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Keeping Toys for the next generation? - Page 2

post #21 of 44
7/3/07 at 12:21pm
Don't do it! My IL's have a horrible tendency to dump their unwanted junk on us (from expired cheese, t-shirts unknowningly stuck in our bags, books from his gma sent with his mom, ugh!). His grandmother gave him an obnoxious signing Ernie toy claiming that he love love loved it when he was a toddler. Because of this DH and I tolerated it, and DD loved it. However, after a while I looked on the tag and realized it was made in 1989, when DH would have been oh..... 17!!!! I think it was actually his nephew who liked it, or who knows, his grandma could have picked it up at a garage sale and just given it to us. His family is weird like that.

Anyway, don't torture your future DIL's. I do remember my grandparents having toys at their house for us to play with that were from my dad and aunt. So, if you are going to keep them, keep them at your house for future generations to play with at your house.
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post #22 of 44
7/3/07 at 3:42pm
I agree, the few toys that are mine that my own children play with were originally at my mom's (she has never pushed them back on me) and came to my house because my kids loved them.

I have kept a few articles of clothing but not because I want the clothes to be reused, but for memories.
post #23 of 44
7/3/07 at 4:52pm
I will be saving a few wooden baby toys,my sons fagus collection and our tree blocks tree house,oh and our wooden kitchen,we spent the money on them as they are so well made and made to last with the intention of keeping t hem for the grandkids to play with.they won't take up much room and if the kids want to take them to their houses they can,
post #24 of 44
7/3/07 at 5:59pm
I plan to keep the wooden unit blocks and marble run, some classic children's books, and possibly the legos. If we end up getting DD a wooden kitchen and dollhouse then we will keep those as well. And my dad is making them a playstand set- will probably keep that. Everything else will probably get given away or sold.

My DS2 does sleep with my Cabbage Patch kid every night. He is very attached to him
post #25 of 44
7/3/07 at 7:11pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by minimunklemama View Post
I will be saving a few wooden baby toys,my sons fagus collection...
Yep, we've got a couple of their trucks too. No way are those things just being tossed out or given away- I really think they are meant to be kept as heirlooms and played with for generations.
post #26 of 44
7/3/07 at 7:13pm
I would only keep stuff that I wouldn't mind storing in *my* home for grandchildren to use when they come over to my house to play. My kids and their spouses would be welcome to take anything they wanted to their house, but I certainly wouldn't expect them to. I don't want to saddle my kids-in-law with my stuff.
post #27 of 44
7/3/07 at 8:59pm
I have a box that I'll be saving for the grandchildren to enjoy at my house or take home if mom and dad have no objection. My mom did that for us and the boys have enjoyed playing with toys from my childhood.

All of the toys I have decided to keep so far are wood, mostly unpainted. Some were made by local craftsmen and all of them will last for a very long time. Plastic gets brittle with age (as in the case of the Weebles treehouse from my childhood that my 2yo broke within seconds of getting his hands on it) so we probably won't save any of that, with the possible exception of the Playmobil collection.
post #28 of 44
7/3/07 at 9:03pm
Quote:
with the possible exception of the Playmobil collection
Oh that's another one--my kids LOVE their playmobil stuff (and I admit I do too) so I might keep that stuff. I hate keeping plastic stuff but some of it does last. DD also plays w/my old Little Ponies.
post #29 of 44
7/3/07 at 11:39pm
The only things I plan on saving are LEGOs, the dollhouse, blocks, and the Thomas trains. Have spent WAY too much money on them to let them go .
post #30 of 44
7/4/07 at 12:02am
my DH has absolutely zero toys/clothes/blankets from his childhood. I think he'd love to have at least something to pass down to DD. I guess my mom kinda makes up for it since she save almost everything of mine
post #31 of 44
7/4/07 at 10:09am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ygle View Post
I'm at the point now where I feel too guilty to use up house space to store items for years that *might* be used someday when I know they could be put to good use right now in somebody else's home. Add to that the issue of toy safety, things breaking down over time, not wanting my kids to feel like I expect them to have kids someday, worrying about more to lose, the whole emotional baggage that goes along with gifting some cherished item to another family member -especially a child, and to me it all just ends up making more sense to pass things on today, knowing they will be appreciated and desired, not a potential burden.
You totally summed up my feelings on this!
post #32 of 44
7/4/07 at 10:30am
My mom wouldn't let us throw out anything.

The wooden puzzles basically fell apart. They were just not strong enough to make it all those years apparently. When they got here (being a little brittle) they maybe lasted a day.

The stuffed toys smelled ICKY...like my moms musty basement. We had to throw them out. Otherwise, my cabbage patch dolls from when I was a kiddo...the kids play with those. I kept them in really good shape, kept all the clothes, etc. They enjoy those.

Most things though, unless they are *super special* I wouldn't think to save them. It takes up a lot of space, and I have to think our kids won't have problems finding toys for their kids ,
post #33 of 44
7/4/07 at 12:12pm
: I was big into Breyer horses when I was a kid - had so many, in fact, that my parents forced me to sell them when I was in college - about $600 worth to the grammar-school aged daughter of my dad's coworker for $30!: Although I used to be a packrat, I'm a minimalist now.

The ONLY thing I have left is my full boxed set of Little House books. I would have given them to my goddaughter by now, but I still read them! I got them in 1977 and they're still in pretty good shape.

I know for sure that my parents have very little of our stuff from childhood left over. Books were given away to younger cousins, same thing with the Fisher-Price little people houses, Legos, etc.
post #34 of 44
7/4/07 at 8:52pm
Yes, I plan on keeping a few things for my grandchildren, for at my home, unless my daughters ask for them.
I am planning on keeping:
A large wooden rocking horse (big enough for an adult to sit on)
A wooden dollhouse made by my husband
A wooden doll crib and highchair
American Girl Dolls, and any other "special" dolls
Our Thomas the Train set

That is about it
post #35 of 44
7/5/07 at 5:25am
Thread Starter 

Thank you all for your answers!

I think I will keep the real good stuff (like the train set and the duplo blocks)and donate the rest.

Thanks all!
post #36 of 44
7/5/07 at 6:05am
I definitely plan on keeping a few toys. No baby toys, but things that are useful from around 2-3yrs of age. Probably wooden train track, a few books, dolls clothes (my dd now plays with clothes my mum made for my doll and it saves me doing making some, there are also her dolls clothes in there - soooo cool!). I'm doubtful I will save bulky generic plastic toys though.
post #37 of 44
7/5/07 at 9:13am
My family are packrats, and they thinks it is weird that I have a yard sale almost every year, since I was 13, to de-clutter. I need to do lots more to ever be a truly de-cluttered, but at least I get rid of stuff I don't want.

I kept some of my toys that I really like, like my Winnie the Pooh, lunch boxes, a wooden airplane, this "magic box." My mom kept lots of my books, which I then went through and kept only the ones I wanted and sold the rest. She also kept all my Barbies, which I told her dd will not be allowed to play with, though she has her Barbie from her childhood and I love it, though not to play with. She kept some other little dolls, that dd loves to play with. Mostly she shops at yard sales for things like lgos and duplos, for dd to play with when we go to their house.

So I think dd can keep the things she really loves, and I will only kept things that can last, like wood, books, etc, if we have room to store, but I also sell things we will outgrow to purchase other items we need (or want).
post #38 of 44
7/5/07 at 12:05pm
My daughter is only 10 months but I would like to save some of her favorite toys for future generations. I wish that I personally had more of my childhood toys for her to use now, but we will see how I still feel in the years to come since she is still little
post #39 of 44
7/5/07 at 12:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tradd View Post
The ONLY thing I have left is my full boxed set of Little House books. I would have given them to my goddaughter by now, but I still read them! I got them in 1977 and they're still in pretty good shape.
OT: I still have mine, too. I still read them every other year or so. And I still read 'Little Women', 'Little Men', and 'Jo's Boys' every summer, too.
post #40 of 44
7/7/07 at 12:40am
I am saving some things, trying to be careful and selective, mostly books.