Downsizing with a large family..HELP!

[robin4kids]

So we are doing something we have NEVER done in our life. We are packing up and moving from the city to a smaller country farm house. We are so excited, BUT we have too much stuff! We have children aged from 4y/o to 14 y/o. FIVE children in all. I ran a daycare for 10 years and so there are millions of toys. right now we have a 14 room home. We are moving to a house with only 9-10 rooms. The rooms are bigger, but we don't have an attic like we have here.

I am beginning to think I am a pack rat. I am terrified to get rid of all the toys I have spent so long collecting. Once my 2 older boys said they did not want a couple of these huge trucks, so we sold them. A few years later my third boy and I were walking through a used toy store and my son fell in love with the exact truck I had sold. I bought it for a second time.

Then there are all the kitchen stuff. No I don't use it every day, but I do use it at least once a year.

How do i let go?

[Shahbazin]

Originally Posted by robin4kids

....there are millions of toys. right now we have a 14 room home. We are moving to a house with only 9-10 rooms. The rooms are bigger, but we don't have an attic like we have here.
....Then there are all the kitchen stuff. No I don't use it every day, but I do use it at least once a year.
How do i let go?

One thing that helps is not taking it with you - do you have an idea of how much shelf space/storage bins & closet space each kid will have? Try to estimate box space, give each child their allotment of boxes, & let them pick what they want to keep (maybe break down boxes into toys, books, clothes, & with more assistance for smaller children). Group toys that are large could be subject to a vote by all the kids (we can take 5 large toys - which ones do you like best?).

For kitchen stuff - do you have a barn or outbuilding/shed that some seasonal stuff could go in, if it's kept in metal trashcans or something similarly rat & squirrrel proof? Some clothing could go into similar storage. Otherwise, try to pick what you use the most, or is the most versatile.