Bit by bit the Girls room has come together. It has taken us weeks to unpack boxes, build furniture (Elle’s bed from ikea) and find the right place for everything. This weekend I found the time to hammer nails and hang these great mirrors on the wall. I purchased the pink one two years ago at the Renegade Art Fair, and then recently placed a special order with So Zealous for a few more. It feels great to have Maya and Elle’s room organised. I am really happy with the big, bright and colourful play space we have….here is a look at the Girls room, and a few of our favorite things in it!
I am loving the multi colours ….. it makes their bedroom feel lively enough to be a great place for play, but not too busy that they won’t actually sleep! The mirrors are very classy and elegant …..
Is it strange for me to notice that the children’s books ‘cascade’ down in size?!
Yes, one of the things I do when I am sitting on the floor playing princess or eating make believe food. Although with Elle constantly pulling all the books out they are sometimes in a pile on the floor!
Hi K, I am going through quite the mindful crisis at the moment and remembered seeing your natural toy posts. I stumbled upon this old photo and was wondering what you did with all the plastic toys etc when you changed your approach?
I need to downsize the stuff around here and want to keep only the things that resonate with my love of beautiful, natural and useful things (toys included) Advice?
Much love, ashley (@piperandpoppies)
Hi Ashley,
Yes that is a good question because we did have some plastic toys and things and then bit by bit I had to clear them out. To start with, I just stopped letting anything else new in. Once I put a stop to all of that, then I was able to work backwards. So I stopped new stuff coming into our home with a a very strong dialogue about plastic and the environment. This extended beyond the children to the grandparents and friends that might happen to give us stuff. This sort of conversation still happens today, when we make new friends! After I had built up a ‘mental barrier’ and found strength to stop anything more coming in, well then bit by bit I had to clear out old stuff. We had a yard sale, and then we gave to charity. I am a pretty strong mother, meaning I just explain to the girl this is how it is going to be, and for the most part they accept that. Some things they were attached, and I had to let them play with a little longer, but since I detested them so it was not long until they shifted their attachment. The dialogue about plastic had been going on long enough that they understood it was “not good stuff for us or the world” and that we did not want it making us feel bad. We discovered new beautiful toys to capture our attention, and so I would clear out things and then we would play with the new toys. There is so much power in play and children will gravitate to what you direct them too, what you are interested in yourself. Playing outside with sticks and rocks and flowers, making mud pies, and general imagination play, is where the beauty lays. Handmaking toys together is also a wonderful way to form a healthy attachment, as then you love it for sentimental reasons, and their is heart and hand in it. It all just seemed natural and good. My girls were pretty young when we went this direction. I was lucky I realized early on and so attachments were easily formed elsewhere. I focused on hand made toys, with natural materials and then all the rest just seemed to fall away. It did involve me being strong and stern at times and just not giving in to either my children or others giving us gifts we did not want. We also moved house 3 times when the girls were young so it was easy to loose toys in the moving culls. For us there were great leaps and bounds, and then some major regression also, like that time we gave Maya a giant Barbie house for Christmas, even though we were totally against it. We were caught up in ideas of what make’s childhood special, and I just felt some kind of pressure for Santa to give something “huge”.The moment it arrived I was filled with regret. Then we had to let her play wit it, and then I had to get rid of it – we sold it… eek, what a mess! I ended up getting very strict after that. Even the pink play kitchen had to go…the only thing that I have let the girls keep, were two American girl dolls. Maya was given Samantha second hand, with a whole bag of her clothes, and then after that Cam’s mum bought another one who was named Lila by Elle, so they have one each. My Aunt and Grandma spent hours and hours making a HEAP of dolls clothes, and they are impeccable sewers and so if I gave away the american girl dolls well then I would have had all of these beautiful handmade clothes from my Aunt and Grandma, just sitting their, and I would have felt guilty all their work (and love) was not being enjoyed, so I decided the girls could keep the American girl dolls, they only have one each, and they were a classic doll that the girls genuinely play with in a rewarding way. It is a tricky path to navigate, but it is worth being honest and real and connected for so many reasons. I think you have to find what is right and meaningful for you, and know that your children will not be ruined by having less toys, and in fact it is the other way around. Too much is in fact not good for them or the planet. It is very important though to just not buy it in the first place – having the idea that you can buy it and give it away, in a way is worse than buying it and treasuring it. It was easier for us to be “all or nothing” and just make the rule, no plastic (except those two American girl dolls, which are in part fabric). I feel ok with this given she has friends with six American girls dolls. In our instance I felt I needed to be suer absolute about the change, so that it was a core strength. We do not havd a TV in our home and I don’t go to the mall or Target and so the girls just are not exposed to things either, which helps a lot. wishing oyu all the best with it, and thank you so much for asking. Kirsten xo
Thanks so much for this response Kristen. It is quite a learning journey, parenthood, both for my girls and myself and I know very well the way I want them to grow and learn. I am starting with not buying “stuff” anymore and will build our rules from there. Piper is already so aware of plastic being bad for the world and loves being outside and making with nature more than anything else, that helps a lot.
I find your photos and posts endlessly inspiring so thank-you for showing a different path so filled with beauty for our little people.
In love and light, xx ashley