Mean Mommy...I mean Toy Fairy

For those who haven't been to our house as of late, we made one of the bedrooms into a play room.  I did this thinking it would keep the toys out of my livingroom and give the kids a room of their own to have fun in.  Andrew is notorious for getting out a million toys and then complaining when he has to put them away. We have tried everything to get him to pick up...up to and including taking away the toys that are still left out. Nothing has worked. So, I decided to try something pretty drastic. It's either going to work or blow up in my face. Let's hope it's the former and not the latter.

After spending over 30 minutes in the play room "picking up", nothing had been done.  In fact, I think it was a bigger mess than when he went to pick it up.  So I sent him to bed and we had a visit from the Toy Fairy.  The Toy Fairy is much like the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny.  He, however, is in charge of the welfare of kids' toys.  He watches to make sure they are being properly cared for, played with and put away.  When he sees that these things aren't happening as they should, he comes and takes away the toys to a safe place for proper keeping.  In order for kids to earn back their toys, they must prove they will take care of the toys when asked by their mommies and daddies.  This is done by them proving they can listen and follow directions given by said mommies and daddies.  When this is done, the toys will slowly find their way back into the playrooms and toyboxes around the world.  If this doesn't happen, the toys will find their way to a new, more loving home.  The Toy Fairy left a letter for Andrew explaining where his toys went.  We had already talked about him starting to do chores this next week.  If he does his chores when he's asked, and does the best job he can in doing them, he will get a toy or two back.

I guess I should be thankful this happened during the summer because my back patio is full of black trash bags filled to the brim with toys.  I don't know what I would have done with them if it was cool enough for the kids to play outside. 

I know it sounds a little harsh, but I didn't know what to do.  We'll see if it works.  Like I said, it may blow up in my face and I'll be looking for a new home for hundreds of dollars worth of toys.  But in the long run, if he's not really going to use them or play with them, there is no point in them taking up an entire room of our house.

So, we'll see what kind of hysterics I awaken to in the morning...  But until then, I take some comfort in the fact that the playroom is cleaner than it has been since we moved all the toys in there.  :o)