Am I making a mistake getting rid of this?

[LoveOurBabies]

I've unearthed a thomas the train set from our moving boxes. I'm temped to get rid of it as I feel we've got enough toys as it is (we've finally determined what they actually play with). I have a little boy who is 7 months old now. My other children are all girls, so they've never really been into trains. It was played with a few times and packed. Their block set gets played with far more than the train set ever did. Will I come to regret this when my little boy is 2, 3 or even 4? Will he end up asking for a train set?

What are your thoughts? Those with boys, do you feel that a train set is at the top of your toy list? I have to make the decision to sell/keep fairly soon-ish as space is at a premium in our home.

Thanks.

[willfulmama]

We try to limit exposure to media but even still, our son is obsessed with Thomas and trains. The Thomas sets are actually quite expensive if you buy them new so maybe it's worth it to keep until you know whether or not it would be something your son is interested in?

[LoveOurBabies]

Thanks for your opinion mama. They are pretty costly, which is why I was in limbo.

Part of my dilemma stems from the fact that we have Lego trains (with electric tracks). The trains offer so many different building options, they can carry loads and minifig passengers and travel all around 'town'.. The play options are endless. They are very much loved.. Do we really need another train set or a train set geared to toddlers/preschoolers only? I guess that's the real question.

This may seem like such a mindless thing to think about but our home is soooo small that if I want to keep something, I usually have to get rid of something else, so I'd want it to hang around only if there was a good chance of being useful.

[sere234]

Can you loan it to someone for a year or so? My 26 mo loves any and all trains and my sister split her Thomas set so DS has half and my niece has the other half. Works great now AND cuts down on clutter! Both kids get a decent but small amount of trains and tracks and aren't overwhelmed with too many pieces.

[LoveOurBabies]

That's a good idea actually! I only have one little person who I could loan it to and he's DS's age, so it may not work out to loan him them for a year as he wouldn't be at the appropriate developmental stage to enjoy them. But.. even if I can't loan them out temporarily, If I split them in half with this other little boy, then DS would at least get an opportunity to play with them and I could store them more easily.

Great idea mama -- Thanks

[flightgoddess]

KEEP IT! My lil guy has a passion for trains. AND THEY ARE EXPENSIVE...so keep it! He's had his two years now, and I don't see him playing less. His focus on it will wax and wane, I do try to rotate it out, and put out something else, but a week or two later he's asking for the trains again.

Maybe your kid will be different, and you can always get rid of it later.

[tropicmama]

Keep it! My son is 5 now but he still loves his train set, he was obsessed between ages 1 and 3, his number one favorite toy of all time and even now that he doesn't play with it much, he will not part with it! All his other toys he lets go, we are past the action heros, and past dinosaurs, but his train set is still his all time favorite little boy toy!

[34me]

My 14 year old won't get rid of his train set! When he was about 6 he put the catalogue on the cork board with the roundhouse circled - in JANuARY

[momct]

Do you live near a friend or relative who could store it for you until your son is older?

[Caneel]

I mostly lurk in this particular forum and come out of the woodwork when I am in a "good" decluttering mode, which I am currently in.

I am all for decluttering but I would try to keep the train set.  My son is 7yo and still plays with his wooden Thomas set.  It is definately one of the top five most played with toys in the house.  I also don't like character tie-in toys but I am sort of ok with Thomas after I saw my DS using the stories as a bridge to creating his own stories and playing them out independently.

[Thyme Mama]

If you already have a Lego train set, I personally would get rid of the Thomas set. Legos are so much more open-ended. I have two boys and one likes trains okay, but the other could care less about trains. But they LOVE Lego anything. My dd loves the Legos too. All three kids will spend all day for days on end playing Legos.

I like sere's suggestion of loaning it out if you just can't bring yourself to get rid of it, but seriously, if space is at a premium AND you already have a much more versatile train set, I would totally sell, gift or get rid of the Thomas set.
 

[flightgoddess]

Sorry Thyme mama I disagree! Developmentally, her son could play thomas from 18 months on.  If it is Duplo lego, then maybe starting around 2-3 he could play it, maybe. If it is small lego, then not until 4-5. My just 4 year old can do some stuff with the Duplos, but when it comes to putting 'cars' and other things on the wheel bases, he still asks for help because he has a had time lining things up to seat them well on the wheel base. He's getting better, but legos are a much more advanced fine motor skill.

If you must, buy a sweater size rubermaid type storage box, sorry  I can't remember what quart size it is, its about double two shoe boxes, and you can fit plenty of pieces in there. That is how I store ours when it gets put away.

[Thyme Mama]

No worries! My youngest has been playing with Legos, actual Legos and not Duplos, since he was around 10 months. I do realize that this *may* not be the norm, but we have never had an issue with him putting them in his mouth and he can build stuff just as easily as the bigger kids, even as a baby. In fact, my kids are 6, 4 and 2 and they have all been playing with Legos successfully since they were very little. Now, they do need help putting *sets* together, but as far as using their imagination and building things, they pretty much never ask for help putting stuff together. And they build entire village-house-car type things.
 

[rachelsmama]

The wooden Thomas sets feel and sound and play so differently from anything Lego, so it's possible that a kid could like one and not the other, or like both, but play with them completely differently, etc....  I'd keep the Thomas set for now.  How old are the older kids?  They might enjoy setting up the tracks now for their little brother's entertainment.

[taubel]

Keep the Thomas set! I have three boys and they all went through MAJOR train obsessions! We also had multiple types of trains, including lego, and they played with all of them. Legos are hard sometimes for the younger kids because they fall apart easily. But I would still keep that one too!

We have done a major purge of our toys, and I have kept the wooden trains because I love them so much. My kids don't play with them anymore, their cousin has some on loan, but I think they may be the one toy I actually save for future grandkids! 

My painstakingly stacking and organizing the tracks and trains, we were able to fit them into very small storage bins. That might help you. Oh, and don't put them anywhere damp - they mildew easily!

[chel]

I vote keep. My first never played with trains, my second loves them. I kept the set for 10yrs! Both are girls, but girls can like trains.
I also have Legos. My baby was 2 before I trusted her around the small pieces, my oldest was never a mouther. But I agree with pp that while the Lego set might be fine with your older kids, the train is something the baby can play with early on, and maybe leave the older kids stuff alone. They might not always appreciate the baby "helping" them

[greenemami]

Keep.  My ds is 2-1/2 and has loved his trains since about 2 years old :)

[gonyere]

Another vote to keep them. Wooden train sets are so expensive, and also so open-ended for play. My boys (5.5 & 3) are just now big enough to really build interesting tracks by themselves, and do so fairly often. And you can never have too much track (like legos).

[Kate&Joey]

Another vote to keep it.  My mother actually kept my brother's Brio trains (which are the same track size as Thomas) so DS could play with both the Brio track and his Thomas trains.  He played with them for probably 3+years.  I will actually keep my Thomas set...just in case...for visitors with younger children, etc. 

And for the record, DS has still never really taken to Legos.  And one of my best friends had a Thomas set for her two daughters that got played with all the time.  You can never tell what kids will like! 

[mkksmom]

My vote is keep also.