Toys multiply while we sleep

Before Isabella was born we had already purchased enough clothes to outfit Octomom's brood.  We had all the baby gear in place months before she arrived.  Her closet and bedding was all washed and prepared at least two months before she was born.  We had even gone to two consignment sales before her birth but we had very few toys. 

I will have to admit that I was a bit lost about how and when to acquire toys.  I saw them in the store but I wasn't sure about what you needed when and if you just bought some and went with it.  I had always heard the old adage that kids are going to love the boxes more than the toys (which is completely true!) so I knew that I didn't want to waste a lot of money on toys.  I knew that in the first few weeks she was just going to be a sloth and so I wasn't super worried about having toys on hand and I figured that we would just buy some as we went along. 

Fast forward two and a half years and we have more toys than we know what to do with.  Blocks, fake food, Little People (which is the oddest name brand for toys, I think), Lego's, toy cars, books, etc. all run amok in our toy room.  One of the big selling points of this house that we live in is the extra room off the front door that specifically holds toys.  In our last house we didn't have a dedicated space just for toys and it just felt like we were being over run by toys in all rooms of our house.  Since we were downsizing with this house, I knew that we would want an area that was just for toys.  

Here's another small item that they don't tell you before having a baby: if you leave toys out over night, they will multiply while you are sleeping.  Just ask anyone who has stepped on a Lego or a block in the dark.  You thought there were only a few and you could miss them but no.  Corry has this favorite picture that he laughs about - something about stepping on a Lego and winning a krumping contest.  This phenomenon doesn't exist anywhere else in nature.  I swear if I don't completely pick up the toys at night, when I wake up in the morning it feels like the kids played with the toys all night. 

My kids are at that age where they are capable of picking up their toys, but it gets done faster and much more efficient if I just do it.  I mentioned that I need to work on patience, right?  My sanity at the end of the day is saved if I just wait until they go to bed and then clean up the living room and our bedroom.  Well, at least clean the toys up and make it look like Hurricane Toddler(s) didn't just come storming through the house.  I don't know when they drag out some of these toys or when they get certain toys in certain places.  Just this evening when I was going to start the bath water I noticed a My Little Pony in the bathtub and a bath time letter underneath our bed.  Sometimes I can't help but wonder when they get all of this out.  I know that the house is semi-picked up when my mom leaves when we get home, but in the few hours before they go to bed the entire house is turned upside down some nights.   

As a bonus though I have discovered a new source of fun.  Picking up the toys at night has become like a game to me.  It's kind of like carrying all the groceries in from the car in one trip.  You know that it's ridiculous and that you look like you belong in an insane asylum while you are trying it, but you just HAVE to try and see if you can get it all in one trip.  I try to see how much stuff that I can carry to the toy room at the same time without dropping anything.  I guess this is the 'fun' that I have as a parent.  Don't judge...