Tackling the Toy Mountain
Posted by Arwen Mosher in Homemaking on Thursday, July 30, 2009 12:00 PM
A corner of our living room is home to a few small and frequently-used toys: Camilla’s magnetic doodle, some puzzles, and a small bin full of rattles for the baby. The rest of the toys live in the “playroom,” a third bedroom we’ve converted to house the mess of playthings our children own.
The other day I went into the playroom to switch out a few of Blaise’s toys. He’s not getting tired of the same rattles day in and out, but I am. I opened the bin that contains the baby toys.
Whoa! I had forgotten we had so many!
This is a large bin. I could easily fit inside it. It is completely filled with baby toys.
Almost all of them were gifts; we would never have bought so many ourselves. It seems that they must have found a way to reproduce in there, though.
Hilariously, Blaise finds his own toes to be mesmerizing enough for hours of amusement. No way does he need three times his body volume in plastic rings, soft blocks, chewable rattles, and small plush animals.
Looking around the playroom, I see that there are also plenty of toddler toys that don’t get regular use. Camilla’s current favorite toy is a blanket and a bungee cord (otherwise known as a “car” - the cord makes the seatbelt). She only gets out the little talking toy airplane in rare moments. (Maybe when she hears from God that it’s time to test my patience!)
As our children grow and our family hopefully does too, I know that the amount of stuff is going to keep increasing. I need to start the habit of purging now so that our house doesn’t turn into an unnavigable jungle of brightly colored plastic.
I’m stumped, though, about the best way to accomplish it. I know I can’t ask Camilla to help me choose what to throw away; facing their extinction, she’ll suddenly find every cheap trinket an irreplaceable treasure. I’ll have to find a better way to tackle the problem.
How do you keep your family’s toy inventory in check?
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