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Minimalism sounds like a scary word. When I first heard it, I imagined having to give up everything. As I sat surrounded by all of my unnecessary stuff, I quickly dismissed it as a nutty idea for hipsters and hippies alike. Who wants to give away their clothes and childhood mementos?
But then something changed. I had a daughter and all of my priorities shifted. I want to spend my time with Mac, not working to pay for our house and all of our possessions. So I have slowly been going through my things and getting rid of what I don’t need.
Recently, I was given a copy of The More of Less by Joshua Becker to review. It has totally rekindled the spark of minimalism within me. Right away, Becker introduces his journey to minimalism by using the phrase “You don’t need to own all of this stuff.” What a powerful phrase! Right when I read it, I knew this was the book for me.
Does your toddler cry when you fold laundry a different way? Were they inconsolable when you suggested walking a different way to the park? Or do they demand that you sing the same dumb song every time they are in the bathtub because you made the mistake of doing it one time? Well good news, your toddler isn’t a dictator or drama queen in the making, they are just getting their sense of order.
I’ll admit, I love to browse Pinterest. It is fun to not only find new ideas to try, but also to dream about what my house could look like. It seems like some people have their entire house ready for photographs at any moment. So when I first started to reorganize Mac’s toy closet, I had half a thought to try to make it picture perfect. After that half second of madness, I stopped myself because toy storage doesn’t have to be pretty! It just has to be functional. So here is a not Pinterest perfect example of toy storage (where toys live when they aren’t in the toy rotation.)
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. That means if you buy through my link, I may receive compensation at no extra cost to you. For more information, see my disclosure page here.
When most people hear the term “Montessori” they automatically think we are all hippie dippies (and I kind of am, but you can read about what the heck Montessori is.) You might wonder what Mac as a Montessori kid has for toys at home. So here is a peek into what she has available to her during the day. I switch out her toys weekly. All of these things are toys that Mac and I both love. Just keep in mind two things:
- She is 15 months old as I write this. I have a large range of things available, from more “baby” toys that are favorites of hers and things that are well above her age range because I like to challenge her, even in areas where she may already be ahead.
- I believe in moderation. While I follow many of the Montessori ideals (like simple, non-electronic, wooden toys), I do allow some that don’t follow those guidelines. I have a general rule about no electronic toys, but I do have a few that I let slide. I also strive to provide Mac with toys mostly made of wood and other natural materials, but there are exceptions. I’ll show those and more to you below.
Toys can be so overwhelming sometimes. Everyone and their brother wants to give your kids a toy until one day you turn around and every square inch of your living room is covered in toys. But why do you need so many? The kids only play with a few at a time anyway. That is where toy rotation comes in.
What is a Toy Rotation?
It is pretty straight forward. You take the majority of your child’s toys and you put them away, only leaving out a select few toys for them to play with. Ideally, the toys have a very specific place in the house and once there, you rotate them often. I talked about where Mac’s toys are when I made my living room Montessori.
This is my favorite picture of my family because it really captures our true essence. Believe it or not, there was quite a perturbed photographer who took this picture out of frustration at our lack of listening skills. Anyways, my family is quirky just like me and I figured I’d tell you a little bit about them.
After having Mac help me with some household chores the last few days, I just wanted to quickly remind everyone that a toddler helping you isn’t helpful. What I mean is that asking a toddler to help you do a chore isn’t going to speed it along and get the job done. You have a toddler help for three reasons: future practice, interest and getting things done. If you need a few ideas, read my post about Four Simple Ways Toddlers Can Help Clean Up.
Future Practice
Now, obviously we all want children who pitch in and help keep the house running. You live here, you take care of it. But parents tend to make the mistake of requiring children to do chores when they are older, instead of right away. Having toddlers help (or “help” as it should maybe be phrased) sets them up to doing more in the future. If you expect them to carry their dishes to the sink as a toddler, it becomes a habit. As long as you start small, you can build up as their skills increase.
In the picture above, Mac was taking the clean socks and putting them in that box. Did I really need socks in a box? No, I did not need socks in a box. (Whoa there Dr. Seuss.) But did she enjoy helping? Yes, and she even put the socks in the basket when I was filling it back up with folded laundry. As Mac grows, I’ll have her start with something easy like stacking washcloths and we will work up from there.
By the time May rolls around, everyone has pretty much checked out of school. It is (usually) warm and everyone is busy making summer plans. So busy, in fact, that sometimes they forget about giving out teacher gifts until the last-minute. Panic!
Here are two important things to remember: 1) You don’t have to give a teacher gift. As a teacher, I can say I don’t think badly of families who don’t give me a gift. It is just an added bonus. 2) Teachers are people too. Just like you wouldn’t want 12 coffee mugs with cutesy lawyer sayings on the, we don’t need 12 coffee mugs with cutesy teacher sayings on them. But when we get them, we do appreciate them because it is the thought that counts. But here is a list of three gifts teachers will love.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. That means if you buy through my link, I may receive compensation at no extra cost to you. For more information, see my disclosure page here.
I am working towards being a minimalist in my entire life. It might be a struggle, but I am definitely a minimalist when it comes to raising a child. There were plenty of things that were “must-haves” that we didn’t buy and haven’t missed. One thing we did accumulate, however, was cloth diapers. Now, I have been good and I don’t have a ginormous stash (although it is hard not to buy every single cute cloth diaper I find), but I have found three cloth diaper accessories that we couldn’t live without. One can even be used with disposable diapers too. (Make sure you take a listen to my cloth diapering 101 podcast.)
It is so important for toddlers to spend time outside. Not only is the fresh air and even the dirt important to keep them healthy, there are many things outside that they can’t do inside. Walking on uneven, outdoor ground helps with gross motor skills and simply having more room to move is great! But sometimes it is hard to know what to do with a toddler outside. So, I have a list of simple and cheap things to do outside with toddlers. These aren’t revolutionary ideas, but are ideas that have much more merit than just being playtime.
