Newest SWAT Team Member and Some Playroom Organization

Mike and I were shopping at Costco when we saw that the Halloween costumes are already out--say what, this was July! Anyway, Ben wasn't with us, so we didn't want to choose his costume for him (plus he had previously requested Batman and they didn't have that costume). But when Mike saw this SWAT costume, he could not resist. Especially since it was just $15! What a great price; it came with the uniform, baton, hat, glasses, whistle, handcuffs, and badge.

Ben LOVED it. He put it on immediately and cried when we made him take it off at bedtime. All he had to do was add his Batman boots to make the outfit complete. How cute is he?

I won't lie--I sort of wish that they had not included that whistle. It got really old really fast. Dee hid upstairs at one point.

Here he is when Mike told him to make his "tough guy" face. Look out, bad guys!

Ben's latest costume led me to reevaluate our costume organization. He has been playing with all his costumes a lot lately. I love that he is into dress up and has such a vivid imagination, but I don't like the mess. And I really don't like that he couldn't open the bin that the costumes were stored in. He was constantly asking me to open it for him. Enough of that.

Our sad system before. A bin Ben couldn't open himself, so the lid was always off and things were always thrown about. (Not sure what was going on with the tiger.)

Enter our new system. I relocated the few things that were hanging on these hooks before, purged a few costumes that he didn't ever wear or had outgrown, and hung up his most used costumes (Superman, Buzz Lightyear, fireman, SWAT guy, and a random horse head that Ben still loves). The basket holds the Buzz Lightyear accessories in a storage bag, a sometimes played with pirate costume in a plastic bag, and accessories like Batman glasses, cowboy hats, princess shoes, etc.

That upper shelf is just dying for some organization. Right now it is a dumping zone for stuff that I don't want little hands messing with. Need to fix it up soon.

Much better! Ben can now access his costumes on his own, and everything for each costume is kept together so that we don't have to dig around for things. We'll see how the putting away process goes. Cleaning is NOT Ben's strong suit, but with such a simple plan, I'm hopeful.

I realize that when Little Miss gets older and is into dress up, we'll need to come up with a better (i.e. larger) solution, but for now this works and it was free and easy.