the Toy Monster Attacks Our House

Here's a little math for you.

1 small house + 3 active boys + 1 crawling baby + toys = a huge mess

And that's the monster I'm trying to tame right now. But I can't, unless I somehow rip out my children's imaginations. I got tired of the toys upstairs being scattered everywhere, so I put them all in the attic. Twenty minutes later, every basket of books was off their shelf. Of course, I demanded that they clean that up immediately, but it doesn't seem to matter what I take away, they still make a mess. With paper: I stopped giving it to them. With sheets: I put them in the closet. With clothes: I locked them in the closet (the clothes, not the boys). With couch cushions: I...well, we need those cushions, so I can't put them away. They need to do something when it's too hot or rainy to go outside, so I let them make boats and houses and stages with couch cushions. And try to ignore the mess and the fact there is no place to sit in the living room.

Yesterday they played very well for hours together. Ben was Tin Tin; Bradford was Snowy, Tin Tin's dog; Nathaniel was a guard. Ben is crazy for Tin Tin, and even wants to grow the front of his hair long so he can look like Tin Tin. Bradford put socks on his hands and feet, ate his snack like a dog, and barked a lot. Nathaniel just did whatever the other two wanted him to. Oh, and Grace was the bad guy who got locked in jail. She didn't seem to mind, though.