Too many toys and now new presents

[superfrizbee]

I have 3 children aged 6, 4 and 16 months. The house is chaos, life is chaos. To keep it short, middle child has mild cp so he has a lot of toys that are either theraputic for physio or hand therapy. But the problem is they all have so much, and not enough time to play with it. I do get rid of stuff, especially if it is outgrown, but they're all at different ages where so many toys overlap so this isn't easy. I want to have less clutter and more time to spend playing but find it difficult to clear out. I see the benefit of so many of their toys. Board games, role play etc, therapy toys etc. I get rid of duplicates etc and stuff they no longer get play value out of but it's not enough to clear out. They've got so much new stuff for Christmas off family. Lots are duplicates or are of less good than what they already have, but it's hard to justify getting rid of new or nearly new gifts. What do I do?

 

[kellyc1987]

I planned to have a clear out of toys before christmas but was worried that DS would complain or miss the toys, so I put the ones he doesn't really play with anymore on top of his wardrobe and covered them up.

He hasn't missed them at all so next time he isn't around I'll get them down and take them to the charity shop.

It's hard with the therapy toys because they're useful for your middle one so I haven't really got any suggestions for those

 

[Bevziibubble]

We have exactly the same problem here. I even did a declutter before Christmas and got rid of so much. I am running out of places to store things and they both have birthdays in January and February, so yet more presents!

 

[DobbyForever]

Donate it to a nonprofit. A true nonprofit. That gives the toys to children whose parents cannot afford it. Or donate it to a children’s hospital. Turn it into a routine thing and a teachable moment. That way you aren’t getting rid of them but making a child’s dream come true and teaching empathy and appreciation.

But really check out who you give it to. Make sure they are giving it for free not selling it like some other “charities” *cough*GW*cough*

 

[Hickory]

This wouldn't help your current situation, but something we are planning to do with our daughter after she is born is ask family and friends to gift experiences rather than clutter. If they want to wrap and send something, we would like clothing, books, one-time-use activities (craft or create, then toss).

I have an 8yr old stepson who gets showered in presents and doesn't even care about them. I'm watching him play on the iPad right now and he still hasn't even touched his pile of Christmas presents sitting 5 feet away. His parents are divorced and remarried, so that's two sets of presents, plus he has SIX sets of grandparents who all send presents for Christmas and his birthday. His mom does an excellent job donating excess a few times a year, but it's hard to watch gifts that people spent a lot of money on getting shuffled away after hardly being used.

My husband and I are very opposed to clutter and always request edibles, gift cards, and necessities for holidays. Our family is big and spread out (lots of remarriages, military families, etc) - so instead of sending gifts, we would like them to think about things they can do with our daughter if they can do it in person, or gift us with passes to amusement parks, family-friendly activities, etc. We would take photos, video, have our daughter tell them what she enjoyed most, etc.

When I was a kid, my dad built an entire wall of cubby shelves. The room had a peaked ceiling, so there were probably 40 good sized cubbies (probably 30" x 30"). The toys we used often were within reach, others were higher up and we had to ask a parent for them. It was easy for us to put things away by just shoving them in the cubby we got them from. I'm pretty sure toys that started collecting dust up high eventually just disappeared.

 

[noon_child]

This year I was quite firm with family, asking that they resist buying as much as last year (January Birthday here too!) as there is no risk that she won’t have enough. Before Christmas I asked my daughter what she wanted to donate to charity, and I say we have to clear room for new toys or we won’t be able to buy her any. As the Birthday is so close to Xmas we also often buy cinema tickets, theatre tickets, go bowling, mini golf, just have a full day of activities as a family rather than buy more toys. After all children want time with us more than anything don’t they? We know relatives will send gifts so there is always something to open.

 

[Lizzybee]

Charity shop or I noticed our local library has toys too. If you don't have that then perhaps a playgroup would take thr duplicate toys? I also find, that my little boy doesn't miss things if he doesn't see them for a while. Perhaps hide things for a month. If they ask, give them back, if they don't, then get rid?

 

[Babybump87]

All our good toys and clothes go to the charity shop . Some in the attic . We had a good clean out before Xmas but now they have so much stuff again ! Birthdays in December and February too !

 

[autumnal]

Maybe for future holidays ask for stuff like clothes or books only or something like season passes to an aquarium or childrens museum?

 

[jessmke]

I'm lucky because my kids are only 19 months apart, so most toys pull double duty with both of them so we don't have to have different toys for different age groups. My daughter has a December birthday, so when she has a party we ask the parents not to bring gifts (we'll be doing the same for my son this year when he has a party). We bring a gift for her to open at her party, but she knows that her friends aren't brining anything because the party is about having fun with her friends, not getting presents. Then for Christmas we ask grandparents to give money towards the kids' RESP instead of getting presents. My mother in law never listens, she thinks it's ridiculous and cruel of us and so she always gets our kids 4 or 5 presents each. No matter how much I try to explain that a fully paid for university education will be much more appreciated than a toy she'll play with for a short period of time or clothes she'll outgrow in a few months, she still has to buy them a bunch of stuff so I just let it go. With other family members, we do a gift exchange draw, so all the adults draw one other adult name to buy for, and the kids all draw one other kid to buy for, so we don't end up buying/receiving a crazy number of gifts. So in all my kids get a gift from us, one from Santa, one from a cousin, and then however many my MIL decides to buy them. We also do little things in their stockings from Santa like a pair of sunglasses, socks, etc. We also purge toys before Christmas, the kids each need to pick 3 toys to donate in order to make room for what they'll get at Christmas, and throughout the year we are constantly getting rid of toys if we don't see them playing with them anymore. Another thing we've done (especially if my MIL has gotten out of hand with gifts) is to put some of them away. The kids get to open the gifts and see what they've gotten, then we'll pick the ones they aren't going crazy over on Christmas day and put them in a closet. A few months down the road we'll purge something they don't use anymore and then bring out the Christmas gift they had forgotten about. Helps keep the toys fresh without them being overwhelmed with choice which I find often happens after Christmas. I know with my kids, they are more likely to play with something and get really engaged in a toy if there are fewer options. If they have too many things out at once then they just hop from one thing to another without really playing much.

 

[Koifish]

I have the same problem! I just did a huge clean out, twice, before Christmas and told everyone no toys!! Well they did get toys but thankfully not to many. I have also started asking for experiences or gift cards instead. To many toys is definitely overwhelming. They have a small 9 cube (the smaller cube not the bigger ones) storage thing in the room with the storage bins (non cloth because they break them). If it can’t fit in there and be put away then whatever is played with the least goes. Obviously there are a few exceptions as they have a couple of play sets that go on the wall and must not take up a lot of room, no large bulky sets. It has definitely helped staying on this system. My family knows my rule. I should note that 9 cube rule is for twins so that’s both of their things not one each.

 

[laura109]

I know how you feel. I have two kids aged almost 4 and 1. They had heaps from Christmas. My son had his first birthday 3 days after Xmas. Whilst I try put as much in there bedrooms, they also have a toy box each downstairs. My daughter is very messy. I've actually just wrote a post about it!! She seems to wreck the house in 5 minutes and it takes me many hours to sort everything again around them being asleep etc. Kids have far to much. It's also a struggle to want to get rid of stuff that's a gift or in fab condition/cost a bit. I just want to say I feel your pain really xx