stuff, stuff, and more stuff

I'm officially ready to cancel xmas and bdays this year. I'm having that "too much stuff" feeling!!!

We're a month into summer break so I've been doing the clean-out and clean-ups, but I still feel like they have too much stuff. In some ways, it's good because so much of the stuff is years old. For example, the kids were wanting tents, so I pulled out their play tents that they got for their 4th bdays. They are 9 now. In some ways, I'm happy that they are taking care of things and things are lasting so long. On the other hand, that means most years we add more than we take away. They have an insane amount of people that buy for them so it just adds up.

Our other issue is that Sarah is a compulsive crafter. She can make a project out of anything. She made her zhu zhu pets homes and toys and things almost entirely out of our recycling. Yarn, fabric, paper. It all screams at her. So she makes tons of things and has her pile of treasures and then her pile of gifts. She also never forgets. It makes throwing away interesting.

Anyone else have stuff issues? We have a storage room so things rotate in and out of there which seriously helps. I promise I'm not buying them more stuff. The last things I bought were 2 replacement balls that were just replacing other balls that died. One of those Timothy needed for soccer, one for his indoor basketball hoop. Our problem definitely more is on the side of toys are just lasting longer.

Marissa

 

Oh yeah. We have bins and bins and a whole room of stuff they have outgrown LOL. But I've been too lazy to deal with it, plus frankly I don't know what to do with them in the first place (craigslist sucks here).

 

The outgrown stuff I'm good with. The kids are the oldest cousins on both sides plus we have some neighbor kids that I give stuff to. It's all the Hot Wheels and Nerf guns and Barbies and Polly Pockets and tinkertoys. The toys that the really haven't outgrown so the collections just keep growing and growing and growing...

I'm going to work on the storage room some today.

Marissa

 

Confession:

I am *horrible* about organizing things and getting rid of old stuff. As a result, we have a big huge toy box in our play room that is just crammed full of toys, and cabinets in the play room that arts and crafts stuff is just thrown in to. Complete unorganized chaos at my house right now.

One day I will find the time and motivation to sort through it. So we keep adding to it and getting rid of nothing.

 

Ugh, yes so much stuff!

Could you organize the kids to craigslist things if you let them keep some of the money to put toward.. something that doesn't take up space in your house! A zoo pass, a lesson, in a bank account. When people ask what the boys want or need for birthdays/Christmas we now ask for "lesson" money or "pass" money that we put toward whatever membership or class for them. They also like filling up their piggy banks, so when I promised them some of the money from the garage sale, they got quite unsentimental about some of their toys that they don't play with as much.

 

I can't imagine how it is going to be when they are older.
I already feel like Mickey in the sorcerer's apprentice. Seems like every time i organize and get stuff out of here.. within days stuff flows back in and we are back to clutter.

 

We used to have that problem, too. Especially since our younger boys are all so close in age. It got so bad that I couldn't keep up with their playroom anymore and making them keep it clean was an even bigger headache. So, we decided to make them separate out their toys into keep, sell and donate piles. Knowing they were making money was just about all the motivation it took and I couldn't believe how much we got rid of!

We also ask for lessons, sports or family activities for the kids instead of toys. They usually give them something small or come for cake and ice cream and of course we do gifts at Christmas, but I'm so over the insanity of buying a hundred gifts and planning parties. Maybe I'm a scrooge, but I would rather let them have those experiences instead of a room full of toys they never really play with.

 

Wow - you say within "days"? Wait until they are 2 and a half- it will be within hours .

It's ridiculous - the amount of toys we have and we still can't make the kids clean -they would put stuff away at times, but then they dump the box back or they pull something else. It's a constant cycle in our house. I hope it's going to get better as they grow, but I learned to live with it for now. We got rid of a lot of they babyish stuff, but we still have too many toys- blocks, trains, magnet tiles, magnet letters, wooden blocks, wooden puzzles... and of course we can't forget their plastic food .

I usually ask for books for their birthday presents - but my parents, my in laws and my brother keep buying gifts so stuff adds up.

 

We've tried the asking for passes, books, etc. None of that ever happens. We just tend to get more stuff with little pieces. The only thing I've noticed people tend to buy off the list is wii games. I don't mind those.

I'm already trying to figure out what to get the kids for xmas/bday because I usually plan ahead and shop sales. The only thing I've decided for sure is a Sports Illustrated for Kids subscription for Timothy. We got Sarah an American Girl subscription last year and she loves it.

Marissa

 

Goodwill.

 

My daughters are big time crafters as well. I just make it disappear eventually. They normally don't notice, although once in a while they ask me about something I have discarded. But they will make stuff out of anything! And if I kept it all I'd be on the show called Hoarders!

This summer (so far) we've tried directing them towards outdoor crafting. Like we needed stepping stones for a spot in our flower bed they use as a shortcut, so we made stepping stones. And they've made birdhouses twice now. My girls and the neighbor girls are very into watching the birds this year.

Legos, I have a love/hate relationship with those. They keep them occupied for hours, but when they are sorting them to work on something they end up with various piles all over their toy room floor. And then finished projects they like to display for at least a week or longer.

 

I find the arts and crafts stuff hardest to deal with. On top of what the craft and paint and draw at home I solemnly get presented with at least one picture or other work of art from both of them each day when I come to pick them up at pre-school. They take such pride in their creations and hardly forget what they painted or made weeks ago.

For the paintings and drawings I have a system that whatever comes home or is created at home goes on display in the kitchen. When the display area is full, which can be once a day or at least once a week, we go through the stuff and sort it - I have a large folder for each child and I pick wahtver I want to keep as it special (a milestone or something really great) and then each child is allowed to pick one more item to kepp. The rest goes to paper recycling. If one refuses to cooperate his or her display area is full and no new creations can be displayed. As they love displying their work, this system seems to work.

The larger craft items I find harder to handle. Often these are made for a specific purpose, role play etc. and often when the play situation is no longer so relevant the crafted item is no longer as important. Apart from that, I am still at a loss.

 

I am pleased to report progress. Not in the rooms yet, but down in the storage room.

We gave a bag of stuff to Goodwill.
We have a bag of clothes pulled for their cousins next time we meet up.
We have a smaller bag of books and some clothes for the neighbor.
We have a bag of clothes, books, and puzzles for me to take up to my classroom. I work in special ed. and new books make everyone happy. Clothes to change into for accidents make the grown-ups happy. And puzzles are always good.

Next job is to vacuum the carpet in there. What I'm hoping is that once the carpet is really clean, Timothy might be able to jump rope in there in the summer. Our concrete outside gets soo hot. It's worth a try.

Marissa

 

One thing I have found that works for larger artwork & craft creations is to take a photo of it, then get rid of it. I have thought about making a photo book for them of just their artwork, but haven't done it yet.

 

For 8x10 art work I have picture frames that open from the front we use. We stopped found bday parties and do trips instead. A we have less bday junk and b i don't feel I'm wasting my money on ungrateful kids

 

I have made a photo book of their preschool artwork. I have taken pictures of most of their kindi and first grade art, but haven't gotten around to making the photo books yet. It's on my agenda for one of my summer weeks off though.

The book turned out great! It's mostly artwork with some pics and stories of them thrown in.

 

We have started a tradition that the day after thanksgiving is our clean out day. Instead of going Black Friday shopping, I clean out the toys and make a trip to the thrift store. I do this throughout the year too, but the biggest purge is the day after thanksgiving. My girls are crafters too and I totally encourage it, but their little cardboard houses and stuff drive me nuts. After they haven't played with it for awhile I move it out to the shed and if they don't play with it for awhile I throw it out. I still feel like our house is overrun with stuff though.

 

I have a problem with getting rid of stuff. Once I did attempt to ask my boys what they wanted to keep and what they wanted to throw away. Putting their things in a pile became fun to them so almost everything went in the throw away pile. Stuff I KNOW they still play with or stuff we wanted to keep around. So, DH and I scrapped that idea until they are older and can really understand the concept of keeping the things you want and trashing/donating/selling the stuff they don't.

As for us, this is a good lesson...especially for me. DH does have a large urge to purge about every 2-3 months. He'll run through the house and throw away stuff he no longer wants or he thinks I no longer want. He's usually pretty good at figuring out which which I'd agree to toss, but he will ask first at least and debate if he feels strongly it's something that needs to go. Without this need of his, the house would probably get over stuffed with stuff. I'm horrible at tossing old things. I'm a pack rat. This need of his is great for the kids' stuff too because he'll sometimes go through their stuff and get rid of some things. However, lately neither of us have been willing to really go through their stuff and sort it out. It's just so much stuff! Their birthday party was yesterday and their birthday is tomorrow. They already have a ton more new stuff to put away. We now have no choice but to go through their older toys and trash/donate/sell off some of it just to make room for their new stuff.