This weekend I’ve been sunning, gardening, swimming, eating outdoors, and only doing the bare minimum of housework I can get away with. Light reading only, and trying to avoid sitting indoors in front of the computer as much as possible. (Right now it’s too hot to be outside, so I’m inside enjoying air conditioning for an hour and doing some quick web surfing). I know the summer days are longer, but these beautiful afternoons and evenings seem to rush by so quickly. I actively try to savor every warm, sunny moment.

QUICK THINGS TO DO TODAY:

• Launder any beach towels or picnic blankets used over the weekend, if needed
• Drag out your picnic basket and eat dinner in a park tonight. Or eat outdoors on your own porch. Sound like fun?
• Slice and enjoy summer fruit – berries, melons, cherries? this evening.
• Set out a pitcher and make sun tea.

TODAY’S PROJECT:Toy Sorting

It’s been six months since Christmas. If you put away some of your kids’ gifts so they wouldn’t get sick of them all at once, it may be time to rotate out toys. Do involve your children in the toy sorting process. Put away toys they’re currently bored of, bring out toys that seem new and fresh. See if there are any toys they will let you throw away.

Give unwanted toys to friends or charity only if they’re in great condition – even Goodwill doesn’t want faded, broken, wilted, boring, or sad looking toys.

I don’t have kids, I’m just an aunt, but I have lots and lots of toys at my house for whenever they visit. Right now I have three toy boxes in my garage. I’d like to whittle it down to two. One for infants, and one for older kids. Currently I have all the dangerous small, chokable, swallowable tiny toys mixed in with the baby toys. Nobody can find all the pieces of the Shrek Swamp House playset to play with it, and the Playmobil castle is in a few pieces.

I need to evaluate if I have the right mix of toys for the ages of children who will actually be visiting me. I expect a couple of friends to have infants in the next year, so I’ll hang onto some of the baby toys. But it will be 3-4 years before I need toys for the 3-4 year old set. I can probably safely give those away now that little visitors to my home are four or older. And I always have plenty of books to entertain children with. Those I hang onto regardless of which age child will enjoy them.

So this afternoon while it’s too hot to be outdoors, I will enjoy the air conditioning while I ziplock all my Playmobil pieces into their own baggies, put Shrek’s swamp house back together and ziplock the tiny figures and dishes, and sort out the plush toys and stuffed animals that no baby ever seems to want to play with when they visit. I think I literally can get rid of every single stuffed animal. Maybe I’ll keep one nice plush tiger in case a little one naps here and needs something to hug.

Race cars, Kelly dolls and the Hello Kitty village seem to always be popular, though, so I don’t dare get rid of a single piece.

When I’m finished sorting, I may sneak a few minutes to play with the Hello Kitty ice cream parlor, by myself. Keeps me young and the funnest aunt ever!