So. When Aaron and I talked about kids - one of the topics that came up often was that we didn't want to 'spoil' them. We didn't want to be that family that had a HUGE amount of toys. Of course, then we had kids. And I get it. You've got the gift toys. The toys people hand down to you. The toys that you find for super cheap at a garage sale. And then, the (very few!) toys that you actually buy full price for a birthday or Christmas.
Adding to my chaos is the fact that for a long stretch there, I thought that my kids were going to be staying home with a Nanny, so I collected a bunch of toys so they wouldn't be bored. I've slowly been culling the toys. But also adding more.
I have to say that I have a pretty decent setup. Downstairs, we have a bunch of Billy shelves with doors, and that is where most of the toys are stored. The other location is a train table with storage underneath. Anything that doesn't fit in those two places, I force myself to get rid of something to make it fit (that is thanks to advice from Jen. She was totally right, if there isn't a place for it, it stays out and makes a mess). But still. Loads and loads of toys! it's SO hard to get rid of toys!
And I just came into a mother load of free books and board games from someone who is moving. I couldn't bring myself to turn them down, but now I'm forced to do some re-organizing to make space.
Don't even get me started on outside toys. My kids love love love all ride on toys, so I got a whole bunch - and now no place to store them! Aaron wants a shed just for toys, but of course, we currently don't have the cash to get a shed.
So, I'm in the process of paring down the stuff that we don't use to make space for the new. And find a storage solution for great toys/games that my kids are still to young for. Maybe I'll post pictures when I'm done. What do you guys do for toys? How do you stop the madness?
6 comments:
It is insane, right? I don't think I had this many toys when I was a kid and my oldest is only 2. My parents had already had eight other kids, so perhaps they had learned the lesson about toys with small pieces.
I don't want to spoil my kids. I guess I will figure it out. ugh.
I would love to see pics of your storage solutions. We have the expedit shelf with boxes but I think we need about 10 more to hold all the darn toys.
I am currently shopping for another set of shelves for the toys because with her birthday and Christmas, they got out of control.
I've been avoiding ride on toys because we don't have anywhere to keep them. The new tricycle is in the dining room. I am eventually going to make her keep it in the garage, but for now, she's parking it wherever.
My only possible brilliant, possibly idiotic idea for ride on toys is hooks in your garage. Those things aren't usually that heavy, I am guessing you might be able to put some hooks up on the walls or ceiling? If you can reach your ceiling anyway, I can't here, but in other houses I could.
toys are like yarn
Consignment. For every 3 or 4 toys she brings, she gets to bring home 1 new one. That, and I keep one shelf of
toys out at a time (oh - and two baskets for the little stuff). Everything else gets put away in the closet. I rotate the toys every two or three weeks. They get super excited on the day the new toys come out. It works for me. We also have some toys (doll house, tent, kitchen) in other areas of the house but it doesn't take over. it can't - we have a small house.
I was blessed with a basement and I had several huge shelves. I would rotate toys. Store half and leave half upstairs. When my children started to get bored, I'd rotate. I bought them very few toys but my sisters and parents totally spoiled my boys and they simply had too much. Of course, the system of rotating toys only works if you have a great space to store the toys that are 'waiting their turn".
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