When we had our first son, Thing 1 we didn’t have too many toys. I was pretty choosy about what we got. He didn’t even get a truck until he was over a year old.
When we had our second son, we had a good amount of toys from T1 and then T2 would get gifts of more toys and T1 was getting gifts too and suddenly we seemed like we were swimming in toys. I de-cluttered a bit as time went by.
Then we had our third son who inherited all his brothers toys and of course had his own. By now we had moved to a bigger house, so we gave him the biggest bedroom out of all the boys, because it holds 12 years worth of toys in it.
It was overwhelming to me and to him too.
My Waldorf School has a book club and we are reading Simplicity Parenting and it has really inspired me to simplify and declutter. I got rid of about 1/2 his toys and then created a toy library to rotate toys in and out. I was SO ready to do this, I just needed a push.
The hardest part was cutting back on the books. I wish you could see the picture of the before bookshelf. (Is there any way to post pictures here?) He could barely take a book off without one falling on his feet. I LOVE books, so it was hard to cut back on those. But my book club and the book really helped inspire me. I got it down to about 18 books and there is a lot of empty space on his shelves now.
I still feel like T3 has too many toys and he just had a Birthday so got MORE toys. So I would love any tips or more motivation to clear out more. I am also loving the Christmas Gift thread.
When we had our second son, we had a good amount of toys from T1 and then T2 would get gifts of more toys and T1 was getting gifts too and suddenly we seemed like we were swimming in toys. I de-cluttered a bit as time went by.
Then we had our third son who inherited all his brothers toys and of course had his own. By now we had moved to a bigger house, so we gave him the biggest bedroom out of all the boys, because it holds 12 years worth of toys in it.
It was overwhelming to me and to him too.
My Waldorf School has a book club and we are reading Simplicity Parenting and it has really inspired me to simplify and declutter. I got rid of about 1/2 his toys and then created a toy library to rotate toys in and out. I was SO ready to do this, I just needed a push.
The hardest part was cutting back on the books. I wish you could see the picture of the before bookshelf. (Is there any way to post pictures here?) He could barely take a book off without one falling on his feet. I LOVE books, so it was hard to cut back on those. But my book club and the book really helped inspire me. I got it down to about 18 books and there is a lot of empty space on his shelves now.
I still feel like T3 has too many toys and he just had a Birthday so got MORE toys. So I would love any tips or more motivation to clear out more. I am also loving the Christmas Gift thread.
Follow Mothering