Aibu to get rid of dds toys

[ArriettyMatilda]

We are trying to make more space in our two bed flat and dd has far too many toys. She can't yet tell us what she wants to keep. I am planning to at least store some of them but I don't have space for all her cuddly toys. Dm kept absolutely everything of ours until we were old enough to decide and she thinks I am being mean to dd.

Aibu to decide for dd until she is old enough to decide herself? She won't miss what she doesn't remember right?

Make the choice for her! You know what she likes.

The thing is, there will be a steady flow of toys into your house over the years. You will have toys coming out if your ears!! You need to learn how to manage them, what to keep, what to get rid if. We have only a few quality toys as I can't bear clutter and my kids don't need much to be happy. They aren't materialistic at all

When DD was this age (she's 14 now) I used to throw things into a bag under cover of darkness and bring them to the charity shop.

Anything I hadn't seen her play with in a while, or that she had grown out of- gone.

She never once complained or realised. I would buy her new things every so often so as far as I was concerned there was an in-flow and and out-flow of toys. Toys weren't going to accumulate indefinitely ffs.

DS is now 12 months and I'm sure I'll do the same again.

x-post with you gooseberry - re the flow of toys!

There are 3 options:

1. you buy a mansion
2. you contact a reality TV show to book yourself in for a slot in a hoarding show in a decade so they intervene before you have to be dug out
3. you triage toys on a regular basis

I think your mum has hoarding issues by the sounds of it. You can decide to be different.

Ask yourself if each toy is particularly useful right now

At 22 and 18, me and my brother are having to make ourselves available to "sort through" (bulk ditch) decades of cuddlies, exercise books and (yikes!) video tapes that our mother well-meaningly kept for us through three house moves. I've not missed any of this stuff in a decade or more, and I can say from experience that children are prone to hanging on to things if you remind them they have it, even if it never gets any use. In adulthood, I do this with clothes. I say that if she really doesn't use these things, get rid!

I am in my 50s- and have just chucked a load of primary school jotters in the bin that my mother had lovingly kept for decades, thinking one day they would be treasures to me.

It didn't happen.

I have kept very few things of my own kids, a few baby outfits, a couple of toys, a few creative writing jotters and some artwork.
Once that start nursery and school they will bring home lots of treasures they had made in class. I started keeping everything, but became silly. I then kept only very special things.
My oldest is nearly 18 and all his childhood momentos I have kept for him ( and me) would fit in an aircraft cabin case.

I could have filled A skip twice over with toys that my kids have loved over the years.

I got rid of them in a two stage process. Cull first and store everything out of sight ( attic or big cupboard). Wait 4 months. If the child has not noticed the disappearance then take to charity shop. Rinse and repeat.

I am glad you all agree, dm was really making me think I was being unreasonable. Thing is I am quite glad to be able to pass my toys onto dd but also I think dd has loads more toys than I did. Yes they all get a passing use, but actually as MiaowTheCat says it's a bit overwhelming and she doesn't really need that many. We will definitely have regular clear outs and I will get dd involved in these when she is old enough.

this is it though, kids nowadays have so much stuff - so say, 50 years ago a kid might have a handful of toys, say a few soldiers, a car, a doll and some skates. hen the toys are more treasured because you only have them

My nephew is 18 motnsh old and has so many things, and the parents put out loads of toys all the time - it's like walking into a playgroup at his house!

I kept every Bob the builder toy my ds1 had. It was a lot!
Ds2 came along and hated Bob the builder :)
Last year I had a toy and book and DVD cull and I ended up taking 7 bin bags full of stuff to my local children's hospital.
Yes, 7.
It's made me much more careful about buying stuff!

I regularly sort out my children's things and they're much older 9,7 and 4. They would want to keep everything if asked (even the broken stuff!) so I just sort and chuck when they're not around. My house would look like Toys r us otherwise.