Years ago, we had friends with kids over for a party. Oddly the two older grade school aged kids played with all the baby toys. The babies and toddlers spent the evening carrying and fighting over gateraid bottles. Partly this proves that kids don’t need fancy toys. Partly that all those buttons and lights and noises are not just for babies.
Two Christmases ago C got a bunch of new toys. A play kitchen and food to go with it, Little People and puzzles, more preschool aged toys she still plays with today. Having too many toys in the house I weeded out the last of the baby and younger toddler toys. You know the stuff with 6mo to 18mo on the box as age recommendations. As I was pregnant at the time with the baby we lost, I didn’t sell them but instead stored them away for later.
When I went looking through C’s closet for the next size up in baby clothing I found that tub of older baby and toddler toys. (I hadn’t actually put stuff for storage in her closet, my husband’s awesome cousin who came to help us unpack did.) I pulled it out since some of it we will need in a few months. I also got a few new toddler toys at a recent consignment sale here. A new sorting toy as we’d lost the pieces to ours, and Little People cars and ramp ’cause boy.
C has been playing with them as much as her preschool toys. First, she unloaded the storage tub of toys, adding to the mess of toys all over the house already. It was cute seeing her enjoy her old toys again. I finally had to store them back away in the garage. She has also dutifully tested out all the new consignment toddler toys for her baby brother. Slowly I am storing those away too, or will in the next weeks after she plays a bit more with them. Hopefully I don’t end up with fights between them when I do get them back out for R. Especially as many of C’s toys have small parts and thus R can’t actually play with them.
Mommy Over-educated 