The POINT IS, my living room is a MESS! My 7-year-old Jonah’s toys are EVERYWHERE. Now I’ve not ever been the BEST housekeeper, it’s not my forte, and I’m not OCD about it. But currently, it’s a bit messier in there than usual because Jonah just had a birthday (December 17th) and Christmas, of course. And though we always do the “Four gifts rule” for Christmas AND birthdays, he got a ton of presents from family members as well, and maybe a *couple* extra small ones from a very thrifty, sale-watching mama, because…
WAIT FOR IT…
Jonah has been speech and socially delayed, and until now, he didn’t really LOVE toys. But now that he’s almost all the way caught up with his peers, HE LOVES TOYS!
It makes me heart SO happy to see him rolling his race cars across the floor, or pretending with his PJ Masks figures (he ALWAYS loves to be the bad guy) or having “tournaments” on his 4-lane racetrack.
For a mama who has taught, worked with, encouraged, and driven him to therapy for years, to see him DELIGHT in his toys and entertain himself with them, well…it is worth ALL the mess.
We don’t have a big house. He shares a very small bedroom with his 13-year-old brother. We don’t have an extra bedroom as a play room or a finished basement where their toys can run amok. Our living space is also our play space. So, it gets messy.
And for now, it stays messy. Because NOW more than ever is the time to encourage Jonah’s play, and I want him to have access to his favorite things all the time. He can be an “out of sight, out of mind” kid, so for now, having his stuff OUT is the best option for all of us.
And my husband and I honestly LOVE IT!
When the Christmas tree comes down this weekend, we will move his things over where it sat, and free up a little more “walking space” at least…but until then, we will step over cars and race tracks and puzzles with joy, and thank God for the reason we have to. Because watching this kid PLAY? Brings me SO much more joy than a tidy living room ever could.
