Buy Buy Toys to Bye-bye Toys

“Another pull toy!” I exclaimed as a duck on a string emerge from the wrapping paper. It brought the total number of pull toys received Christmas morning to FIVE!  Five new ones plus the two we already have at home from when my son was the right age for them.  Incredible!  I laughed aloud at the thought of seven pull toys in my house!

Is that a problem for you too?  It’s a major issue for us, and I don’t mean pull toys, I am talking about a general overload of stuff.  It was never this bad until we had kids, but now we have crossed the threshold to out of control with toys, books, baby equipment and clothes.  It has become a fungus of blinking, brightly colored, talking, quacking, ABC-singing plastic that has taken over every room of the house. What began in the nursery has spread into every room in the house and now even into our yard, garage and floorboards of our vehicles.

I have always felt an obligation to keep the gifts I have received and of course the nice items I purchased myself, but not in 2011.  I am making a change.  I am saying good-bye to toys, books and clutter. To make room for our new gifts, I am going to give away perfectly good and sometimes barely used items.  What choice do I have?  I don’t want stuffed animals and pull-toys in every room of the house so something has to go; actually, a lot has to go.  So good-bye stuff, time for order, balance, organization and tidiness.

My two-year-old son helped me get started. We went through all his stuffed animals and agreed on which ones to give away and which to keep.  Don’t get me wrong, we still kept more than he needs but they at least they now all fit in his toy basket.

Consider de-cluttering this New Year.  Make room in your home for the new gifts your child received at Christmas by creating space and time for their enjoyment.  Kids are more inclined to deeply engage and play with their toys when they are not overwhelmed and surrounded by piles of them.  Less is more.

Where to start?  Begin with boxing up all toys that have been outgrown or are not developmentally appropriate.  Then sort out all toys that are duplicates, broken, have missing pieces, or have not been played with in a year.  Use this same guideline for books and clothing.  Then it is time to say a final good-bye to your stuff and move it out the door.  Imagine how great you will feel with your new space and organized rooms!

The following list is a helpful resource of places to unload your stuff:

• Call Big Brother Big Sister and they will come to your house and pick up donated items at no cost to you.
• Look for donation bins accepting clothing, books and shoes in parking lots.  Check Safeway, CVS, and Target.
• Sell it on Craig’s List.
• Use an eBay Trader to sell items for you on-line. They take a 30-50% cut from your profits depending on the trader.  Or sell it yourself if you have the time.
• Check out Kid to Kid consignment stores.
• Donate to a crisis pregnancy center or another charity.
• You can receive a tax deduction for a drop off at Goodwill or Salvation Army.
• Offer it to a new mom or a friend.
• If all else fails, the garbage truck comes every Wednesday!

No matter where you send your old things, you will be happy and feel like a weight has lifted off of you when the stuff is gone.  Anyone want a pull-toy?

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Jenny M. lives in Scottsdale, Arizona and has two beautiful and active little ones (two under the age of three with one on the way.)  She has best husband she could imagine who works hard and fully engages with his family when he is home.  She spent a decade as a single woman in a fast-paced career that gave her opportunities to travel the world, speak and work with the hearts and minds of university students.  Now, she is always working on slowing down, trying to simplify, laugh, discover, love God, her life and her family.  You can find her blog at www.porchswingmom.com