I'm sure I'm not the only parent who seems to spend half their life picking things up off the bottom step and carrying them upstairs. How is it that everything we own seems to live upstairs and yet always ends up downstairs? I sometimes think life would be so much easier if we actually just lived on a massive bottom step. You know, cut out the middle man and all the picking up and running up and down stairs.I'm usually the one who puts things on the bottom step. It starts after breakfast and continues all day. Something gets put there and is picked up and taken upstairs the next time I'm passing. Actually, that's a complete lie. It has been know for stuff to reside there for days before I actually pick it up and take it upstairs.
Sometimes I play a game to add a little frissance of excitement to my day and leave stuff there on purpose to see if anyone else thinks to pick up the latest pile-in-waiting as they pass by. They generally don't.
Anyway, to make my point, here are 10 things which can regularly be found on my bottom step.
1. New packs of nappies which have been unpacked from the latest trip to the supermarket.
2. Bathroom cleaning stuff (I know, I know, I should just buy more stuff and leave it upstairs).
3. Small cars, random flashcards, trains, Buzz Lightyear and dozens of other toys which have, yet again, escaped from their upstairs storage boxes.
4. Piles of clean laundry or sometimes not even a pile, just a messy heap of clean clothes. I know, I know, I should have a laundry basket. I do. But it is usually somehow upstairs.
5. Piles of slippers, pjs and dressing gowns which are waiting to go back up to bedrooms after I - once again - dressed the boys in the sitting room (despite my pledge to break this terrible habit at the start of this year).
6. Packets of baby wipes.
7. Random sticks, stones and other bits from the great outdoors which have become lifelong friends on our latest walk.
8. Biscuit crumbs, raisins, bits of toast, clumps of mud.
9. Hats and gloves which have been hastily discarded and dumped there.
10. Naughty children and occasionally an exhausted mother who has given up the battle and decided to spend some time on the naughty step herself.
So, what's on your bottom step?
I do not allow a pile on the bottom of the stiars anymore. I had a basket that was designed for there, but it was always full and become another dumping ground.
ReplyDeleteSo I always make sure we take things upstairs and the only time there is a pile is after a supermarket shop and then I insist on taking it up. Preen!!
Our bottom step is a safety hazard. It's very similar to yours - nappies, gloves, shoes, toys, but then there are also some dust masks, tools and 2 xmas decorations (which will probably stay there until next xmas!)
ReplyDelete"Where should I put this Mum/Mummy/Mumma/my love." To which my stock standard reply is always "Errr... Not sure babe, shove it at the bottom of the stairs, I shall deal with it later."
ReplyDeleteMuch the same as you (- nappies, + lego...) Have thought about leaving the occasional bar of soap on a stair for the husband though....
ReplyDeleteLx
I put things on the stairs too, to bring them up next time I am going. We have a stairgate on the bottom step though, so it all goes behind that and can get as big as I want and it won't fall off. See, stairgates are handy :) Jen.
ReplyDeleteI feel as though every surface in my house is a bottom step. I'm terrible for this - any random space often ends up crowded with paperwork, books, keys, toys, sippy cups, etc. I definitely need a housekeeper!
ReplyDeleteahhh, the joys of living in a bungalow
ReplyDeleteNothing, but there is a really long winded explanation about pub doors. Suffice to say, all the bottom step rubbish is in my living room, which always looks a mess!
ReplyDeleteIt's more a question of what's on the few steps *above* the bottom step here! The bottom step seems to have become a permanent home, through the winter weather, for hats and gloves! Above that is where anything awaiting going upstairs is temporarily placed, but thankfully I don't tend to forget to take things upstairs on my way past, so things don't stay there for long.
ReplyDeleteYep, sounds very familar. I once considered getting one of those pretty baskets that fit on the stairs but didn't because I figured it wouldn't be big enough for all the stuff that needs to be take upstairs!
ReplyDeleteOh I am glad I'm not the only one with a terrible bottom step. I have started dumping things in the office for OH to carry upstairs (bumper packs of nappies etc..) but Ben has discovered the joys of loading the bottom step with all his small (painful to step on) toys.
ReplyDeleteWe use the bottom step too. In theory anyone who is going up the stairs can take something up with them. My son asked his Daddy why there was shower gel, toothpaste, wrapping paper and a bank statement at the bottom of our stairs. Daddy's reply 'they're things that Mummy needs to take upstairs'. Harumph!
ReplyDeleteI'm ashamed to say my bottom step habit has been known to extend to at least three steps. The usual suspects inhabit the bottom two - packs of nappies, odd socks (my boys are incapable of keeping socks on their feet for more than 5 minutes) toys and books - then the third one is for things like keys, pens, my glasses and anything else that needs to be kept just out of reach of our little one!
ReplyDeleteI don't do the bottom step thing, but I have metaphoric bottom steps spread around the house. You might be better off, with only the one place.
ReplyDeleteOh, god, we really are like cyber twins. My bottom step is eternally full of clutter and I too leave little tests to see if anyone else deems it their lowly job to pick things up and take them up to their rightful place. No-one does. I wonder, what happens in a bungalow??
ReplyDeleteLOL well I tend to pile stuff for taking upstairs (nappies, PJs, socks etc) somewhere in the middle of the stairs, leaving ample room for naughty-step perching lower down.
ReplyDeleteAt the bottom of our stairs is a large wooden tray that we're using as a makeshift stairgate (we only have one gate and 3 flights). Except baby's figured out that he can easily knock that aside and was found making his way to the top of the landing just yesterday!
We have this problem too ... I've played the how long can things sit on the step game ... has lasted weeks before now
ReplyDeleteI found a dried worm on ours a few days ago, that was pretty gross. Like everyone else, generally just way too much. I am planning to buy a nice clever basket thing from a fancy catalogue for the new house though...
ReplyDeleteIt's normally me on the bottom step!
ReplyDeleteWhen it all gets too much, I just shut the door on all the squabbling in the sitting room, and go and sit there myself until I'm ready to take on the brood again.
Middle daughter is on the bottom step at the mo, it is the naughty step round these parts. That will teach her to burst a balloon in her little brothers face.
ReplyDeleteits not just the bottom step, its at least the bottom 5! Mr C gets very annoyed at the amount of stuff I leave on the stairs.
ReplyDelete