Do I have too many toys (well the kids that is) -UPDATED w/ photos post 6

[Heather Micaela]

I have a plasitc thing w/ 4 drawers - J and C each have 2 drawers. In addition they have 2 drawers each of dress up. The lving room contians 4 littl epeople house-things and a bin of little people plus the baby toys. They also have a play kitchen, a train table, and a toys box aof stuffed animals.

Does this soud like too much for 3 (going on 4) kids.

PS this does not count stuff I consider Homeschool/educational.

I wll post pictures after the break


OK I added photos - now should I downsize? It gets harder to do each time.

[LadybugSam]

It doesn't seem like too much to me :)

Those little people houses take up a lot of room, so it seems like a lot. But it sounds like a decent amount of toys ;)

[Heather Micaela]

Like I said though I did not count the blocks or playdoh or art because that is educational.

I think I am overwhelmed by the small space.

Oh and the baby has 3 bins as opposed to 2 because her toys are bigger.

[phathui5]

It doesn't sound like too much to me. Our kids have a playroom that's just toys and half of a bedroom for the Legos.

[SamRose]

Doesnt sound like too much to me. :shrug

[loveberry]

Alex has one of those shelf things that's really long dowels. It has 4 large bins and 8 small bins, all full. Plus he has all these 15 quart tubs, 2 for crafts, 2 for trains, 1 for lego, 1 for bionicle, 1 for knex, and a 60 quart heaping full with stuffed animals. And then a few things that don't fit anywhere and just get stacked in the corner - a keyboard, light sabers, swords, etc. Oh and then another bin for playdough but that is kept with my stuff so it can only come out under my supervision.

We have too many toys. You guys sound like you are doing fine. :D

[Heather Micaela]

Well, I finally got back to this thread to show photos.

What is not shown is the toybox of stuffed toys or the train table. This does not aslo count the playdoh and legos that I consider "Homeshool" stuff

BEDROOM
This is their play kitchen/pretend play area (there is a little table not pictured that goes with this
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y78/HeatherMicaela1/Pictures2066.jpg

pretend play odds and ends plus DD's doll house
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y78/HeatherMicaela1/Pictures2067.jpg

Top 2 drawers are Joshua's, the bottom 2 are Chrisintas. To the right is Joshuas dress up stuff (and pretend play) accesories they share. C's dress up stuff is in her clothes dresser
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y78/HeatherMicaela1/Pictures2069.jpg

LIVING ROOM
Little People Stuff amd baby toys. Pretty much AlL's stuff though they all use it still. I was going to get rid of the House but this way the girls dont fight. I am going on 3 girls so it is worth keeping
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y78/HeatherMicaela1/Pictures2068.jpg



KITCHEN
you all know what a train table looks like so I didnt take a picture - this is just the stuff that they use w/ it
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y78/HeatherMicaela1/Pictures2070.jpg

in addtion the kitchen has our Homeschool stuf which includes a drawer thing identical to the one pictured that has Duplos/Larger than that Mega Blocks, Bristle blocks, and wooden blocks



So what would you downsize if anything?

[Katydid]

:think Do you need a house, a castle AND a barn? Those all sort of serve similar functions and each take up quite a bit of space.

Same with the shopping cart and two strollers.... and what's under the quilt behind the shopping cart?

I would just try to decide how much space you have for toys and purge until it all can fit. :shrug Like we have a bin for cars and I am getting ready to purge some because the bin is starting to overflow. :giggle

[Singingmom]

The push toys take up a lot of room. Who loves to push, and do you need more than one at a time to keep peace?

Is that a doll car seat in the top pic? Maybe it could be stored in the trunk of the car. Is that when your dd would use it?

Is there room next to your vacuum (in a closet?) for the toy vacuum? (asks the mom who has to keep her vacuum behind the bathroom door because we have no other spot for it!)

[Heather Micaela]

:think Do you need a house, a castle AND a barn? Those all sort of serve similar functions and each take up quite a bit of space.

Same with the shopping cart and two strollers.... and what's under the quilt behind the shopping cart?

I would just try to decide how much space you have for toys and purge until it all can fit. :shrug Like we have a bin for cars and I am getting ready to purge some because the bin is starting to overflow. :giggle


I *have* to have to strollers because the girls fight over them otherwise- (yes the 16 mo fights) And my tender boy uses the shoppin cart when the other two use the strollers.

Under the quilt is my roomate's hamper - I threw the quilt on to hide his laundry

I keep trying to purge the LP stuff but the barn is very different than the house or castle. And the castle is still very much used by older dd with her princesses that fit in there. I get rid of the house, but since C wont share w/ the grabbing baby and I will soon have 2 girls just 20 mos apart, it seems I will need them each to have a place for those little people.

Sigh. I just wish they were not so BIG

The cars used to fit in w/ Joshua's stuff and still do, but they are harder to rummage through so I put the bin on top.

See, we have been decluttering for months and the kids now cry when I suggest it. It is like pulling teeth at this point. NOthing new is coming in weithout something old going out, but I have to have enough stuff for the 4th child too, so it makes it difficult.


Is there room next to your vacuum (in a closet?) for the toy vacuum? (asks the mom who has to keep her vacuum behind the bathroom door because we have no other spot for it!)
Our vaccuum sits in the living room because we have no closet space. The closet you see in the picture belongs to my roomate

[Heather Micaela]

I wanted to add that I am not trying to argue, but the typical "is it actually used/loved" question for the toys shown is a resounding yes.

I planned on putting baby toys away, but it seems silly when she uses them still and the new baby will be here in 4 months.

See I could probaly get rid of one or two things per storage thingy, but I cannot fiure out how to eliminate an entire storage thing. The additional issue is that we are housebound as a one car family and there is no park in walking distance. So all they do is play inside all day long.

ETA: In case anyone is confused. For now we have a roomate that sleeps in the kid's room (they sleep with us). All their clothes are in our room. The closet and bed is his, but they use the room until he gets home as a playroom. We are trying to find a larger place that would equal 2 bedrooms per fmaily

[Singingmom]

Even if you could get rid of some of it, having plenty of toys that they love to play with is important for your lifestyle. You'll soon have 4 different ages and you have both sexes... Is it bothering you?

edited for clarity... not are the kids of different ages and sexes bothering you, but the amount of toys! :lol

[loveberry]

Everything looks well organized and set up in smart ways. I think you just have to decide if you want enough stuff to keep the peace, even though it's cluttery, or if you want to downsize and deal with the fallout - angry kids and then kids fighting over stuff.

I'd keep the stuff. JMO. :)

[Heather Micaela]

Even if you could get rid of some of it, having plenty of toys that they love to play with is important for your lifestyle. You'll soon have 4 different ages and you have both sexes... Is it bothering you?

edited for clarity... not are the kids of different ages and sexes bothering you, but the amount of toys

I hate clutter. Everything feels so cramped. We have 4 DRESSERS in the master bedroom and one tiny closet with the clothes for 5 people. Those have been thinned and thinned and thinned. I have thinned out pots and pans and toiletries and everything.

And worse I hate feeling judged for having clutter when I declutter daily. But no matter what I do it still feels crowded. And the toys are so BIG that they are a bigger nuisance than anything else.


I want to be as minimalist as possible. I imagine a one room cabin tyoe existance whith just a few treasured toys, but at the same time I need peace. I cant stand refeering fights every minute. When I taught preschool we were told to have 2 of every desireable toy. I didn't start that way, but we added the shopping cart to the stroller for ds' sake. Then AL became mobile and in love with dolls and would take C's stroller. So she got one of her own for christmas.

[Singingmom]

I would feel the same way, torn between not wanting the clutter and having plenty of toys to keep the peace.

[Katydid]

Well, if it's all being used and loved, I'd say keep it and try to ignore the clutter. ;)

[Mother of Sons]

I can't really tell from the pic, but could you combine all of the train pieces into one or two of the drawers?

[Heather Micaela]

I would feel the same way, torn between not wanting the clutter and having plenty of toys to keep the peace.



Well, if it's all being used and loved, I'd say keep it and try to ignore the clutter. ;)
Thanks. Most of the time I feel we are doing fairly well IRT to organization - but when you have small square footage it seems like wall to wall furniture. And one toy in the middle of the room looks like a big mess.
Oh - I wanted to respond about the doll carseat - I think that could go in the van for now :yes - at least till the baby takes the final seat


I can't really tell from the pic, but could you combine all of the train pieces into one or two of the drawers?

Maybe - If I get rid of a few :think The top one is all the buildings and they are bigger. I guess then the transformers and cars could go in there - but I kind of like to keep the "community property" separate. Might take some more thinking

[Radosny Matka]

Does it bother you? If they are all well loved and all used, I don't see any issue. If it does bother you, perhaps you could rotate toys every couple weeks or something. :) We have a lot of toys, and I do rotate. I also know when we have too much out because I start tripping on things, or it takes waaay too long to clean up. Then I know I need to put some more away.

[AdrienneQW]

I think you do very well with the space you have. :tu

What bothers me about our toys is the "footprint" they take up - so I made space in the closet for their strollers and shopping carts and one bin of "out of rotation" toys. That's just not feasible for you right now. But in my organizational mind I don't care how high the toy containers stack, as long as they function well and don't take up too much space on the floor. I cannot stand tripping over toys.

I can't remember your train table - did it have a trundle underneath? That's a great place to store train-related items (or anything else, for that matter). Alternately, you could get some other kind of storage container that would fit under the train table - that's prime storage space. :tu

[Mother of Sons]

Oh! I missed that you have a train table! Do you store anything under there? We keep our trains/tracks and kapla planks in long flat bins under the train table. It works great for us.

[Heather Micaela]

Unless roomie moves out or we finally get that bigger place together our garage is too full of his furniture for rotation (Cant even walk in there) - we were doing that until he moved in. But at that point I had more total toys. We got rid of 1/4 when we put them all back in the house.

AFA the train table, it is in the kitchen and when I tried to store stuff under it would get spread all out, and it made it hard to sweep the crumbs that collected and juice that would spill.

[expatmom]

I think the issue isn't too much toys, but a small space for lots of people. I think you do well considering there are 6+1 people living in a 2 bdrm place. :)

[Oliveshoots]

I haven't read all the replies yet, but I did look at your pics.

In my opinion....you do not have too many toys. I was just htinking the other day if *we* had too many toys :giggle (we have recently done a purge of junky happymeal toys, random bits of toys that have come from who-knows-where, I've stored away all the "baby" toys, and we got rid of some dinosaurs that were either duplicates, or icky plastic with paint coming off.)

My personal opinion is....what does it matter how many you have, if your kids use them, like them, and they are organized? Your toys are SO well organized. :yes We have done a huge organizing spree the last couple of months and it has *really* helped dc's keep their rooms clean. I also put toys that we don't use on a regular basis (train track, we don't have a table for it....Little People stuff, board games, etc.) in the closet, out of sight.

Many of our kids toys are hand-me-downs that dh and I had as kids, stuff they've been given for b'day parties and Christmas, a ton of books I had from teaching, my mom had from teaching, my aunt had from teaching, my cousin had from his childhood, AND another teacher friend gave us her older books. :giggle We have a mini-library after all the teachers in our family gave us their books. And I had lots of puzzles and card games, flash cards, etc. left from teaching days. So i geuss I could count all that as educational and not toys. :think

ANyway, my point is, I wouldn't worry about how much you have unleess you are feeling crowded, cluttered, or unorganized.

I really like how you have everything organized into "centers". How do your kids do at keeping it all where it should go? If you are always having to do the toy pick up, then I would say, maybe weed out some stuff. But if it's working for your family, I personally don't think you have too many. (But then I'm the mom that made a list of all the types of dino toys my son has. :shifty Right now we're at about 30 different breeds of dinos, plus every sea creature imaginable, jungle animals, farm animals. But i"m not getting rid of any of them becuase they are educational, IMO. He acts out Blue Planet with these toys, so there's no way I'm purging them! :lol)

Edited to remove superfluous info that if HM needed she probably already read so I'm saving some storage space for the site now. :giggle

[KatieMae]

Maybe just using solid-colored storage containers would make it *look* neater to you. I have our kids' dress up/pretend play stuff in one of the same 3-drawer carts that you have & even with everything put away you can still see the colors & mish-mash of things inside, which makes for a more cluttered look, even though it's quite tidy & organized. I keep a lot of their stuff in solid-colored containers (white plastic or any kind of basket) and it helps me to see "tidy basket" & not "bin full of junk" KWIM? I think you have their things grouped really well so all you can do is work on the aesthetic. But really, you're doing an excellent job for so little space :tu

ETA: I couldn't get rid of any of our Little People stuff either - I have it set up as a little village beside my desk :giggle

[Oliveshoots]

I think that's a great idea KatieMae had. You could even just tape some solid colored paper or wrapping paper inside the clear plastic drawers, or even paint the outside to hide what's inside. It's like with our "random toy cube". I really don't care what junk is in it, as long as I don't have to see it every time I walk into the room. We stuff it full, then slide it back onto the shelf and it looks neat and organized. :tu

Someday I want to get nice digital pics of what's in each of our cubes, and make a set of labels that are uniform in style, to attach to the outside of each cube. I think it would help them even more to sort and put things where they go.

I agree with PPs that you've done an *excellent* job keeping it organized and usable, given the amount of space you have and # of people in your home. :yes :hug

[Heather Micaela]

I cant buy new storage, but I could do the colored paper :think



I agree with PPs that you've done an *excellent* job keeping it organized and usable, given the amount of space you have and # of people in your home.
Thanks

[allisonintx]

we found that one deep bookshelf could replace three dressers. Dressers are bulky and basically don't do enough of a good job to merit the HUGE amount of space they take up.

[Heather Micaela]

we found that one deep bookshelf could replace three dressers. Dressers are bulky and basically don't do enough of a good job to merit the HUGE amount of space they take up.

:scratch
Maybe with older kids, but my littlest just pulls everything off shelves, and in the drawers you dont see the clothes and dont have to fold them -therefore the kids can put them away and get dressed on thier own - which is VERY important to me.

Plus we already HAVE the dressers. I would have to buy a shelf

[loveberry]

we found that one deep bookshelf could replace three dressers. Dressers are bulky and basically don't do enough of a good job to merit the HUGE amount of space they take up.


Do you do bins on the shelves or just stack the clothing on the shelves?

[allisonintx]

bins for underware and socks, then everything else in stacks.

[loveberry]

I am liking this idea, thanks!!

[Heather Micaela]

bins for underware and socks, then everything else in stacks.


I am sure this works for some, and I did not want you to think I was arguing with you - I just don't see that working in our situation.

*For Me* seeing all the clothes -even folded - would add to the cluttered feel. Also we have a rule in our house that if the clothes in the kids' drawers do not fit UNfolded they have too many. I simply do not have time to fold and put away the clothes of 3 kids and myself plus all the towels and blankets. They can fold the best they can and stuff it in their drawers. Then they help with the baby's. I fold mine and put them away.

[illinoismommy]

I wanted to add that I am not trying to argue, but the typical "is it actually used/loved" question for the toys shown is a resounding yes.



I know how you feel

I am still on page one.... so I will read the rest.... but what we are doing is still toy rotating because its necessary .... so maybe you could put some of that away and then every few days switch it out

[illinoismommy]

bins for underware and socks, then everything else in stacks.


oh intriguing! I am looking at ways to do without dressers :shifty