All those little toys...and stuffed animals

I am starting to feel overrun by little toys...the inexpensive little stuff (plastic finger puppets, bracelets, tops, etc) that keeps my kiddos entertained for a few minutes. We got a lot of it from grandparents and at the Easter egg hunt and I am seeing little piles of it everywhere. Do you keep this stuff for traveling? Or just send it all to Goodwill??

Also...the stuffed animal situation is OUT-OF-CONTROL. However, I am unable to get rid of anything because I find myself saying "oh, maybe someday DD will need 4 dogs, Elmo, Cookie Monster, a hippo, a giraffe, 3 bunnies and a zebra to invite to a tea party." Someone tell me to just unload them while I have the chance at the upcoming MOM sale!!

 

UNLOAD THEM :laughing: And that's really easy for me to say considering both my kids beds are covered in stuffed animals :headbang:

However those little toys are gone as soon as I can get them out. Those drive me crazy :crazy:

 

I get rid of the crappy little toys. I tell the girls they aren't 'forever' toys because we've had full on crying if a little plastic POC breaks. :wacko:

As for the stuffed animals, I can't help you there. I rotate their stuffed animals. A box of 'seasonal' stuffies is upstairs. Right now the bunnies are ruling the house, but a couple of months ago it was christmas bears. I just can't throw them all out, but I'm also a woman who still has her very first teddy bear (Ana is sleeping with it this month!).

 

We have a 3-drawer Rubbermaid thing on wheels for the little toys. I just toss them all in there, and every several months I go through and clean it out.

I've gotten a lot more ruthless about birthday party favors and other random plastic cr@p they come home with. As soon as they're done with the first phase of playing with it (which takes about a day), I hide it in the kitchen cabinet. If no one mentions it for a week or so, I throw it out.

All our stuffies and baby dolls live in a mesh laundry hamper. When the hamper gets full, I tell them we have to give some away. This was much easier before they were old enough to remember every.single.stuffie they own, so I'd say weed them out now while you can!

ETA: I've also had to explain to them that cheap stuff breaks. If it cost $1, came from Target, or you got it as a party favor, chances are it won't last more than a week anyway. Amy says, "Why can't they make things that don't break??" and I remind her that those things do exist, but they are much more expensive, so people don't just give them away at parties.

 

I keep the little junk in little bins... and throw them away when they stop playing with them.

We actually don't have that many stuffed animals, and I was just as bad about them when I was a kid so I don't think I could give them away (plus here all consignment sales or stores don't take them, or I guess they would be overrun).

 

I throw a lot of the cheap plastic stuff away, but some of it goes into my "emergency toy stash." That's the stash I dip into on long car trips and on rainy afternoons when the girls are climbing the walls. I won't allow myself to buy stuffed animals. When we get them as gifts, I keep the good stuff and toss the cheap stuff. My mother has never seen a cheap, singing stuffed animal she doesn't love -- you know the kind, dogs that roll over and bark "Jingle Bells," etc. I hated that junk when I was a kid (when I was the intended recipient) and hate it even more now. I refuse to be weighed down by it. It stays until the end of Grammy's visit and then it's in the trash. Sometimes I break it first, just for good measure.

 

I also have one of the white plastic 3 drawer units too. I have the 3 yr old twins and a 2 year old so they all have their own drawer with a name tag on them. They know their "junk" and other things we have 2 or three of that were given to them as gifts go. It seems to work well and I heard a tip for when they get older that the space you give them (drawer/box) is all the stuff like that they can keep so they will be in charge of getting rid of stuff that doens't fit in their given space. For now I just go through it.

We have plenty of stuffed animlas but not over run like I envisioned. I got them "nightstands" at Target (plastic white cubes that you can install shelves in) and got the bins that are in the same aisle. They have a bin for books and a bin for animals by their bed. The animals are stacked high but it's working for now. In the future I'll do the same-donate what you don't want that doesn't fit.

 

I just did this to my boys for Easter! The small toys. I don't know what I was thinking :headbang: :crazy:!!! I will give the toys a week or 2 to get our $1 worth and then they are out the door! Some of the toys were pretty cute so I will hold on and put in the bin for Easter so they can play with them next year.

Next Easter, they will get a book each, one good toy that they will play with and again, pjs and maybe a new t-shirt for the summer. I am done with the $1 toys.

I've been looking at our toys and seeing a lot of little toys that are going to soon make their way out of this house. I have 4 more Wednesday where the boys are in mommy's day out so I will use those Wed to declutter the toys.

 

I'm with you on the cheap plastic stuff. I need to clean mine out. Right now it's all in a canvas bin mixed in with the little people stuff. Or lost in the bottom of the toy box...

As for stuffed animals, they are all in a toy net. The girls can't reach it but we get them down as they want them. Keeps them from taking up so much room. Ours is pretty much just like this, but a different brand I think Toy Net