Sorry Kris - I sent that last on off while I was in the midst of typing! Anyway, those bins helped me teach my kids how to pick up after themselves. The rule was that one bin had to be picked up before another could be dumped out. That way items don't get mixed together and even a 2 year old can manage to pick up with a little help & supervision. You can make a game of it with them and picking up will not be an overwhelming chore.
It can be a problem with guest children who come in and try to dump everything out... My kids quickly learned to tell friends that they had to help pick up whatever they took out, and if necessary I would go in and help them sort and pick up. Any kid who came to my house twice knew the drill and it was never a problem. Interestingly, the friends never seem to mind - everyone wants to come home with me. We have rules, but they know what to expect and so they don't object. It also keeps your shelves (and house) looking neat to have stackable boxes lined up instead of stacks of coloring books sliding around and crayons rolling off the shelves. And if the boxes are marked, you can always find what you're looking for. I've found that this method can be adapted to almost any kind of small toy or collection. My kids are 10 & 15 now, so the toys have changed. Now some bins contain comic books or magazines. The outgrown toys and books that they want to keep are still stored in these boxes in their closets. I'll be glad to help you figure out a system if you decide to use this. As you can see, it is something I really believe in... Diane *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Journey from clutter List Website http://journeyfromclutter.com Members Only Page http://journeyfromclutter.com/MembersOnly/MembersArea.htm Unsubscribe: email [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word 'unsubscribe' in the 'Subject:' field to be removed from the main list. To Unsubscribe from the Digest version of the list send the unsubscribe message to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
