I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for the advice on my new 18 mo last week. I thought about it all weekend and the first part of the week and on Tuesday I spent the evening re-arranging my 2 playrooms. I moved all the toys that had lots of pieces or were just not toddler appropriate to the playroom with a doorway and put up a baby gate that is easily opened by the bigger kids. I put only toys that had few pieces down low in the other playroom and moved toys that had more pieces but were still everyone appropriate to containers with lids higher up.

It has been an AMAZING difference yesterday and today! The bigger kids are doing more in depth activities because they don't have to worry about a littler kid getting in the middle and coloring on their papers, knocking it down, scattering, etc. The littler kids are playing with each toy MUCH longer, have less messes to clean up and are generally happier and calmer.

The only thing I was worried about was the littles feeling left out or the bigs always staying in the gated off room and not doing activities all together. So far that hasn't happened at all. The littles don't seem to want to go in the gated playroom (nothing in there looks interesting to them I guess!) and there are enough toys/games that everyone likes outside the gated playroom that the bigger kids are only going in there when they want to do an "older" activity

Thanks again, so much!!!

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