My Toy Story

We have too many toys!

The delimia: My kids don’t play with toys, they play with THINGS.
Hangers are bow and arrows, belts are dog leashes, boxes are trains.etc.
They create things to play with.
They use their brains to entertain themselves.

I am THINKING about getting rid of them.(the toys not the kids)

I have been thinking about this for a while but the truth is I DON’T DARE!

Going through a move is helpful in getting rid of junk. You realize you have been keeping stuff for no reason at all.
It’s easier to toss it than pack and unpack it.

Well. unfortunately most the toys made the first cut during the move.

Our new basement proved to be a wonderful home to the colossal amount of toys unloaded there.
I was excited to have a room dedicated to the kids enjoyment. We have never had that!
Previously, our toys were stored in the attic and came down into their rooms on a rotation process when I felt like a swap was needed.
So to have a space where everything could fit at once I was really excited!

After the move It took me several weeks to gear up the desire and energy to go down there and organize the chaos.

The kids didn’t play down there because it was a mess. Nothing had a place.
Finally the chore was done and I was please with the result.

The first time Sam walked into the room his comment was,
“We have too many toys!”

That made me MAD!

You see, I didn’t see all the toys, I saw memories of my little ones.
I saw the phases they went through with the castle, the doll house the horses and cars.
I was excited that they could all be played with in the same room! This was exciting to ME!

For him to suggest we needed to get rid of toys I felt sad!

A few months passed and every so often I peeked into the Playroom on my way to the laundry room.
I always saw one of two things.
1. it was still clean
2. it was still messy

Nothing changed much in there. Most the time the toys stayed picked up, which tells me they aren’t being played with.
The times it was still a mess was from the ONE time the drawer was dumped out for whatever reason and the mess just stayed there.
Again, nothing being played with.
I’m itching to simplify my life. I figure if I have less stuff I’ll have less to keep clean.
It’s sort of like plucking eyebrows. It’s torture to get started but once you get going you wonder how you’ve managed to get so out of control.

I went through my closet and drawers. The only things left are things I DO use. No more of the “I think I might ...”
It was liberating. My closet is bare but what I wear is hanging-nothing more.

So, this desire has carried over to the playroom.

I think I am ready to give away the childhood memories.
Not MINE, mind you, but my kids.
I don’t want to give these toys away because they represent the childhood years of my three little kids. They remind me of life we lived day after day stumbling over them, stuffing them away, or searching desperately for them when misplaced.
They were my life just as much as they were my kids.
Getting rid of them is accepting that those days are over. That’s what makes me so sad.

As I sat through Toy Story 3 it came to me. I was like Andy. Emotionally tied to a box full of toys. (basement in my case)

My kids are still kids but books, sports, and piano fill their spare time. I need to pack up the toys and keep the memories.

I instructed them all to go in the playroom and pick out their favorite toys to keep and then help me pack up the rest to give away.

I expected a little push back but got NOTHING.

They didn’t even care!

I think they each came away with 1 toy to keep!!!

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

I cleared off all the shelves dumped all drawers and emptied all bins of toys with their help.

They don’t even care!

Looks like I'm the one that needs to grow up!

Don’t get me started on stuffed animals.....