Why We Have (Almost) No More Toys

"Christopher, if you don't pick up your toys I'm going to ...'insert horrible consequence here'..."

We have the same battle at our house numerous times a day. "BOYS PICK UP YOUR TOYS" & soon follow the instant tears & cries of frustration from the kids. Positive reinforcement works with a lot of things, but nothing is quite like the battle of who cleans up the toys. I have seen all sorts of creative ways to get children to pick up their toys, most of which, I have tried & most of which have never worked for us. Finally two boys, hundreds of toys, & almost 5 years later I have come to the conclusion:

I care more about their toys than my kids do. 

Seriously, it's true. I bet if you really dig deep & think about it, it might be true for you too. I've really been trying to get mine & my family's priorities straight from everything to finances, the home & even the time we spend. That's when it occurred to me. We are spending way too much time & energy on toys & not enough on things that really matter. Pieces of plastic & wood. Things that are just that...things.

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal --Corinthians 4:18

What we have doesn't really matter, however, where we choose to spend our time does. I couldn't shake the feeling that I really wanted my kids to thoroughly know this.  Not to mention my kids are infamous for what I like to call the 'Dump & Run' which consists of them dumping out a bucket, or sometimes even an entire toy box full of toys & running off to go do something else giggling along the way.

So thinking about the above bible verse I decided that toys were no longer going to be the center of our household, our time, or our efforts. We got rid of EVERYTHING except for a set of blocks, a car track, their play kitchen & about 5 other small toys. This was a major breakthrough for us considering to start with, there were three fully packed toy boxes, over 20 stuffed animals, small random toys, & puzzle pieces galore. And you want to hear the craziest part? They were happy about it, mommy on the other hand struggled a bit. I just kept thinking "I paid 20 bucks for that!" or "Well, we haven't even had this one for very long." But you know what? I would rather spend time teaching them to give to others than thinking of ways to get them to consistently clean them up. I want them to know we don't need "things" to have fun, or to spend time on. We can instead spend time on each other, & use our imigainations (which are why we kept the few toys we did) to play. Plus there are no more clean up frustrations which means we can spend more time on the books we kept, or the games we like to play, or learning about God together. & how blessed are we that we have enough "stuff" to give to others? Our cup is overflowing & we didn't even realize it. They understood the lesson though. They gave with joy & greafulness. No tears or screaming, quite the contrary from what we're used to at clean up time.

Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. --2 Corinthians 9:7

Thank God for my childrens' giving heart.

DIY Wood Cleaner/Polish

I have a confession to make...I hardly ever polish my wood surfaces...especially in the bathrooms or kitchen where the wood dries out easily. It just happens to be one of those things I don't notice until it's too late. My eyes don't see it until it's crusted in little boy fingerprints, cooking spills & completely dried out. I think this is a condition somewhat related to selective hearing, but I can't really be too sure. Either way here's my cheap & easy solution! Oh & please don't judge me for my before pictures, or even if you do, please don't tell anyone I know. Maybe they haven't noticed yet?

What you'll need:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• 1 3/4 cups water
• 1/2 teaspoon essential oil (optional)
• 16 oz or larger spray bottle

That's it! Mix it all in a bottle & just shake it before you spray it each time because the oil & water separate!

Homemade Wipes

I don't know about anyone else, but sometimes I think back to before I had kids & I wonder...how in the heck did I run a household successfully without any wipes?! I use them for everything. Cleaning quick spills, getting a spot out from a shirt, wiping faces & sticky hands, & of course the more obvious, less glamorous wiping up all that poop! Maybe this isn't normal, but for my house it is & let me tell you, we go through a LOT of wipes on a daily/weekly/monthly basis. So I thought, why not try to make my own? If I didn't end up liking it I could always switch back to the store bought ones. But to be quite honest, I never would switch back! The homemade wipes last a lot longer, are way more durable & I find I need to use less of them than a traditional wipe. Plus I like the idea of being able to use the baby wash I already use for my kids' skin in the bathtub. Here's how it's done...

What you'll need:

• 1 roll paper towels (I got mine from the Dollar Store & they happened to be Basic Bounty)
• 1 1/4 tablespoons baby bath wash
• 1 tablespoon baby oil
• 1 1/3 cups water
• A container that will fit half a roll of paper towels in it (again, Dollar Store)

Step 1: Mix all of the ingredients together in your container

Step 2: Cut your paper towels in half with a non-serrated knife & save the other half for next time.

 Step 3: Just place your paper towels into the container already filled with your mixture.

Step 5: Close your container & turn in upside-down until the paper towels are completely wet (15 minutes-ish).

Step 6: Open it back up & pull our the cardboard center.

All done: Cheap, easy & durable wipes!

This is where I based my recipe from!

Homemade Counter Cleaner

Okay, so I'm a bit of a hippie when it comes to saving money, cutting down on waste, & being green. With that being said, I like to make my own...everything. I'm talking dish soap, laundry detergent, & cleaning products. I will post the rest of the cleaning recipes on a later date, but this one is AMAZING for cleaning your counters. It disinfects & leaves your counters super shiny (I promise) & that means a lot coming from the OCD neat freak herself. Here's the recipe, & it's only pennies in a bottle!

What you'll need:

A spray bottle

Rubbing alcohol

Antibacterial dish soap (I found all the items at the dollar store)

Water

How to make it:

Fill the spray bottle about 1/8 full with rubbing alcohol

Add a few drops of the dish soap

Fill the bottle the rest of the way with water & shake! That's it!

To me, nothing is better than saving money, & knowing exactly what is being used in products I'm cleaning my family's home with is always a plus! Let me know if you tried it!