I have to give kudos to my Colorado best frient, Jo-Anne Stone. She figured this one out.

I usually take several hours every year re-organizing all my boys' toys, re-sorting them into their respective rubbermaid tubs--action figures in one, little army guys in another, animals in another, Legos in another, etc. I would get so frustrated that the boys would not put them away properly, but they'd all get mixed up over time.

My friend Jo-Anne was starting to do the same thing, but her son protested against the job. "Mom", he said, "I play with the toys all together!" So she spent some time observing him, and, sure enough, she noticed that he combined the Lincoln Logs, toy army guys, Legos, etc., all in his play. So she had the brilliant idea that we don't need to separate all the toys! Now she and her son can just toss any toy into any bin--easy to pick up. It doesn't bother her son at all--he knows how to find the pieces or toys he needs.

Wow! That's one Spring-cleaning job I'll no longer have to do! Hooray!