Get out of my house! (Subtitle: Where I've been)

So I haven't had much time to chat and blog because I have been heavy into Project Clean-Out-My-House.  I feel the need to purge things . . . I feel like the household clutter around me is somehow turning into mental clutter that is fogging up my brain.  And I've realized that we do have a lot of hidden, under-utilized storage space (in cabinets, drawers, closets, etc.).  If only I could get rid of stuff we don't need & reorganize the stuff we need, we would have space to find permanent homes for the random things that are always floating around.

Today during naptime I tackled the toy area.

Before: (1: 30 pm)

(to be fair, I was already in the middle of spreading things out and cleaning them in this pic)

After: (3:30 pm)

The changes:  The toy bin rack moved into the guest room.  We really wanted to move to a more open-access type of play space, but the rack is too flimsy and Maya could pull it over if she tried to pull up on it.  So it went into the spare room and I'll have to teach her a sign for it, and then we can walk in and pull out a bin to play with.  The toys left in the living room are in containers that we already had :)

A SMART IDEA FOR KIDS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS (or any kids, really):  You might be able to see that next to the wicker basket with toys (and next to the pink tub) there is a clear, lidded tupperware container (like this sweater box from the Container Store).  Maya's teacher had a great suggestion:  Take a few highly motivating toys (that bin has a few books in it that Maya loves, and another bin across the room has her kitchen toys in it).  Keep them in containers with clear lids----either she will learn how to open them independently (which is good fine motor practice for kids with OT delays) or she will learn to ask for help, or bring them to me for help, etc (which is good for kids with speech delays--like Maya, or kids who need motivation to interact with others).

I've got about 35 projects going on at once :)