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Original poster

Just got rid of dds last toys - feeling emotional.

111 replies

gloopygel · 28/08/2021 20:22

Dd is now too old for toys. Earlier today I asked her to clear out any stuff in her cupboards/ drawers that she no longer wants.

Bit of a toy story moment where she sorted what to bin / donate / keep.

It feels stupid, but when I saw all her once cherished toys, thrown into the donate/ bin boxes, it upset me.

We've had many toy clear outs and these are the toys that she had always chose to keep, her favorites. A few years ago she would have been crying the thought of them being donated.

Poking out the box was her My Little pony collection she had from the age of 5. She used to play with them every day and I remember the day i surprised her with the one she had wanted for ages. She said I was the best and gave me the biggest hug.

I asked her if she wanted me to keep the ponies in the attic, but she looked at me and said what's the point I'll never play with them will I?

Knowing that was true, I took the box to the local charity shop.

The toys had been just sitting in the cupboard for a while so I know now they will go to better use.

It just made me feel really emotional. Seeing all her once beloved possessions, just dumped. She really couldn't care less that they're gone.

I know I'm being pathetic and should be proud of my daughter and how she's growing up. I really am.

Anyone else felt like this?

OP posts:
user64325 · 28/08/2021 21:47

Oh, I'd have kept them. She may not want them as a teenager but she'd probably have appreciated them for her own kids, or to flog as vintage as an adult if she doesn't have kids!

I have so far kept most of the Duplo, Wooden train collection, a Trunki full of a few favourite baby toys and board books, almost all of their many many picture books, teenage DD1's my little pony and Playmobil, and dd2's Baby dolls. I will definitely keep youngest DS's Disney Cars diecasts, and the Lego once he's grown out of it and that will probably be it, bar a few soft toys. I also have nearly all the baby clothes, I don't think they will want them but I can't bare to donate them.

Concernedaboutgranny · 28/08/2021 21:47

All my puppy in my pocket toys from when i was a kid got put in the loft. Fast forward 20 years and my children are absolutely in love with them. They take them everywhere. Don't get rid of everything.

decoratedstandardlamp · 28/08/2021 21:50

Get to that charity shop as soon as it's open and buy them back! Get them in the loft for grandkids.

It's not all about the daughter and she doesn't know how she'll feel in future.

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Toys
Millionaireinthemaking · 28/08/2021 21:51

I would go get them back and put them in the loft
But I’m so sentimental 😂

Winemewhynot · 28/08/2021 21:52

Oh you should keep the special ones! My mum surprised us by giving my toddler some cuddly toys that were mine when I was a baby! And I know she’s more stashed away for when she’s older, I think it’s lovely but I’m quite sentimental with things like that, I started her a memory box before she was born Blush

Quirrelsotherface · 28/08/2021 21:53

Oh please keep her My Little Ponies!! It's the one thing I wish we'd kept in the loft. Once I became a mum myself I really wanted to see them again but I was that independent girl way back when who insisted her DM get rid of them all.

Aroundtheworldin80moves · 28/08/2021 21:58

@Concernedaboutgranny

All my puppy in my pocket toys from when i was a kid got put in the loft. Fast forward 20 years and my children are absolutely in love with them. They take them everywhere. Don't get rid of everything.
Puppy in my Pocket et al are my biggest regrets on not keeping (along with all my saddle xlub, babysitters club etc books) because my DDs would love them.
twinningatlife · 28/08/2021 22:03

I buy toys with half an eye on keeping them for the next generation that will hopefully one day come along - wooden timeless toys go in the loft, certain cuddle toys etc, cheap plastic ones affiliated with certain characters get donated.

Clothes I get made into a big quilt for each of their beds and Christmas outfits into a Christmas stocking or Christmas present sack

Mossstitch · 28/08/2021 22:07

Same as squashyWink over 60 and loft full of my children's toys waiting for grandchildren, too sentimental to part with them. Trouble is my children are all in their thirties and no sign of partners never mind grandchildren but visitor's children love them!

JaffaRaf · 28/08/2021 22:15

This is so sad, and my kids are only 6 and 4!

However they love playing with DHs old play mobile and Lego and a few cars and bits at their grandparents, and I’m sure they’ll put it back in their loft once my kids are too old to play with it. I’m sure DH would have said to throw it when he still lived at home but he likes seeing it and his kids playing with it now. Can’t see the need to just get rid of everything myself!

Beachbabe1 · 28/08/2021 22:19

Keep treasured toys!! For the grandchildren!! Some may be very retro by then!

HungryHippo11 · 28/08/2021 22:21

Aw that is sad.

I would keep anything which you have special memories of, like the My Little Ponies. Keep them for the grandkids. My Mum has kept all my lego and playmobil and now that my kids are old enough its all coming out for them to play with and its lovely.

Ducksurprise · 28/08/2021 22:23

@Pollythecat15

I felt like this with my eldest child's toys but for a very different reason.

It was back in 2003. He was only four at the time, and I hadn't yet had my younger three children.
I had a whole playroom set out with toys for him - a garage with toy cars, building bricks, jigsaws, paints and easel, cuddly toys and a variety of props for role play and a huge shelf of story books.

One day I knew that I was going to have to pack them all away.
He hadn't shown any interest in any of them, apart from the plastic keys he'd had as a baby which he still liked to jangle.
That was the day I accepted his diagnosis of severe learning disability and autism.
I had spent so long trying to engage him with the activities, but he just stared right through them with a blank expression.
For me packing away those toys was a heartbreaking moment of acceptance. That we were never going to have the future I thought we would have.

He's 22 now and still likes to jangle his plastic keys.
He never said his first word and remained frozen as a baby in his mind.

Sending you love for what you lost and love for what you have
SpindleWhorl · 28/08/2021 22:25

We've given some things away we really regret now, but there came a point we just didn't have have the space. We kept a few bits of everything, like a doll, a wrestling figure, a silly board game. It's so hard 🙁

Nannyamc · 28/08/2021 22:28

I have kept all my kids toys.
Now my dgs are all enjoying them. They never age

MrsToadflax · 28/08/2021 22:31

I would definitely keep some. As an adult I've loved looking through my old toys and have passed some onto my DC. We'll definitely be keeping some of the beautiful wooden toys we have - they may one day be used by grandchildren!

Blossomtoes · 28/08/2021 22:31

@Pollythecat15, that’s made me cry. Heartbreaking.

Kintsugi16 · 28/08/2021 22:38

@Pollythecat15 Sad
I’m so very sorry xx

Megan2018 · 28/08/2021 22:39

My 2 year old is playing with my Barbie style (fake) horse complete with the knitted rug for it my grandma helped me make in 1986.

Her walker was mine from 1978 (the wooden sort with wooden blocks).
My childhood teddy is in my room and I’m 43.

Fortunately for me my parents kept a lot of our things. I’ll be doing the same.

Anordinarymum · 28/08/2021 22:50

Can I just say........... I had three children and we had hundreds of books. All the best ones including the Tiger who came to tea and six dinner Sid and the rest.
They were up in the loft and we moved house, so I gave the lot to charity.

Now I have grandchildren and we have had to buy them all over again.

Save some and give some away because you never know what is around the corner do you ?

Redsquirrel5 · 28/08/2021 22:52

@TheSquashyHatOfMrGnosspelius

I'm nearly sixty and I have loads of my toys. Why have they got to be got rid of?
So glad I am not the only one. A few of mine but I have loads of the kids stuff especially DD as the youngest and only girl she ha more as the boys were keen on football. I have a few things of theirs and I have made memory boxes for each of them. Books is another thing yet if I got rid of it all we would have a tidier, more organised house with room for everything. My BF said don’t get rid as she had and regretted it when grandchildren started to arrive she now has seven but we don’t have any. Our six boys are all the same ages give a year between them. I’m not sure what to do now. I think mums are more emotionally attached to their children’s toys and books than dads.
CarolinaWeeper · 28/08/2021 22:54

This is so poignant. I think it's nice to keep a few things, I'd have never thought that when I was a teenager but once I was grown and had my own children I found out that my parents had kept my old doll's house and my MIL had kept a few of DHs peg puzzles both of which my children have since enjoyed playing with and I will do the same and keep a few for any future children in the family. You can't keep everything however and I do agree that it's lovely to give toys a new lease of life and the ability to bring joy to another child.

I am far more sentimental now I'm a parent and I definitely mourn the passing of time with my DC but it is what they're meant to do, OP and it's a gift to be able to watch them grow up. I'll try to remember my own words of advice when I'm next shedding a tear over the passing of another stage!

Mummywantsaweewee · 28/08/2021 23:04

I’m grown with my own kids, 2, and a newborn. I weeded through my own toys over the years but I kept a big “really useful box” full of my favourites and I still have them now. Toys which either have sentimental value or I particularly loved. It includes my original furby, my favourite barbies, some cars and trains, Pokemon cards… etc. I have a second box of my childhood books (which now get read to my own kids) and at my parents is a box of stuff like a few baby clothes, christening gifts, my polo top from last day of secondary school. don’t need to throw it all - your child will probably enjoy a trip down memory lane as an adult especially if she goes on to have kids of her own! My 2 year old likes to play with my barbies jeep 😂 keep a few even if it’s just for you and I’m sure she/grandkids will be glad of it in the future!

caoraich · 28/08/2021 23:09

Same as other PP. This made me well up, but the thing that makes me well up more is when I take my 3 year old to my parents house and they get out my childhood toys for her to play with and all the happy memories. She is entranced by my sylvanians. I'll definitely keep her loved toys.

My grandma has a set of blocks at her house for the great grandkids to play with. They were hers as a child and are now on their fourth generation of little ones building things

BigFatLiar · 28/08/2021 23:27

When I had my girls my dad brought some of my toys down from the loft for them. Not too long ago when my DD brought our grand child along DH went up in the loft and brought down some of their stuff (and mine). We still have things there for as they grow a bit.

Anyway toys aren't just for playing with they're memories. DH has a couple of the girls cuddly toys, not sure if he knows I know he kept them, he'd worry I thought he was soft.

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