Too many toys - help?

[flea]

Someone in our household has too many toys. (No, it isn't the cat.) I try to rotate things out by putting them in big tupperwares in the closet. She finds them and pounces on the long-lost half of a zipper from The Scrap Exchange like it was her oldest friend. I have also tried putting big things (noisy Little People toys, I'm looking at you) in the basement. She also finds them there.

We basically have very little storage space, and none that Casper can't get into. I would like to simply get rid of some of these things: the cheap plastic bits that don't go with a set, happy meal-esque stuff, and even worse, some of the horde of un-played-with stuffed animals.

Problem 1: I hate to throw shit away. This is useless stuff that's not even worth giving to Goodwill, but I hate the idea of it sitting in a landfill forever. I wish we could have avoided accumulating these things (mostly gifts) and feel stuck with them now.

Problem 2: Casper notices everything. Even if I surrepetitiously discarded things while she wasn't looking, she might well start saying, "Where is my broken turtle ring that daddy stepped on?" And then I'd have to lie ("I don't know, honey, maybe it will turn up!") or, possibly worse, tell the truth ("It was broken so I threw that sucker away.")

Have you had to deal with this, and if so, what was your remedy?

Comments

[cashmerepett.livejournal.com]

Getting rid of stuff that still has play life in it but pieces are lost or you just don't have space for them--I post an ad in freecycle and someone is always willing to take a bag of toys (especially the Happy Meal stuff, oddly).

Broken stuff--have you considered the "Broken Toy Fairy"? Setting broken stuff out in a bag for the Broken Toy Fairy to take away, fix and give to kids who don't have toys? Then replace with a bag of appropriate treats (candy, stickers, etc.)?

I have to admit, I'm reaching for ideas because Owen isn't quite as attached to his broken toy horde as Casper.

[loligo.livejournal.com]

I have no advice, but I feel your pain in every detail. The worst part is when I put something in the basement and Chuckles can't find it, and then she blames herself. "I used to have a little pink guitar, but I lost it," she says sadly, and I rush to reassure her that it's not her fault and I go get the damn guitar.

Thrift shops for small local charities may be a lot less picky than Goodwill; we take all our stuff to the thrift store that supports our community radio station. But I haven't had the guts to dispose of any of her toys yet.

[vwbug.livejournal.com]

Ok...not exactly a fix for this problem, but my cousins deal with the too many toys problem by having a library of toys. And the kids can only check out so many toys at a time. In order to get out a toy that's stored, they have to put one into storage.

Their kids are a little older, but not much. Their three year old does this.

Of course, I have no clue what to do with the broken stuff. I like the idea of the broken toy fairy, actually.

[ste-noni.livejournal.com]

Just yesterday Ellie was freaking out to get at some star shaped rattle that is made for a 4 month old. She carried it around for a day and now she's tired of it. I would love a play room, but like you, we don't have room or a good storage space.

Anyway, I'm just empathizing.

[amy37.livejournal.com]

For stuff that's still playable (not broken) what about donating them to a church preschool or even your pediatrician's office? Or a local ped clinic if there is one?

If you box stuff up in the basement, can you *really* box, as in cardboard box sealed with tape, to keep her out of it? If there's anything to put aside for the Dillo, I'd go that way.

I hate the accumulation, too, though. I saved a lot of Jake's stuff, knowing we would have more children, which was actually great, but there's stuff the boys have outgrown that I know Sara won't want.

[burrell.livejournal.com]

We have an absurd number of toys as well. And I've already taken several bags/boxes to donate--I usually cart off a load right before I expect more toys will be coming in (ie at birthdays and Christmas). So far, I've done my best to really select toys that neither child shows any interest in anymore, and Franny has yet to ask for a toy that has been carted away. She did take an interest this Christmas in my bagging up clothing and toys to donate, so I told her what I was doing and that we were giving things away so that other kids could wear them and play with them, and she seemed to like that idea.

[forodwaith.livejournal.com]

What Amy Said about places to take discarded toys.

We had limited success with telling Sean that he needed to choose some toys to give away; I think the element of control helped.

[haphazardmethod.livejournal.com]

Neither of mine is gung-ho about keeping everything so I've had luck just throwing stuff out. Whole toys get donated to a local church. At Christmas, I explained to Sci that we were going to give some of his old toys to kids who needed them because he would not have room for the old toys he doesn't play with and new toys from Santa. He helped me sort the toys and was pretty good about letting go. But he's almost 5, which makes a difference.