Does this sound too radical (re: toy decluttering)

[SortaCrunchy]

I am so, so, so tired of picking up toys and/or instructing/helping my little ones to pick up toys. The only things that REALLY get played with around here are stuffed animals, occasionally a doll, art supplies, and books. (Well, books are for reading, but YKWIM.)

I am so tempted to just pack the rest up in big boxes and sell it on Craigslist or something. It is not bringing happiness or beauty to my home. I truly don't think the girls would miss all the STUFF if it were gone.

But then, I tend to get a little :mad at this point in my cycle, so I guess I'm just wondering if this is TOO radical to do when decluttering.

[mountainash]

Why not box it up for a few weeks and see if it's missed? If it isn't, you wont need to worry when you get rid of it.

[WanderingJuniper]

Why not box it up for a few weeks and see if it's missed? If it isn't, you wont need to worry when you get rid of it.
That is what we do. :yes I currently have lincoln logs, a stack of books and a Doll house sitting in a box in my room. At the end of the month I'll be making a decision.

:hug I also tend to get in a throw it away mood during certain times of the month. After a huge purge before December and then realized I did want some of the items I've learned to calm down a bit. :blush

[SortaCrunchy]

Thanks for the insights. Some of it has been essentially sitting in boxes. I filled two clear Rubbermaid containers with stuff laying around on the floor a few weeks ago. It's all been sitting the in hall waiting to be returned to its homes, but no one has missed a thing in there . . . But that is good advice to put things out of sight for a bit before a decision is made.

[Heather Micaela]

I would say determine how much of your house you want to devote to toy storage and make the kids put w/in it what fits. The rest gets donated.

[3PeasInAPod]

I just did this today actually.. after Christmas, I especially was feeling overwhelmed by the amount of toys ds has...so I bagged them up & put them in a closet in the spare bedroom. I'm not sure if I will totally get rid of them, or what - but for now, that's where they are.

[Forsynthianicki]

I also box things up for a few weeks before deciding to get rid of it. My problem is remembering to get rid of it. I found two boxes of toys that I had put away last fall when I was getting out Christmas decorations.

[Sweet Life]

I'm all for getting rid of stuff that the kids aren't using. I do a major haul-out 4 times a year (and minor ones nearly every day :shifty).

The only caveat would be anything that is quality that they might grow into and I was reminded of this because someone mentioned Lincoln Legs which we almost got rid of at one point, but didn't. My kids just weren't ready for them yet. I'm glad we saved them. But that sort of thing is pretty rare for us. ;)

[hopeforchange]

:popcorn

[Aerynne]

If they don't play with it, you don't need to have it around. We've gone through phases with more and fewer toys out. At the moment we have blocks, lincoln logs, stuffed animals, dolls, dress-ups, trains, little vehicles, Schleich animals, duplos, a Noah's ark, a toy kitchen with stuff in it, music stuff, and books out, which is a lot for us, but my kids have been good about keeping it put away and we have a great storage system. If that weren't the case, and when that's not the case, I don't have any problem drastically limiting what's out to what will get played with and put away. I still don't sell or otherwise dispose of stuff when we don't use it if it's our high-quality wood toys. I just keep it around for when we might use it later. Plastic stuff, though, I will part with fairly readily.

[hopeforchange]

here's where i always get stumped when it comes to cleaning out toys...it seems like that whenever i decide to clean out toys, dd reads my mind and will go get some random toy out and start playing with it. :doh then i second guess myself about everything i wanted to get rid of, b/c i keep thinking that she might really enjoy playing with it.

she also has a very good memory...she'll go months without playing with something and then ask where it is. :doh

[AngelaVA]

I did Mountain Ash's idea and it was great. I packed up all but the toys they play with every day and then gradually got them out again as they were missed however, I bought bins for them and they go up on a shelf with a 2 bin at a time rule for getting toys down. I have 1 box of toys I am saving because I think they are good toys but just not the right stage for my girls and 3 others I am getting rid of.

[HindsFeet]

We do plenty of toy purging here as well, similarly to what has been described already. The majority of our toys are locked in a closet; they are allowed to start getting things out when chores are done - but only one thing/set at a time. In order to get something else out, they have to bring back the first toy ready to put away.

This works well a lot of the time. We get into trouble, however, when one of the kids leaves the closet open, and the younger kids get in and make a mess.

[sprout]

we currently have three boxes heading to donation this Friday.

We keep the quality and well loved. If not one of these two, then perhaps it will be for another child.

[ShangriLewis]

If you have the space, pack it up. If they remember they can exchange for something else.

We once took away all toys and put them in storage. They got a pack of paper and a set of colored pencils. They hated us. Then something amazing happened. They had a lot of fun.

[Heather Micaela]

here's where i always get stumped when it comes to cleaning out toys...it seems like that whenever i decide to clean out toys, dd reads my mind and will go get some random toy out and start playing with it. :doh then i second guess myself about everything i wanted to get rid of, b/c i keep thinking that she might really enjoy playing with it.

she also has a very good memory...she'll go months without playing with something and then ask where it is. :doh
This is why my kids are always part of the process from about 2.5 yo on. They may be temporarily upset with what is gone, but they have a say on what is most important to them

[ChristianTara]

*

[illinoismommy]

here's where i always get stumped when it comes to cleaning out toys...it seems like that whenever i decide to clean out toys, dd reads my mind and will go get some random toy out and start playing with it. :doh then i second guess myself about everything i wanted to get rid of, b/c i keep thinking that she might really enjoy playing with it.

she also has a very good memory...she'll go months without playing with something and then ask where it is. :doh

My oldest is this way too.... ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh !!!

[SortaCrunchy]

WOW! thanks for all of the feedback!!

Here's the thing. MOST of what I want to get rid of is crappy plastic stuff. That's what I mean when I say that the toys they have don't add happiness (per se) or beauty to our home. I forgot to say, too, that I am hoping to slowly transition to a more Waldorf-inspired home/atmosphere here. I think that's at the heart of why I am becoming increasingly irritated with the toys situation. It all just looks like junk to me now. And again - this is MOSTLY stuff that gets picked up and put down once every few weeks.

Here's what DH and I decided to do tonight (before I got to read all of these responses!) - I got some bins and I'm going to divide what they DO play with (stuffed animals, lacing beads, dress up, etc) into three different bins by putting some of each category in there. We do have a nice big playroom upstairs but we can't use it in the winter because there's no central heat up there. I'm going to leave one bin downstairs and the others will live upstairs. I'll rotate through those every few days and what I'm HOPING to do, too, is every carefully see what gets played with when they have fewer choices. I'll leave a fourth bin open to discretely begin collecting toy donation.

Also, we have issues not with toys they need to grow into but rather things they have grown out of.

And this thread reminded me it would be fun to have some Lincoln Logs on hand! I bet they would love those!

[hopeforchange]

This is why my kids are always part of the process from about 2.5 yo on. They may be temporarily upset with what is gone, but they have a say on what is most important to them

how do you include them in the process? i can't even clean up toys when my dd is awake, b/c she has a huge fit and vehemently declares that everything needs to be OUT! so i can't imagine trying to have her pick what to keep and what not to keep. i don't even know if she would understand that concept.

[Heather Micaela]

how do you include them in the process? i can't even clean up toys when my dd is awake, b/c she has a huge fit and vehemently declares that everything needs to be OUT! so i can't imagine trying to have her pick what to keep and what not to keep. i don't even know if she would understand that concept.
I allow fits and big feelings, and give plenty of hugs but I personally would rather do that than get rid of things behind their back.

With a 2-3 yo I take out all the stuff I want to have go away knowing some will come back. Then I get a bin as big as I want filled to the top and have them fill it to the top. Sometimes they pick, sometimes I pick FOR them and tell them why. After a job well done there is some reward like going and getting an ice cream or something. We explain they go to kids who have no toys.

We also do it so often and they have seen the big kids doing it, that it is as common as recycling the cans or other occasional chores.