Oh, and btw, we try to fit into the 'put that toy away before you take out another' camp, but it just does not seem to happen...we just sort of get out the bulldozers once a week and 'reset'.
I gave up on the one in/ one out rule when DS6 was a toddler. Their most interesting and intense playing comes from combining toys. The 3 kids will spend an hour + upstairs and call me up to see what they've made. The legos will be sheds for the trains and buildings along the tracks, the k'nex are the Ferris Wheel and merry-go-round at the fair, the little people are the people in the town, books aren't books they're caves for the stuffed animals, cardboard boxes are tunnels for cars and on and on. None of it would have been possible with just 1 kind of toy.
The only rule we have is that all the toys have to be upstairs before bed time and we probably clean their rooms 2x a week (mostly for safety). As long as I get my living room back every night, I'm mostly ok with it! And not to get too misty-eyed, but I also know that one day everything will stay in one place and be nice and neat and it will be because the kids have grown. So, I figure, what's a little mess in the grand scheme of things?
