It is every parent’s goal to reach one milestone:  the day all toys are out of the living room.  We are aggressively moving towards this hurdle.  Our living room is down to the toy boxes (whose days are numbered).  We still have toys on the first floor, but when all heads are gently slumbering, I need them out of my view.  I like to play “adult” every once in a while.  It involves nachos, a mojito, and reruns of Sex in the City.  The picture above is the bottom of our kitchen pantry.  I dedicated the bottom shelves to books we read (left) and activity books (right).  There is also a bin for the various balls that seem to be attracted to my house like it’s a big universal play ball magnet.  They see a lot of use, so no complaints.  On the floor, toys are sitting, but not piled, not even in the basket.  Suddenly, we need a lot fewer toys to stay entertained.  Who knew?

Hidden, but to the left is a small basket for those “crap toys” that collect from dollar sections and McDonald’s.  When the basket gets full, I start throwing them out.  I think that’s my best rule of toy organization: sequester and limit the crap toys.  Let the real toys live out a beautiful life of play.