Now, Let's See How Long This Lasts

I've been getting frustrated lately with the toys every-damn-where, and the fact that any with multiple parts are strewn from one end of the house to the other.

I'd been thinking that Peeper was too young to understand any sort of categorization system, but then I realized that, in her room, we have specific places for books, puzzles, scarves, hell even panda and non-panda bears, and she knows excatly where each of those things goes, so why not other toys in other rooms?

Yesterday, she pulled out literally every toy in the (formerly) main storage area of the living room, so I took that as a sign to go through them and make some sense of things.

While Shrike was napping this afternoon, Peeper and I organized it all. (That is not a typo, Shrike slept through it, and Peeper really was a big help, handing me toys, following me back and forth across the house as I toted toys from room to room, and even dragging the laundry basket full of toys for me.

It's still not super-organized or super-neat, and there are still way too many toys and wayt too much miscellaneous crap, but it's a big improvement.

Office
Yes, the bookshelves need a lot of straightenening, and we need to move some books out to other locations. The toybox below them is miscellaneous crap, but much less full than it was before. The basket next to it is for dress-up and role-playing - costumes, clothes, hats, wallets / credit cards, purses, cell phones, her doctor kit and such things. (Having a "dress-up bin" was one of my main motivating factors for this organizing spree.)

Not pictured in the office are all the magnetic numbers and letters on the file cabinet, her Little People farm and house in the closet (need to moved out some bins to make more room in there) and her mailbosx which seems to live in a random little blank space by Shrike's desk.

Living Room
All the "things that go" (plus blocks) are in theside cabinets of the entertainment center.

Trains on the bottom, and cards/trucks/busses on top. (Along with all their respective riders and drivers).

And on the other side, plane and boats up top with a variety of blocks down below.

Over by the window, things that are too big to be put "away."

Under the sofa table (which is not behind the sofa, but rather, in front of the window), are the Duplo castle, all her Santas and a couple of bags of miscellanous things.

The Santas are in their own category mostly because she suggested it when I was rattling off potential categories the other day. Also, there are enough to deserve it.

Sunroom
This box contains "music makers" (the real piano and her toy one are also in this room) and more misscelaneous crap. I hope to replace it soon, with one of those racks that holds plastic bins, tilted at a bit of an angle. Oh, you know what I'm talking about.

They are usually about $60, although Target had them for about $38 this week. But Aldi's had them for around $20 several times, and I'm betting that they will again, soon.

We bought these drawers tonight ($16 at Target) to serve as a "pantry" for all the food and dishes that go with her kitchen.

This cabinet holds Peeper's arts and craft supplies, sorted by category ( (crayons, paints, paint brushes, scissors/glue, etc.) We'll probably add some childproof latches to the doors, so we can put the more supervision-needing things in there.

Peeper's Room
The bookshelf ha basically looked like this for a while but, for some reason, the cool drawers have been empty.

Below the puzzle shelf are all the weird puzzles that don't "work" on the shelf.

On the other end are the stacking and nesting toys. These are really pretty babyish for her. I was going to move them to the basement, but then she saw them, and, well, you know.

And in between, more miscellaneous crap!

 Finally, under the changing table are all the "cuddly toys."