Toy Chaos

If you know or follow me at all, you know my life currently revolves around everything dinosaurs. This means everything we do and play and shop is dinosaur targeted. Our friends and family focus in things the same way. Our boys can’t get enough dinosaurs. But actually, they CAN.

Part of my Clean Up & Swap Out is focused on sorting through toys. Every season I go through toys with the kids. I sit down with them and dump all of each toy bin type out and pick up each item one by one. I can see immediately which ones they actually love and cherish. I also know which toys I see out and played with on a regular basis. Then, without them, I go through the toys again and make 3 piles:

1. KEEP- Toys they are playing with and love.
2. ROTATE/SAVE- Toys that spark their interest and they seem to love but I don’t see them playing with.
3. GIVEAWAY- Toys that aren’t played with or grown out of.

The 3 distinctions seem pretty easy. #2 is more of a detailed action. I put most of these into boxes up in the closet to bring out in another season or time when I think they will get their full attention. I toss a few items from this category that I think maybe just got overlooked or sat at the bottom of a bin for a bit and the boys didn’t see it.

Unlike most moms I know, I’m not much of a “saver”. There are the nice wooden blocks and a few special toy sets that yes, I have put away. But they are extremely limited and I cut myself off at a few. It’s actually lighter on my heart and I cherish the ones we save more when I see them again for another baby.

I will say that the fewer of each item, the more genuine play I see the boys engage in. The more special each toy is to them. I have also started to include our 3 year old in the editing process a bit more and he will put things in the “giveaway” bag that I completely agree with. He hasn’t quite gotten the concept completely, but he’s processing through it.

And for the record, I used to be a “saver” of everything! I used to save scrap paper for that project I was gonna do “someday”. And I saved pieces of fabric cuttings, every baby onsie, and all sorts of scribble pages! It was silently exhausting. Once I figured this out, and adopted an editing process that didn’t allow for boxed up items focusing on the past or unspecific items for “someday” I felt so free of my clutter. I hope you find this to be the same for you and your home!