Although I have a daughter, our house has never really been cluttered with baby dolls, play kitchen sets or Barbie. Oh, sure, there has been an occasional doll or pink stuffed pony; toys that sit in the corner of the living room for awhile until they are carried upstairs and deposited into the closet.
The lack of girly playthings is not because my Sweet Girl is a tomboy. Well, I guess with two brothers she very likely could be a tomboy, but that is not the case. She wasn't even a year old when we noticed she seemed to be losing interest in toys. Her legs couldn't bear weight to stand and play at an activity table. Her sweet little baby hands could no longer grasp a teething ring. She was almost two before she was diagnosed with Rett Syndrome and we finally knew why these things were happening.
I think for awhile we tried to carry on as usual as far as toys go; buying her things that other little girls her age would play with. But what is the point, really? Don't get me wrong. It is not as if we didn't try to engage her in meaningful play. We didn't stop putting baby dolls on her Christmas list. It's just that we gradually adjusted to a new normal that didn't involve play pots and pans mixed in with the boys' cars and Lego bricks.
I've said all that to get to this:
A couple months ago I saw this adorable, child-size hutch at the local consignment shop. The "mommy of a little girl" in me just had to buy it. I wasn't sure what I would do with it, but figured it would probably end up in my craft room to hold smalls.
Last week I was picking up and organizing all of the things we use on this beautiful head of hair - ponytail holders, flowers and bows, detangler, frizz control spray....... We have plenty of this kind of girl clutter in our house!
I decided the little hutch would be the perfect storage solution. It is sitting right in the living room because that is where I always do Sweet Girl's hair.
I set about to find the perfect little containers to hold everything just right.
The toy pots hold barrettes. Don't you just love these vintage ones?
This tin lunch box (or is it a sewing box?) contains all the products I use to try to control all those curly blond locks.
Jelly jars hold flowers and other hair clips and mini bread pans corral pony tail holders.
Behind the bottom cabinet doors are her shoes, slippers and AFO's.
Not only does this child-size piece of furniture provide a great storage solution, it also provides a little comfort to this mommy's heart.
And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:3-4