The Great Toy Purge of 2012

One of the things I love about This New House is the room. We are finally “settled in” and so now I get to roll up my sleeves and tackle some of the more long-term projects. One of the things I have been dieing to take care of are toys. The majority of the toys were in storage, but now that we’ve moved, they’ve come out of storage. Lest I go insane, I decided after a month of observation; it was time for order and sanity to rein in the toy area.

First, I sorted. Toys that were broken were tossed. Toys that are geared for infants are back in storage. That left a wide variety of age-appropriate toys out. This is where the month of observation came in so handy.

After everything was sorted, I watched the kids play. I watched what they played with, how they played with it, how often they played with it, and so on. Toys that never were played with were donated. I did keep some that I can use for rotation, but the vast majority of the toys left the house.

The toys that are left follow trends – the kids love any and all kind of make-believe toys: dolls, blocks, cars, dollhouses, Legos, the play kitchen, bead toys, puzzles, stuffed animals – that sort of thing. The flashy-flashy toys they tended to play with for a day or two then lost interest in. So, most of the flashy-flashy toys were also donated, but a few kept (such as the Leapster 2 the kids received for Christmas last year).

So now, the toys “for rotation” are in a storage bin in the basement. It’s not clear so the kids can’t see in it and whine for “that toy”. The toys that are heavily played with fit in one – ONE drawer in their room, and puzzles in ONE other drawer.

Everyone is loads happier with this arrangement. I found all of Elise’s dollhouse people and she’s been playing with them for hours. They go to Mass, have fights, make the dog get out of the car, sleep, have babies, all sorts of things. I find this kind of play of Elise’s so fascinating because I know this is how she processes her life. Sometimes I recognize myself in the dollhouse mama and it’s a REALLY good way of seeing how I’m coming off to Elise.

It’s also easier to pick up, because there’s less to pick up. The kids fight less because while Elise is playing dolls, Bennie is usually playing with Hot Wheels. Or sometimes the Hot Wheels and the dolls all play together, which is even better. But, fighting has dropped a lot – especially fighting over toys. There still is the occasional drama over a toy, but not nearly as bad as it was.

Both kids can see what they have and not be overwhelmed with 496569803897 toy options. And the best part – when they’re bored with what’s upstairs, a quick switcheroo is like having new toys. Hooray!

Next on the chopping block is clothing. Oh God, have mercy. I don’t even want to think about clothing, for all four of us; for various seasons. But. It needs to be done, and like the toys; we’ll all be better off because of it. But that’s a later task. Right now I need to just relax!