Like many boys, my son is a Legomaniac. 99% of conversation from him is Lego related. It consumes him. He talks about Lego sets he wants, or what he can build with his other Lego blocks. The obsession began when he was 4 and has grown exponentially since. For the past few years it has brought us great joy to see him use his imagination to build great things and has brought us great pains as we attempt to cross our living room which is a mine field of legos!
As Daniel's Lego collection has grown, my frustration level has grown. There is no rhyme or reason to the blocks. Picking them up is a nightmare each night. He gets frustrated because he can't find a particular person or block shape or whatever. I see him build great creations, but wonder how great they would look if they were not multicolored.
One night, I was with some moms complaining about the Lego mess my home seems to always be in. I said to them, "I really want to get individual boxes for each color...you know...to organize them." I was instantly admonished for that. They said it would squelch his imagination. They said I needed to let him have his crazy Lego mess. Well...I do not want to hinder his mad genius skills, so I bit my tongue.
A couple weeks ago, like a dream coming true, Daniel came to me. He said, "I really want to get boxes to organize my legos by color." Tears came to my eye. I grabbed him and held him close and said "I can be ready in 10 minutes!" We took a trip to the Dollar Tree and picked up some plastic shoe boxes.
It took Daniel about 3 hours to sort through all his Legos. I am not kidding...now, he did eat lunch in that time and get distracted by the tv...but it was a hard task. There are a LOT of little pieces. When he was done, though, he was ULTRA satisfied with the results!!
One night, I was with some moms complaining about the Lego mess my home seems to always be in. I said to them, "I really want to get individual boxes for each color...you know...to organize them." I was instantly admonished for that. They said it would squelch his imagination. They said I needed to let him have his crazy Lego mess. Well...I do not want to hinder his mad genius skills, so I bit my tongue.
A couple weeks ago, like a dream coming true, Daniel came to me. He said, "I really want to get boxes to organize my legos by color." Tears came to my eye. I grabbed him and held him close and said "I can be ready in 10 minutes!" We took a trip to the Dollar Tree and picked up some plastic shoe boxes.
It took Daniel about 3 hours to sort through all his Legos. I am not kidding...now, he did eat lunch in that time and get distracted by the tv...but it was a hard task. There are a LOT of little pieces. When he was done, though, he was ULTRA satisfied with the results!!
Do you see the look of satisfaction on his face?? It is amazing!! He has all his colors in boxes...he has a box for his people and accessories...and he has a box with parts for vehicles (tires, steering wheels, windows, etc.).
Now, you may ask....how long will this really last and did it really work!??!!
Well....let me tell you. This new method has made him much more excited when building. He can create using one color. One of the first things he built was a pirate ship that was brown. We put the boxes neatly in the book shelf and when he wants to build (which is every waking minute), he goes over and selects the colors he wants.
Now, during the day Legos litter the floor...we still have a mine field going on...but at the end of the day, he very happily takes ownership of cleaning up the Legos, putting them in their prospective boxes, and lining them up on the shelf.
One of the most awesome things to come from this is he has been able to rebuild models he had previously destroyed. We have kept every manual, but it was always frustrating to try and sort through all his Legos to try and rebuild. Now, he can look at his instructions and than look in the colored box for the part.
I can be a bit OCD about some things, but I have calmed down quite a bit over the years. This act of having Daniel want to do this made that half-asleep part of my OCD brain do a little jig. I totally recommend it. $10 + tax and 2 people in the house with total peace of mind!! Worth EVERY penny!!
Now, you may ask....how long will this really last and did it really work!??!!
Well....let me tell you. This new method has made him much more excited when building. He can create using one color. One of the first things he built was a pirate ship that was brown. We put the boxes neatly in the book shelf and when he wants to build (which is every waking minute), he goes over and selects the colors he wants.
Now, during the day Legos litter the floor...we still have a mine field going on...but at the end of the day, he very happily takes ownership of cleaning up the Legos, putting them in their prospective boxes, and lining them up on the shelf.
One of the most awesome things to come from this is he has been able to rebuild models he had previously destroyed. We have kept every manual, but it was always frustrating to try and sort through all his Legos to try and rebuild. Now, he can look at his instructions and than look in the colored box for the part.
I can be a bit OCD about some things, but I have calmed down quite a bit over the years. This act of having Daniel want to do this made that half-asleep part of my OCD brain do a little jig. I totally recommend it. $10 + tax and 2 people in the house with total peace of mind!! Worth EVERY penny!!
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