Thursday, July 19, 2012

HOME // Toys, toys, and more toys

My children certainly do not lack toys.  Just about every room in the house has toys in it.  Now my husband and I have different views on toys and how many a child really needs.  He thinks they would be fine with a set of crayons and a cardboard box.  I think he feels that way because he's not the one who stays home with them all day every day!!  I will admit that they do probably have more toys than are necessary but they actually do play with all of them.  A cardboard box and some crayons are great and we do enjoy our art projects and thinking creatively but that lasts about 15 minutes or so.  Our kids are busy and seem to need lots of options.

With that said... my playroom is a mess and needs better organization!  We moved into this house a few months ago and I haven't quite got around to making the space functional for the kids and easy to clean for me.  If money were no object I've got lots of ideas to transform the space into a dream playroom but I have a very limited budget and since we are renting permanent fixtures and painting is not an option.  Some things I would love to do are:

Hang drapes to add color and soften the windows a bit
Get a play table for the center of the room (that's what the blue rectangle on the floor is going to be)
Dress up organization
new bins for some of the toys (preferably with latches)
Place to hang the kids artwork
Chalkboard/Magnetic board
Make the space more inviting/fun with artwork

Here it is in it's current state... 
I am embarrassed at the mess.  Do you see why this room is in desperate need of some organization? Do you have lots of toys that are taking over your home? How do you keep them contained? I've thought about rotating toys. Putting some in a big bin and changing them out every so often to keep things more manageable and exciting for the kids but that seems like a lot of work. 




Monday, July 16, 2012

SAY WHAT YOU MEAN

I was watching one of my guilty pleasures, Real Housewives or New York,  the other night and a new cast member, Aviva Drescher, said something I find myself saying quite often -

Mean what you say, say what you mean, but don't say it mean!

It was the first time I had heard the "don't say it mean" part but I really like it.  Whether we are talking to our friends, co-workers/boss, our family, even our children; I think it is is important that we all weigh our words carefully before we speak.  Once it's out there we can't take it back.

Many of the conflicts and disagreements I have with my husband is from communication misunderstandings.  My husband will frequently say something to just say something often times not realizing what he is REALLY saying.  And I find that when I am not clear and concise with my children we all end up frustrated.  Here is a useful download from Circle of Parents that offers five tips on how to say what you mean and mean what you say when speaking to your children.   The five tips are: Say Please, Be Specific, Think, Eye to Eye and Pick Your Battles.

The idea of mean what you say, say what you mean, but don't say it mean sounds so simple, doesn't it? But in the fast paced world we live in it is easy to get hurried and quickly blurt something out that doesn't seem like a big deal to us but ends up sounding mean on the receiving end.  Our words are powerful and the words we choose and how we say them can make the difference in if our ideas are accepted or rejected by our audience.   I found a great article on the Experience Life website about the Power of Language.  It is quite eye opening and also offers many other great articles on the topic of language.

Do you find yourself blurting things out or saying something during an awkward situation that you later wish you could take back.  I often find myself getting easily frustrated with my children and don't always use the correct words and tone.  I am going to try and be more conscious in the what I say and how I say them and hopefully my children will follow suit.

xoxo
neisha