Technical Difficulty and the Holidays

By Marca

Lame, I know. True, though. I have had a little trouble with my beautiful computer. I am loyal as they come to dear old Apple. I have been an Apple computer user since college back in the (clearing throat) 90's. This last week, my dear friend, MacBook Pro and I have had a falling out. Overload, cold shoulder, shut me out, miscommunication. . . call it what you will. My sweet Mac wouldn't let me touch any of my photo files and photo programs. This is why you are currently staring at Week 12, instead of the updated week.

On the bright side, I was afforded a great deal of time to organize my daughter's toys. This is something I actually enjoy doing! In fact, in moments of inspiration or frustration, I can be found cleaning baseboards or organizing my daughter's toys. It is like running my hands through that really fine sand in the Zen Gardens you are meant only to rake. I like it that much. So, I am happy to say, I have this one done - maybe too well! We have a bag for special toys for church. I like to rotate a few items through there to keep it fun and interesting. She has three draws under her bed that are labeled (in my head and hers) Arts and Creativity, Imaginative Play, and Educational. On the top of her wardrobe are little doll size suitcases that contain all things dolls (a big fave with my girl). In a beautiful box on the tip top corner labeled "Gracie" there are the special toys that are for supervised play or for special occasions (like her China tea set). My favorite is the catch all. At the end of the day or school-time Gracie goes around the house and gathers all things "Gracie" and puts them in the super cool canvas toy bag. Then, before bed the items are returned to their proper spots. Seems like an extra step, but in reality, it takes 3 minutes to walk around and gather verses the 30 it would take to put them away. Sometimes, we just don't have 30 minutes.

The best part about Gracie's toys is that she really does take care of them. I rarely ask her to put them away or have to pick up after her. When they have easy places to be put away each day, it makes it a lot easier on a 7-year-old to take that responsibility.

I have to say one thing for living in a small place, you don't accumulated a lot of extra toys. We have to be intentional about each purchase. How long will she play with this? Is it a quality toy? Will she really enjoy this? Is there something she can get from this (i.e. fun, education, imagination)? And really, that is how is should be, right?


The real challenge in my daughter's room? Her papers. She collects every sort of paper, but more on that one later.

While my blogging efforts haven't been well maintained lately, I am keeping up with my little green book!