Corralling the Baby Gear

Before we were expecting Thomas, I made grand blanket statements about how our kids would have one toy at a time and they'd eat on the floor before I'd have a high chair in my house.  I also once said I'd never name a kid Thomas because every Tommy in my class (good old Catholic school, there were a few of them) was obnoxious.  So obviously I should just keep my opinions to myself. Though I've accepted that with babies comes stuff, I'm still pretty militant about what comes through the door of our house and where it's stored.  Especially considering Thomas's favorite toy is the springy doorstopper in his room. 

The main floor of our house is pretty small.  We have the office, the long dining/living room, the breakfast nook (no, still no banquette seating) and the kitchen.  If we had a bigger living space, I might not be so controlling about how much baby stuff comes into the house.  Who are we kidding, I like having opinions, especially unpopular ones.  So, here's how I'm handling the accumulation of baby and kid stuff on the first floor of our house.

The kitchen has been my nemesis since we came home from the hospital with Thomas.  The hospital sent us home with this mauve tub full of pump parts. And the pump and I are intimately close three days a week four times a day.  And the mauve tub has taken up permanent residence on our counter since June 20th.  But I finally found a solution for all of Thomas's feeding supplies - bowls, bibs, spoons, bottles and pump parts that allowed me to kick the mauve tub to the curb.

I bought a square brown fabric bin at Target on sale after Christmas.  It's Thomas's food bin.  If it doesn't fit in the bin, he doesn't get to use it to eat.  Kidding.  Sort of.

Now everything's on the first shelf of the corner cabinet.  Easy to grab pump parts, easy to make a bottle for daycare, easy to find a bib. 

And in the living room, we rotate toys.  Anything that's not currently a favorite gets moved to the playmat in the basement, and we rotate occasionally.  And everything that gets to stay in the living room has to fit under the console table.  I'd love to say I have no plastic baby toys in plain sight, but I've learned that's unreasonable.  Instead, we keep them to a minimum.

The galvanized tub is my favorite.  It held flip flops at our wedding reception, beer at backyard parties after that, and now it holds our kids toys.  The circle of life?  I know we could buy cubes with lids to keep toys in, but I've found that this open system encourages me to use it.  And sure, you can see some plastic and toys.  But we do have a baby, afterall.  A little reality is okay with me.

This sit-to-stand walker is obnoxious, but Thomas loves it.  So it gets to hang out in the living room to encourage individual play.  And to help with my own musical development.  Sing along with me, "Welcome to our learning farm, we have lots to show you! Shapes and colors, music, too.  There's so much to doo-oo."

After we put Thomas to bed - or if someone stops by quickly without notice - I pick up anything that's out and put it in the tub and park the walker.  Between keeping things to a minimum and having easy, designated places to put things away, B and I have found that we're able to relax together a lot more easily after Thomas is in bed.