Toys, toys, toys
The first "empty bowl" shelf...
…above a small cupboard full of…
Junk? No!
Not any more anyway.
In preparation for “the big move” coming, I have consolidated ALL my children’s toys…
get this….
to fit…
in….
THAT cupboard.
Yes, THIS cupboard!
What big move?
Well, we decided we really don’t need a house this big, so we’re looking for something about half this size.
JUST KIDDING!
We’re staying in our too-big house. We kinda like it, and it’s going to take for.e.ver to dejunk the rest of it anyway. But *someday* we’ll buy a much smaller home on a much bigger plot with much, much less traffic going on outside our driveway.
No, no, “the big move” is where the front room and play room swap places. It involves moving the world’s heaviest couch and our baby grand piano — hence, it’s a big move.
So what’s in there?
Top Shelf: Stuffies. They use stuffed animals as accessories to their imaginary worlds. Gotta keep some stuffies.
Middle Shelf:
- One box of Imaginext. I know, I know. Plastic junk. Except it’s not. My older boys actually do play with them and the awesome pirate ship Doodle got for his third birthday. Think of it as a dollhouse for a boy. With accessories.
- Felt hand puppets. Lovingly made for my daughter for her -um- third (?) birthday by my best friend. Finally getting the attention they deserve.
Bottom Shelf:
- Wood blocks hiding in that baby-toy. We could use more blocks of the nice, wood, simple-shapes variety. 30 is just not quite enough to build with if you know what I mean.
- Silkies. Of course.
And that’s it, folks!
Well, okay. You caught me. There’s more. We also have
- the pirate ship, which doesn’t fit in there,
- the rocking-horse donkey,
- the hill to drive cars down,
- a few cars, and… hm.
- And some knight dressups.
- And a few balls.
- And some baby teething-type-toys in a bin elsewhere.
But that’s it! Really! And my kids are happy, happy, happy all day long, playing away in their creative little world.
This is so big for me, I can hardly contain it. We used to have a whole room stuffed so full of toys it was impossible to clean. They hated playing in there, and no wonder!
I’ve come to look at toys more as tools to build my children’s creativity and intelligence. Before I got the hang of it, I would ask myself if the item was itself entertaining – or if it would be a tool to help my kids entertain themselves. There’s a big difference, you know. After the first (or was it second?) big toy-purge, it became obvious. The right kind get played with. The wrong kind go untouched. Now I don’t even have to think about it.
“Entertaining toys” don’t usually do their job for very long. They have batteries, flashing lights, make noise, and are pretty obnoxious, really. They spout ABC’s, they are sometimes labeled as “educational,” they have a million pieces, and the creating happened when some toymaker was drawing up blueprints. The child is just an accessory to the toys’ magnificence.
However, toys that themselves are just accessories to the child’s imagination… those toys get loved and used and keep them busy for much longer. They might look different at your house than they do at mine, and it requires parent-brain-power to determine what is a good fit for each child, but I bet if we thought long enough about it we’d figure out how
the right toys at your house and
the right toys at mine
are filling similar needs and serving similar purposes.
The wrong toys just get in the way.
Yipee, skipee – glad to see the changes happen, though admittedly I’m reticent to move the piano!
It’s not so much moving it, it’s moving it through the doorway…
How lovely! Our toys are locked in the too-stuffed-and-messy-to-play-in toy room until I get some time to sort it out and purge. Then we will have a very small list, similar to yours.
We had some friends come over today, so I got out a few toys. After about 30 minutes, not one of the 8 children in the house was playing with them.
I guess moving the piano is what you get since the last time it was moved you were pregnant and couldn’t help.
You fit quite a bit in that little cupboard. I’m reflecting on those puppets – and I think they were a just because when I came to visit in Washington…I think…maybe…probably. I’m glad they are being loved! Good luck with the “move”.
That is so wonderful! I loved reading your list and I love that you could fit it all so nicely in one spot. I’m still working on de-junking. I keep thinking I’m almost there and then I realize that more stuff seems to creep up on me. I thought I kept a pretty neat house, but I was drowning in stuff and I didn’t even know it!
I’m glad to see Billy Bear made the cut!!!! I’m sure he feels like a movie star!
Two-dles and Pinky should be there, too, but they ran off together somewhere. Sad that they didn’t make the picture. Good to know they have an official home, though, isn’t it!
Wow! You are doing so great! It is amazing to watch the transformation! Congrats on accomplishing so much so fast! Keep up the good work!
Is the living room near the kitchen and that’s why you’re turning it into a play room? Curious about that.
I think we have too many toys. Don’t tell anyone but I’m going to go toss a few right now.
Well, there are quite a few reasons. The biggest is that, yes, it’s closer to the kitchen than the current play-room. The kids are forever trying to play in the “front room” since it feels less isolated, and thus I’m forever telling them to keep in in the play room… Yeah. It’s time for another change.
Hmm, we have the closet full of toys in the boys room and the only thing that gets pulled out on a daily basis are the books. . . there’s about 50 sitting on my ottoman that Daniel has forced me to read today. I think I could stand to de-junk too, since we do have a small house . . .
Not to put a damper on your success . . . but for my autistic boy, I feel like the talking toys have helped his language development. (Not to say we don’t have too many toys, because we totally do. I think I’m still working on the ‘it’s my house, so I’m in charge’ bit, and I have a hard time tossing stuff that isn’t ‘mine’. Concept of ownership has been hard for me to teach [and learn] because it gets all tangled up with respecting things that belong to others in my brain. I will keep working on it.)
Well! I stand corrected! It’s good to know, actually, that the talking-toys of the world do serve a useful purpose somewhere.
Wow – that. is. impressive. We’re working on this and making great progress but we’re nowhere near your level of simplicity. Congratulations!
I’m chuckling… That one cupboard may be the essence of simplicity and perfection… But pretty much the whole rest of our house is anything but.
Don’t you just love how easy it is to put your best face forward in blogworld? Nobody need know that my kitchen counters are under attack (again), the laundry room is a disaster, the office is worse than that, and the bedrooms upstairs are all crying for help.
Thanks for cheering me on, though.
Good luck to us all in conquering clutter and enjoying a simple life! 
I agree.
Nice! I am so in a wanting to throw everything away kind of mood and it is partly from reading your blog. Partly because it has been too long since we last moved. I like your thoughts on toys – I so agree! I remember having an epiphany of sorts when I was a kid dancing around in the front yard in my Grandaddy’s pilot hat and swirling a rope around thinking: ‘When I have kids – I’m just going to give them a rope!’ Because I was having way more fun than I did with all my expensive toys. Now, a rope may not be the safest thing to give a child, especially for younger kids – but you know what I mean. I love the silkies – that’s brilliant!
Awesome! Doodle has a little rope (about 8 inches long) and I’m amazed at what he comes up with. Aren’t kids wonderful? I love how much joy they get from simple things.
Wow! You’re doing great with simplifying.
Hopefully when we have kids I can keep the junk out from the beginning so I don’t have to purge.
Of course, that doesn’t address the tons of stuff that we already own.
Nice job Mrs. Smith! It feels so wonderful doesn’t it? Keep up the great posts!
I am inspired by your de-cluttering focus. I have hoarded a few things that I keep telling myself that I am going to use someday and STILL HAVEN’T. In addition to that, my mother keeps giving me keepsakes from my childhood that she stored–but What For??? so I could look at them? It is really starting to make me think I am keeping things for the wrong reasons.
PUPPETS: I made presents for my brother’s kids last christmas. We made beaded necklaces and rings for the girls and a giant board game for the oldest boy, and 2 days before Christmas I got a brainstorm to make a sock puppet for the youngest boy. We made it from an old sock, yarn and scrap frabric. It took the least time and effort, but my brother reported that it was the most played with toy on Christmas morning by all of the kids.
Oh awesome! I love the sock puppet idea. It really is the simple things that young children love the most. Your comment here helped me figure out which post of my several drafts to polish up and publish.
Thanks for your feedback! Love to you and yours. 