Last Friday was a rough day.

The kids were misbehaving and just bugging each other as per sibling usual. There were toys everywhere. I had asked them to clean up and they did.

An hour later the house was a wreck again and they started misbehaving… again.

Most parents threaten to take their kids favorite toy away and follow through. Some even threaten to take ALL the toys away, but of course don’t do it.

I actually did.The kids just sat in their bed in silence watching me pack all the toys up. They’ve heard me say “I’m going to take all your toys away if you don’t behave” before, but obviously I never did.

Then when that day finally happened, they didn’t say anything.I really didn’t have a plan, I just pack all the toys up [minus their books, dinosaurs, coloring basket and bedtime stuffed animals] and put them in the shed.After ten minutes of their toys being gone, they started playing “ghosts” with their blankets. After an hour, they started reading books. After two hours they started making paper airplanes.

They found things to do even without having their toys.

The next morning, I told them they could have some toys back; the twins chose cars and my oldest chose blocks.What happened the rest of the day?

They spent more time coloring, they spent more time playing with their toy of choice and they didn’t fight [as much].

There was also less mess [and less stress for mom].

Throughout the day, the only extra thing my oldest wanted was her dress-up box. I told her she had to put the blocks back in the closet if she wanted the dress-up box. She agreed, no complaining included.

I’m not sure what system I want to do with the kiddos’ toys (maybe library style?), but for now I will take it day by day and keep y’all updated.

#momlife ❤