I’ve already revealed in a previous post that my house is a bit of a mess. I keep up with the housework as best as I can, but working from home leaves me with little time to scrub the floors and dust in all those hard to reach spots. I’ve accepted this, and I figure when the kids start school I’ll get it all together.

Then there’s my car. Sometimes the inside of my car gets more cluttered than my house does. The problem with that is the fact that not only is the car cluttered, but I can’t escape it. We go to the store, the clutter comes with me. We go to the park, the clutter comes with me. It’s awful.

I try to get it cleaned out as often as possible but the kids have a tendency to load it back up no matter what I do. For a while, I banned any toys in the car and only allowed books, but that only lasted for so long. Don’t even get me started with how many Goldfish and Teddy Grahams are in crevices I can’t reach. (shudder)

It’s certainly better now than it used to be, and it sure seems as though the car gets just a little cleaner the older the kids get. At least now that we’re past the sippy cup phase, I don’t find sippies filled with mystery liquid under the seats anymore.

Every so often my husband will mention getting a new car, and each time I ask him to wait. Why get a new car if we’re only going to junk it up? Let’s wait until we’ve sufficiently wear this one out with the constant assault of toys, mud, and snacks and then we’ll talk about getting another one.

I’ve never claimed to be an expert when it comes to parenting, but there is one piece of advice I can confidently pass along and know that it will help you in the long run when it comes to your children and your household: Don’t let the clutter of baby toys get out of control.

As the months roll by with your newborn you’ll notice that there are certain toys your baby grows out of. It might be a toy that your baby has always gravitated to before in the past, and sometimes that can make it harder for you to acknowledge that your baby has lost interest in the toy and has moved on to other things. If the toy has sentimental value to you then wrap it up and set it aside, but otherwise you should have a box or bin somewhere within your house which can hold the toys that you’ll get rid off. I like to take these toys to Goodwill, but some moms I know list things on eBay or have garage sales so they can make some money off the toys. Whatever your method, just be sure you don’t allow your home to start to mirror a toy store. If you don’t get practice about weeding out toys that’s exactly what’s going to happen.

I make it a practice to sift through all the toys whenever a birthday or major holiday rolls around because I know relatives are going to send a bunch of stuff to my kiddos. Now that my daughter is older I can include her in this practice, and she understands that the toys are going to other kids who don’t have as many things to play with. The benefit is two-fold: My house doesn’t get overrun by toys, and my daughter learns about giving to people less fortunate. That’s a win-win situation.