Thursday, January 8, 2009

Toy Story

I live in a house made of toys. They are even in my bathroom. While I sit on the toilet doing my thing, I look around and see toys. Plastic lipstick, GI Joe men, trains, plastic pink shoes, a doll with her head turned in weird ways. I just can't escape the toys. There are times that I feel like they are watching me and laughing. I really want to purge and get rid of some but my dilemma is as such: about 99% of the toys in this house were a gift from a grandparent or an aunt or uncle. So every month as I start going through the house sneaking toys into my big black bag going to the children's shelter, my guilty little brain starts to say things like, " the next time the grandparents come to visit they will notice that this toy is not here and ask what happened and you will have to tell them that you gave it away". The big black bag gets emptied and put back under the kitchen sink and all of the toys do a happy dance because they are safe for one more month. So my question to all of you lurking out there, What do you do with all of the gifted toys that come into your home? Do you just live with toys harassing you daily by laying under foot because they just refuse to stay in their designated places or do you just show the toys who is the boss of the house and get rid of them and break the news to the ones that gifted the toys that they no longer reside at this address?? The toys are forming their game plan for the month and I refuse to go down without a fight.

4 comments:

Peaches said...

I have one word for you. Freecycle.org. I only keep what toys I have room for in this 1500 sq ft house with five people. I purge and give away frequently. You'll drive yourself crazy!!

The kids have a pretty organized system, and when they're no longer able to pick up their own toys, then a load goes out.

MaryBeth said...

Box up most of them and only keep out the amount that Blake and Kayce can pick up themselves. Then in a week or two pack up what they've been playing with and get out (or let them pick) from the packed up ones another manageable set. Just keep rotating. At the end of the day I often tell the girls they can keep all the toys that they put away. Any that I have to pick up myself will be given away... I'm such a meanie!

When we operate this way things go much better... but it doesn't happen like that here all the time either!

Another thing: people know when they bring things in here how tight we are for space and sanity so I don't think they mind if I get rid of stuff they've given occasionally.... at least I hope my sanity is more important to them than a piece of plastic!!

Marianne said...

You can give the toys from us away AFTER we visit i February, because then we'll bring some more muwaahahahahahahah (evil laguh).
No really, give away what they don't play with anymore - easy as that!
Luv
M

Amanda L said...

I am guilty of the same thing but for a different reason. I feel guilty when Chase wants a toy I have purged (which he inevitably does because he has a great memory for these things) and it is gone. I mean I would be ticked if I went to put on a pair of shoes and someone had decided I didn't need them anymore because I have too many shoes. I think we are overthinking this thing.