How to Store Toys in an Expedit/Kallax Shelving Unit
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OK, this is a totally random recommendation today, but I’m honestly so excited, after years of pondering this issue, that I have to share. I have finally figured out a good way to store toys in our IKEA Expedit shelves. Years ago when I was in a studio I bought two 5×5 Expedit shelves, and they’ve held up through multiple moves.
I could never quite figure out how to store toys in them, though — the shelves are too deep to put little toys in (they get lost) and not wide enough for big toys like Tonka trucks. I’ve tried to store toys on the shelves in clear plastic shoeboxes, but those were a poor use of space.
We finally placed a massive order at Walmart for locking storage bins (our littlest one enjoys grabbing any toy he can find and throwing/hiding them anywhere he can get to, so our previous open toy storage situation was NOT working) and OH MA GAH some of the bins fit the Expedit perfectly. IKEA still makes the shelves but has renamed them (with some modifications) the Kallax series — I will note that if you have the space, a tall tower like this one (1×4) is excellent turned on its side as a toy bench for toddlers.
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Anyway: the two sizes of bins that fit the best are the 15.5-qt. latching boxes (sold in sets of 4 for $15.88, pictured above with the blue latches) — you can stack two in an Expedit shelf — and these bigger 24-qt. latching boxes (check to see if Walmart has them in stock, also — when I bought them they were one for $6.47, or 4 for $22 pictured above with the green latches).
You can fit at least one clear shoebox inside the 15.5-qt. boxes and 2 or 3 in the 24-qt. boxes for further organization/subdivision of blocks or whatever.
(Why yes, I do go insane with my label maker, thank you for noticing.)
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I love the Kallax. I searched and searched for a dresser that would fill a long space and would hold a tv and a 2×4 Kallax with boxes was the best and cheapest solution.
I’ve got a 5×5 in the living space (books, games, decorative items, and pretty cooking stuff that doesn’t fit in the cupboard- the tajine and brightly coloured dutch oven), 2×4 in our bedroom, and am going to get another 2×4 for the hallway to give us some more storage.
You can buy feet for them (from Ikea and elsewhere) which I think makes them look a bit more polished.
UGH I forgot my pumping bra at home. Is there some sort of hack I can use to not sit around holding two bottles and staring into space? Bonus points if it uses commonly found office items.
I love the idea of a regular “Storage Tuesday” or “Kid-Clutter Management Thursday” or whatever sort of day on this theme. I’m always looking for better options here.
So thanks all for the ideas for getting my two year old to sleep without me. I went and bought her a VERY EXCITING giant cat stuffed animal saturday to replace me, whose job it would be to sleep with two year old. Brilliant idea! I still believe that! Well, it backfired. Now, 2-year old, Mama, noodle to keep 2-year old in bed, and giant Cat are all sharing a twin bed! It’s getting pretty cozy and I got punched in the face several times last night. Oh well. It was a good idea!
On the plus side, 2 year old loooves her new stuffed animal and even had us do a photo shoot of her and cat last night!
I have two kids’ clothing questions:
1) Have any of you bought clothes from Primary? I love the concept but I’d like to know more about quality, durability, and sizing. It seems a tad pricey for very basic items, but I’d be willing to order if the quality is better than the Carter’s/Oshkosh/Gymboree/Children’s Place stuff I buy. I don’t need to build an entire wardrobe out of Primary, but I like the range of colors and could see them as good filler items.
2) My 2-year-old girl is getting holes in her leggings from playing in our daycare’s outdoor classroom. Other than jeans, what are some good non-knit options for little girls? It was a lot easier to find chinos and rugged stuff for my boy. (This is such a pet peeve of mine. Even little girls’ fashion is more about looks than practicality. I love cute stuff, too, but there is a time and place!)
Good news: I just accepted an offer at my first post-law-school real job! Looking forward to moving back to the Midwest and to be doing work that I’m really, really, excited about.
But of course it’s not as easy as that… We’re not moving back just yet because of my spouse’s job situation and we will be temporarily relocating to NYC for an academic year (he’s a visiting professor type) while I work out of my firm’s NY office. Any suggestions on finding temporary (Sept-May) day care and housing in NYC? Especially on the east side of Manhattan? He is not teaching in NYC so faculty housing is not an option, sadly. There seem to be a ton of options and a lot of waiting lists.
My 3 1/2 year old pitched a fit when we wouldn’t buy him a toy from the aquarium gift shop… which they make you go through to exit the building, ugh … and other than “you have plenty of toys at home and you don’t need any more,” I was struggling to articulate for him how it’s not good to be greedy. Any recommendations for books/ shows that deliver that message to the preschool set?
Those of you with toddlers and a nanny/au pair: Do you plan activities for them to do during the day, or is that part of their responsibility? Does the caregiver have a general schedule/routine like a daycare does?
What do you do when the words and actions of grandparents don’t align? My dad and stepmother have been making remarks about how much they would like to watch my 17 month old son. We have three sets of grandparents all within a 15 minute drive of our house, and the other two sets of grandparents both watch him regularly or semi-regularly. In 17 months, my dad and stepmother have yet to watch him and I think they’re hurt because they know he gets a lot of time with other sets of grandparents.
The problem is, they do not engage with him when they are around. My son sees this set of grandparents maybe once every other week and the visit is always the same, they sit down and let him run around while they chat with me. Over the weekend, they came over and we were outside, as we should be when it’s 70 degrees and sunny instead of 30 degrees and snowing in February. We were outside with plenty of toys for Son to play with and that they could have used to play together. Instead, they found chairs and sat down. Every visit, my husband ends up entertaining my son while I talk to the grandparents. During this visit, my son saw his best neighbor friend outside and wanted to play. If his grandparents were actually spending time with him, I would’ve stopped that but the fact of the matter is they were just sitting there making small talk and so neighbor friend came over. Grandparents then made comments about how he would rather play with his friend than see them.
I do not understand the inclination to come “visit Son” and then sit on a couch or chair and wonder why they’re not connecting. He is a very active, busy 17 month old. He can’t sit and have a conversation. Physical limitations are not the issue. My dad has run several half marathons over the last year and my stepmother bikes with some regularity. Additionally, we have an open door policy to never say no when a grandparent wants to visit but they come by relatively rarely, and when we do need something, they’re nowhere to be found. We recently had the stomach bug visit our house and when I mentioned that it was a rough week I was told, “Well, I don’t want to get the stomach bug! Let me know when you’re healthy.”
One other layer of complexity to this is that my dad moved away and met stepmother on the other side of the country when I was young. They lived 300 to 3,000 miles away for most of my childhood. They came back to live locally once I was an adult, so we don’t have the same level of closeness one might assume from a family living so close in proximity.
This got long, but I guess it’s bothering me because I want them to have a closer relationship, but they don’t engage with him. I’m not comfortable with leaving him with them when I’ve never really seen them interact. I don’t want to directly tell them “you need to play with your grandson” because it sounds condescending, mean and obvious to me. We’ve also had some trouble over the years with them feeling like they don’t live up to my expectations or that nothing they do is good enough for me, so telling them that their relationship skills need improvement seems to me like something that will be met with defensiveness. Is this just how it is? Do I just accept the lack of closeness or is there another way to address this?
I was soooo sure that my 10-year-old had figured out Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny five or six years ago and has just been playing along since then. So why does she think the Easter Bunny can bring her tickets to Hamilton? Sigh.