The Empty Basket "Hack"
I’m not sure this qualifies as a hack. It’s too simple. But this tiny concept (that happened by accident) has changed the game for evening toy pickup in our house.
When you have kids, it’s easy to fill the playroom, bedrooms and living room with baskets and bins full of toys. It’s the easiest and least expensive storage solution.
But our happy accident didn’t start as a basket full of toys…it started as an empty one. It’s hard to pass the basket aisle at Target, World Market or Homegoods without one (or more) of them just mysteriously falling into your cart, ya know? I saw a cute seagrass basket and tossed it in my cart. I didn’t necessarily have a need for it (maybe a base for a plant, maybe storage for extra blankets in the guest room…who knows). When I got home, I tossed the empty basket next to our couch until I could decide where it was needed.
That night, the magic happened…
Our playroom and the kiddo’s bedrooms are upstairs, but obviously they bring toys down and play with them in the kitchen and our living room on the main level. But, for my own sanity, we don’t store any toys downstairs. I know…what an evil mommy. But it works for us.
So each and every night I schlep around and pickup the random toys that have made their way downstairs throughout the day. It usually takes me a couple trips up and down to the playroom before the toys are back where they belong.
That’s where the empty basket magic started…she was just sitting there—so I figured I might as well use her. A basket small enough for me to throw on my hip and still hold the toys from the day. I filled her to the top and carried her up the stairs, sorted the toys accordingly and brought the empty basket back down to the living room (still thinking I was going to eventually use her for a planter or blankets). But the next day, I used her to schlep and sort again. And then…weeks later she organically became our magic empty basket by the couch and evening pickup has never been easier.
I know that “hack” sounds all too simple (and it is), but the trick is keeping her empty. She’s not a catchall of Barbie limbs and foot gouging legos. She’s a cute little mode of transportation…like a laundry basket, but for toys. Oh and make sure she’s a pretty one…
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