Mailboxes: They're Not Just For Mail
Here’s a super easy project that kids love and is actually useful. We put this on Alex’s bedroom door years ago (5 years ago? 6? I don’t know, it’s all a blur at this point….) and we still use it all the time.
Initially, we did it because Alex was going through a mailbox-obsession phase. He had to check out every mailbox whenever we went on a neighborhood walk. We’d tell him that messing with people’s mailboxes is a federal crime, but that had zero effect. His obsession could not be tamed by pesky laws and threat of prosecution. We thought that maybe if he had his very own mailbox he’d be less interested in stranger’s mailboxes. We thought wrong. He still likes to mess with every mailbox on every walk. Every. Mailbox. Every. Walk.
But, it wasn’t a total loss…it turns out that it’s very handy to have a mailbox on your kid’s bedroom door! Here it is in all its glory:
Alex’s Room: Enter At Your Own Risk
As you can see, we are the kind of parents who indulge their kid’s whims. Feel free to judge. I recognize the madness.
But whims aside, the mailbox is functional. You could start a tradition where you leave your kid letters. You could put little surprises in there. Those are two sweet and endearing ideas that I should try sometime. But that’s not what we do. What DO we use Alex’s mailbox for?
It’s a way station for all of Alex’s crap.
Obviously it has size limitations. But you know when you’re going through the house picking things up and you have handfuls of random small stuff that your kids need to put away? Put it in their mailbox! They have their own inbox now. The random small stuff is now out of sight so you don’t have to look at it, and your kids will dig having a mailbox. So much so, they might even be motivated to clean it out once in a while.
Let’s take a peek in Alex’s mailbox:
I hesitate to call this a “tutorial” because I think it’s pretty obvious, right? Go down to Home Depot or Lowes or wherever and get a mailbox and put it on your kid’s bedroom door. Boom! Done. This one was black when I bought it, but Alex’s favorite color was green at the time so I spray painted it. And then I put some stickers on it, because I’m one of those crafty-type people who can’t leave well enough alone.
Let me know if you do this at your house! Email me, put it on Instagram or Twitter and tag me (@canoodlings) so I can see it.
Ronaldo says
January 23, 2015 at 6:33 pm (Edit)
I love this idea. This might be my next project. Lord knows there’s plenty of this “stuff” floating around our house.
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Tamara says
January 24, 2015 at 4:31 am (Edit)
LOVE.IT.ALL. A doorbell, tool–you guys rock!
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Kathy says
January 25, 2015 at 12:47 am (Edit)
Loved reading this. However I have NO intention of getting these for Kristen and Andrew. Whatever they leave around this house is MINE, unless it has absolutely no value! And, they no longer have bedrooms they can call there own, which is just as well since Kristen lives out of state and Andrew’s wife might have a problem with him having a room of his own here. But I definitely love the idea and might have to get one for Bruce’s office door!
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Dena says
January 25, 2015 at 4:00 pm (Edit)
never mind about the project, your commentary on parenting is a complete, off-center delight. glad the mailbox inspired the post.
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