Mr M has moved his ‘office’ into our garage; which meant a massive clean out.
So what are we throwing out?
The musical instruments? (Keyboard, drums, amps, guitars) Um….. no.
The elliptical trainer? No.
The bicycles? No.
The boxes full off mementoes? Definitely not. There aren’t that many and I promise that I only keep the important stuff. Besides some of it is for the kids to take with them when they leave home. They can then choose to start a bon fire with it if they like.
The Lego collection? That would be a collective cry of ‘NO’ from the males in the house.
So I guess it’s the preschooler’s toys. My youngest is starting formal school next year so most of those toys were always going to get thrown out when the time came.
I noticed when my other 3 children started school that their absolute favourite toys were no longer their absolute favourite toys. But since there are still 6 months to go before my preschooler becomes a ‘school kid’ I wasn’t sure how he’d take it; not even so much the act of ‘throwing the toys out’ but would he get bored with the lack of toys in the house?
So far he hasn’t had a problem with it. Because we discovered a box that housed a farm set , a castle with knights and horses and a tambourine; all things he asked to keep.
He was happy to part with every other toy if he got to keep those; so far so good.
I also managed to pull the paint box that was at the bottom of everything and put it in a more accessible place. So for the next 6 months I guess we are exploring our creative side.
My eldest is 13 and some of the toys were threw away we bought when she was a preschooler, so there was a bittersweet moment when the toys went out the door, but as hubby said, “they’ve served their purpose”.
I have to admit, not having heaps of toys laying about the place is kind of nice.
I realized just how much stuff we had accumulated. So. Much. Stuff. I was so paranoid to get the right kind of toys that would help my child’s development; you could make a case for obsession. Things to build, things to touch, things to feel, things to put together and plain old fashion play acting.
And now there seems to be a trend towards having less stuff. Whether for environmental reasons, feng shui or simply reducing the amount of stuff you have to dust; having less stuff is in vogue.
When I was a singleton I never owned anything that I couldn’t keep in my bedroom. After you’ve moved a couple of times you start to live within your physical boundaries. If it fit in my room, it could stay.
Once you stay put for a while you can start to ‘just put things over there’. And I have discovered that I am the sort of person that simply cannot think clearly if there is clutter everywhere.
There was a little bittersweet tinge when the toys went – we are well and truly out of the baby/toddler phase; and I stopped to think why so many of us have this apprehensive feeling. And I think I’ve cracked it. We get used to particular phases in our lives and when they’re over there is a sense of loss.
Okay so I’m probably not the first person to come to that realization. But I know enough about myself to know that I’m not confusing this with wanting more babies.
But back to the issue at hand; the lack of toys.
“They” say that kids are creatures of habit. If that be true then surely a selection of puzzles, paints, play-do, craft, books, a soccer ball and of course the Lego collection should be enough to entertain my preschooler for 6 months.
