My Pat Rack Self at odds with my Decluttering Self

[justmeandmybrood]

Egads! We have less than 10 weeks until we welcome our newest addition (and last) to our brood. We are military and move every 1-3 yrs. We will be moving ourselves plus 3 kiddos in 9 more months and I want an easier move this time

I need some guidance/ideas/suggestions when it comes to kiddos' things. My problem is the tons of small toys that look junkie in my 7-yr old DS's room and the BIG items in my DD's room (several 15"/18" dolls and their furniture and clothing; Barbie dreamhouse that she inherited from my old toys, etc.). The bigger items are worth $ as well as well-loved, though they are not as played as I think they will be in coming years as she gets older.

Thanks for any suggestions/ideas/commiseration, etc.

[zoebird]

i don't know what you are looking for--a way to store/move what you have, the go-ahead to declutter it (with your children in this case), or what.

if we assume that nothing is going, or only a small amount of stuff is going, then it's really about storing and moving. so, an option is to check craig's list for foot lockers and old luggage and the like, so that they can be put in there to be moved (it's basically reuseable boxes), adn then also stored when in use or not in use.

anyway, an option.

[justmeandmybrood]

Sorry - I was indeed not very clear in my post! I am battling with 1) trying to get rid of stuff and not knowing how to part with such special toys in DD's case; in DS's case all the small toys, which I assume is part and parcel of his age? and 2) how to keep things decluttered when there is so much (big stuff in DD's case and so many little things in DS's case).

Here is another issue we have - I am not a box fan - they take up space and can collect unwanted bugs. I have been keeping the boxes for the dolls since they are considered collectors' items over time...and with our frequent moves, they provide a safer means of transport. However, they are taking up the entire top shelf of DD's closet (nowhere else to put them, even broken down would not make that huge of a difference). Would you keep them or just chunk? Eeks. Decluttering my stuff was not this hard!

Thanks for bearing with my initial vagueness. Not sure if I am needing some tough decluttering love or commiseration that this is not out of the ordinary, lol!

[shaper]

I'm having the same issues... lol. We're military, too. All of the top shelves in our closets are big boxes that are kept for safer moving (like for my iMac, scanner..mostly tech stuff, though). I might be totally off here because I know nothing of collectables, but if your daughter is using the dolls (they're not IN the boxes?) then they're not keeping their value anyway, right? I would get rid of the boxes for dolls, but that's just me.

I'm trying to be ruthless, here.. we're moving w/in 6 weeks. Apparently. Hehe.... I can commiserate. We're not having any more kids (we have 1 boy) but I completely get wanting to pare down and make every move easier. I get completely stressed...

I'm going through my son's toys today. I asked him to help me yesterday but he didn't understand what I was asking, so I'm just going to get it done when he's not looking. And seal the boxes this time.. It was like Christmas last week when he found a box of long-forgotten toys. Another thing with little toys? I'm getting to the point where if I suspect one part needed is missing for good -- it all goes. I used to have a box where I collected parts of things until I found all of the parts of things and put the complete whatever-it-was back into circulation but that's really getting old, and some of those parts of things have been in the box forever. Lego Mindstorms and Transformers are toys to avoid...

[Vanessa]

We're military, too. The only boxes that I have are the ones for expensive electronics (flat screen TV, large printer, sewing machine). I'd get rid of any others, but that's me.

[SleeplessMommy]

Sounds like you have American Girl$. Flatten the boxes. I would toss the boxes on any other brand, unless you have something "really collectible" or vintage.

[rere]

How about getting something like this for your son(it could easily be moved as is).Whatever he can fit in there stays and the rest of the tiny stuff gets donated?

[justmeandmybrood]

So happy to know I am not the only one who worries about all this craziness!

You know, I almost wish DS's toys had pieces that would require chunking them if some pieces were lost, lol! Our toys of choice are Legos (just open-ended ones, thankfully not the kits) and Bakugan. And darn those things - they seem to multiply

Yes, these dolls are American Girl dolls, and I had sworn I would keep the boxes, but then I wonder if it is going to get crazy. Between the 15" and 18", she has gotten/inherited about 9 dolls in boxes (some are not the original boxes, but I have kept them for transporting up until now), ugh! They are taking over!

Do your kids have tons of toys that are too special to get rid of? Maybe I need a 12-step program

[justmeandmybrood]

Rere, thank you for the link - that might be the perfect thing to organize the expanding Lego collection!!

Thanks!

[rere]

Originally Posted by justmeandmybrood

rere, thank you for the link - that might be the perfect thing to organize the expanding lego collection!!

Thanks!