Are You Cleaning Bath Toys Often Enough?

Weekly. That’s how often I clean our bath toys. They build up grime and mildew if we don’t. Look closely at your toys and evaluate. Try not to puke.

In a clean basin, tub or sink-soak the toys in a mixture of dawn soap and vinegar. Dawn works wonders. I also like to use sterilization tablets. These are leftover from bottle days and help even more. If you don’t have them, no biggie.

After scrubbing and soaking; empty all water from toys and let toys dry.

As a rule I don’t allow squeezable toys. The ones that suck up water and squirt it back out-those harbor mold and cannot really be cleaned. Some people super glue the hole shut on those but I don’t have time for that.

Love Hate Relationship With Legos

Am I crazy or is the crunchy sound of a tiny Lego piece getting sucked up the vacuum satisfying? Even more so when I use my central vac and it clinks all the way down, down, down. Kids better get a move on it, mom is coming for your lego pieces.

Legos: I have a love hate relationship with them. On one hand, they offer hours of activity for my children, imagination and coordination, thinking skills and quiet time.

On the other hand, their little pieces drive me insane.

Little men and their little hats, helmets and masks. Don’t get me started on the little lights-those dome shaped bits? They melt into the carpet, just like the tiny Lego arms or the wheels which never seem to fit the wheel base my child chooses to use.

Lego is brilliant in the way they market these days.  They sell kits with all the bits you need to build the exact object(s) on the box. Step-by-step instructions and individual labeled bags with the correct pieces, all come together to engage and involve children and parents.The kits are fun, even with the expensive price tag and time it takes to build them.

What’s not fun?

When the object, plane, car, emergency vehicle or whatever was just made with the kit, breaks apart. And the little bitty pieces that once made the magical creation are now floating in the abyss of Lego Land.

AKA, the floor.

I have tried to get a handle on the Lego pieces in the past. We had a Lego table. I even separated Legos by color in containers, shelves and bins. (SMH)

But that doesn’t keep.

Obviously– kids rummage and need to find just the right piece for their creation. My kids take no consideration of the color Lego system mom has in place.  Maybe it would work for one child, but my 4 boys, not so much.

There are so many Pinterest projects to keep legos in order. All looks amazing, but come on, moms…

Please tell me I am not alone in the legos everywhere syndrome-even with systems  in place to contain and organize them.

The Lego-made containers that sift pieces by size.

Have it.

Looks great in theory. But alas, kids still need to see their pieces.

It is no defense against the gut crunching noise Lego moms know too well:

The sound of a ton of Legos tipping over onto the floor. 

My soul dies a little each time I hear that noise.

So, now, I am thinking larger, bigger, easier, a mom of four boys must have…..Hello Swoop Blanket. 

Credit

This give a space to hold the legos, play with the legos on, and, in theory, pick up the legos in one swift move.

But, come on…I think I have the best solution.

Suck them up.

Because, I am not ready to let go of that eyebrow-raising sound effect that gets kids moving and picking up Legos like it was fallen candy from a pinata.