Okay, let me tell you about this little adventure I called ‘tot touchdown’. It wasn’t about sports, not really, but felt like scoring a major goal.
The Toy Tornado Situation
So, the house was basically overrun. You know how it is with toddlers. Toys everywhere. Under the sofa, on the stairs, sometimes even in my shoes. It was getting nuts. I’d spend ages cleaning up, only for the chaos to return in like, five minutes flat. Enough was enough, I thought. Time for the little one to learn the ancient art of putting stuff back where it belongs.
Easier said than done, right? First, I tried just asking nicely. “Can you put your blocks away, sweetie?” Got the blank stare. Okay, plan B. I tried showing how it’s done, putting one toy away dramatically. Sometimes that worked for maybe one toy, then distraction struck again. Mostly it was just me, picking things up while my tot watched, probably thinking, “Dad’s got a weird hobby.”
Game Plan Time
I realised I needed a better approach. This wasn’t a chore; it needed to be… fun? Or at least, not boring. So, I decided to make it a game. We weren’t ‘tidying up’, we were ‘feeding the hungry toy bin!’ or ‘racing the toys home!’. Silly, I know, but hey, you gotta try stuff.
Here’s what I started doing:
- Made funny noises for each toy going into the bin. Like “Whoosh!” for cars, “Boing!” for soft toys.
- Set a timer sometimes. “Can we beat the buzzer?”
- Praised every single little effort. Even picking up one block got a “Wow, amazing!”
- Did it together, making it a team thing.
Man, some days were rough. There were tantrums. There were times when toys were thrown out of the bin right after putting them in. Patience was key. I had to keep reminding myself this is a marathon, not a sprint. Consistency, they say. So, we kept at it. Every evening, before bath time, it was ‘toy touchdown’ time.
The Big Score!
And then, it happened. One evening, totally unprompted, my little one just started picking up the scattered puzzle pieces and putting them back in the box. No reminders, no silly noises from me (though I was making happy noises internally). Just did it. Walked over to the toy shelf, put the box back. Boom! Touchdown!
Seriously, it felt like a massive win. Like we’d finally crossed the goal line after weeks of fumbles and incomplete passes. It wasn’t perfect every day after that, still isn’t sometimes, but that first time? Pure gold. Showed me that sticking with it, even when it feels like you’re getting nowhere, actually works. It’s these little victories, right?
