buy registrators and sort the art out. I tried to keep all the art supplies into two boxes, one they use daily and other they use occasionally. And keep that minimized too. Also what I kept were our English and German learning materials and birthday cards and party props, but kept it all down to a box as well.

The room feels much neater and lighter now but my main goal was to make it so, that the kids themselves can easily keep it neet. I am a firm believer in chores and giving kids responsibilities they can handle. This minimizing was also me making good on my New Year resolution #8 and that is to simplify my life. Our lives. Less stuff means less clutter and less time spent cleaning and organizing and sorting and more time together in play and reading and just having fun. If you are looking for a way to simplify your life with kids check out these two great articles about simplifying your lives and your play space.