And This is Where I Profess My Love for Large Plastic Storage Bins

I admit to selectively listening to my friends with kids who would tell me how I don't even know how much crap I'll collect when I decide to reproduce. I think all I heard was "don't reproduce" and I carefully followed their directions. That was until my daughter came along.

It didn't really get that bad until she got to be about 5 months and the jumperoo, exersaucer, and floor mat combo starting cramping our style. And then when she started actually playing with toys, including the dreaded "I will trip over you every single freaking time" push toy, it reached rock bottom.

I invested in a few plastic drawer/bin combos, and even bought a puzzle shelf, but between the 245 board books, little people's farm, and baby baby stroller, I feel like I live in a daycare center.

I have gone through her toys several times and weeded out the ones she no longer plays with, however, it never fails that I put something away (in our storage room...) and she asks for it the next day. Or, I sit there for the 2 hours I have at nap time trying to figure out whether I should save it for the next kid and end up putting 4 things in the "save for later" box.

I am hardly a packrat, and I have been accused on more than one occasion as not being very sentimental. Call me crazy, but I'm thinking our next kid will get his/her OWN teethers. I am very happy to part with the lovely "I-don't-have-an-off-switch" talking toys, and the Teletubby doll that I'm pretty sure is alive. However, I can't see ditching a bunch of things that we may in fact like to use if we ever have another kidling.

So, what do you do - particularly folks that are planning on having more kids? How do you store the toys your child currently plays with and what do you do with the ones that are on hiatus?

Comments

[jen]

That is hilarious about the Teletubbies being alive. However, the Boobahs we have are freaky as well.

[Elizabeth]

I would like Kelly Bera to please come to my house-she is wicked organized!

There have been a few things that the boys agreed were okay to give to Goodwill and then asked for later, but mostly they are okay with purging. Everything else is in bins and containers. My problem is Lego and Bionicle pieces-there is not a storage container big enough to hold the thousand or so pieces they have.

[Samalee]

I rotate toys in and out of under bed bins. I only keep "good" toys (wooden, educational, non-noisy) and the rest I donate to childrens hospitals bc then even if I "miss" the toy later I feel good about where it went. I do bins for Mr Potato and baby spuds, legos,blocks and "piece" toys and both kids are really great about keeping them organized (the 5 yo more tahn the 2 yo but its contagious) After Ike outgrew a toy I saved it (if it met good toy criteria) but most of teh stuff I saved the girl-child didn't care too much about. I say if you like it and have room - save it.

[tracey]

We kept tons of stuff from our first and I'm glad we did. But that's just me and I'm a "stuff" person. And I live for bins. They give me the illusion that I'm organized. I'm not. They just kinda make me feel like I am. Sick.

[something blue]

I have three plastic bins of clothes under their beds but toys are the never-ending battle. Take that you singing Elmo.

We managed to put some away but when the second one arrived, everything and more got scattered on the living room floor. Now we are desperately trying to keep the small, "not recommended for children under 3" toys out of the baby's mouth. Did you ever notice that almost 98% of toys come with that warning label?

[Sheri]

yeah, i remember some non-parent friends coming over when my son was like 4-5 months and saying, "wow, it doesn't even look like a kid lives here." and i was actually proud.

that is no more, and thank god we have a basement. that's where all the toys that aren't junk go until the next one comes. the rest go to the garage sale pile or donation pile or trash (if they're those crappy little trinket things).

[Kelly Bera]

I really should buy stock in Rubbermaid. All of my kids toys are in bins. And not just thrown sporadically in one big bin. I have dozens of small bins each with the picture of what's inside printed in color and taped on 3 sides of each box. Her Toy Story, Dora, Potato Head, Leap Frog, Play Food, etc. all have their own box. She has a box full of play necklaces, bracelets and rings covered in princess stickers that she received while potty training. In addition, my daughter loves puzzles. So all of her puzzles have been taken out of the easily destructable cardboard box and put into small plastic boxes with the picture of the puzzle taped on top. Even her crayons stay in a plastic pencil box. Maybe I just have a thing against cardboard.
She has about 20 or so boxes total. 10-15 of which stay on the top shelf of her closet. She has a few she plays with in her room and about 5 in her play room. Every 3 months we rotate some out. She does a fantastic job of keeping the toys picked up with this system!

[Mel]

I am constantly sneaking things into the trash. As it turns out, we probably only needed a good set of heavy wooden blocks, tinker-toys, balls and dolls. Who knew?

[Motherhood Uncensored]

Yeah. The only thing I'm holding onto is all the newborn clothes - since we didn't find out with #1, we have a ton of gen-neutral stuff that will work well... Other than that, I'm quite happy to purge...

[Melissa]

Throw shit out or give it away. Don't save it, unless it cost you a bunch of money and is still in great condition. Chances are, people will gift you the same dam thing. Plus, chances are even better that your next kid, boy or girl, will want and like something totally different.

[MamaSutra]

Have kids 16 months apart, so nothing gets put away in the interim. Have a toddler who shunned the exersaucer for many months then became obsessed with it as soon as baby sister started using it. It's the clothes that are taking over our house: new toddler ones, the right size hand me downs for the baby (seems to change hourly), and all of the boxes of stuff that have made it to our house which have taken over our basement. We haven't given anything away yet, but that day is coming.

[mothergoosemouse]

Given that we lived in a two-bedroom condo for the first three years of parenthood - and we both worked full-time outside the house, lessening the need for a bunch of toys inside the house - we simply didn't accumulate very much.

Moving here, now with two kids, we definitely have more. But I packed up a bunch of stuff just last month and put it in a garbage bag in the laundry room so that I can donate it. Those items are actually serviceable. Other stuff gets thrown away.

How to deal with inquiries? Frankly, I just plead ignorance. There's enough other stuff to occupy them that I truly do not feel guilty giving away items that we don't play with.

As for thinking about what younger brothers/sisters-to-be might play with - I had to laugh because it's hard for us to figure out what to buy CJ for her birthday and for Xmas because she has EVERYTHING. So I would hang on to those items which have sentimental value (if there are any, heh) and donate the others that Q has outgrown (mentally or physically).

Then again, I'm the antithesis of packrat, and while I can be sentimental, it's usually about the stuff that I won't let the kids touch anyway.

[Jaime]

When you figure this out, let me know!!!! I cleaned the family room this weekend and put all the toys in their appropriate bins....I got to see the wood floors again, even if only for 10 minutes!!! Sometimes I will donate the infant toys to day care or give them to friends with younger kids. But to be honest, most of the time I just go to Walmart and buy another bin so that it can take up the storage space in the family room that I so desperately want back!!!