There are an obscene amount of toys in our house. I attempt to instill in my kids, almost daily, just how fortunate they are to have the things they have. And I donate as much as possible, in many ways, so kids that aren't so fortunate can have some toys, too. (And honestly, it helps to ease my guilt.)
I've had to be creative with toy storage in our small apartments and houses. Our coffee table has cubbies that hold toys. Dressers hold toys. Baskets of all shapes and sizes hold toys. We've installed extra shelves in closets just for more toy storage.
And our suitcases, when not being used for their original purpose, hold toys.
Suitcases are such big, bulky things to store. When we had a crib, they always went under the crib. Now they live in Little Mister's closet. We have two large suitcases, and each holds one third of Little Mister's toys.
When he gets bored with the toys that are out, we “trade toys”—we pull out a suitcase, take the “new toys” out that he hasn't seen for a month or two, and pack it full of the toys that were previously out. The toys get rotated, we have less clutter in the living areas at any one time, and his playthings get refreshed every few weeks.
It's a pretty sweet trick.
We've done this since he was a baby (and before, with Sweetpea), so he's always disappointed when we take a trip and empty the toys out of the suitcases to put in boring old clothes. He thinks the toys are in the suitcases so when we go on vacation, he'll have lots of toys to play with. I wonder if he thinks all the suitcases at the airport are full of toys?
