to ask how you deal with the endless stream of crap that comes with having kids

[amazingbananarama]

Posting in Aibu for traffic.
I try so hard to be a minimalist. But I feel defeated! Does anyone else feel this way?

Every week my kid comes home from school with 300 drawings, models, pictures, things he made at after school clubs etc.

Not only this but while we're out he will collect endless leaflets, free magazines, forms (he likes to fill them in) and for a quite life I allow him to do so.

Then his family members - grandparents, dad, aunts etc will buy numerous gifts, books, craft activities, new clothes, kinder egg toys, bits of junk.

Then we have birthdays, christmas, other kids parties and inevitable party bags, strangers in shops giving him random stuff...

I don't mean to sound ungrateful, I appreciate the sentiment but it's just ridiculous how much stuff goes unused, straight in the bin after being discarded for weeks unused.

Despite trying my best I am constantly fighting against a stream of paper clutter, drawings, creations, pointless toys, balloons, science kit experiments abandoned.

As soon as I take my foot off the pedal for a few days it builds up again. It's crazy. It makes me feel depressed - and with that - I'm very good at getting rid of stuff! I'm no hoarder but it seems I can't win.

Any tips or thoughts welcome. thank you.

*quiet not quite!

I'll let you know when I work it out 😁!

The endless pictures from school /nursery can be dealt with by taking a photo of each and then disposing of all but the really special stuff after say a week. Feels a bit mean at first, but there's only so many rooms you can fill with piles of a 2 year old's scribbles. I try to leave toys and tat at the gifters house as much as I can - 'then you'll have some toys to play with at Grandma's too!'. Once it is their own home they are filling with tat, I find people think twice about what/how much they'll buy.

Other than that... Look forward to them leaving for uni?

How old is your ds op?

I agree that with DC comes a load of stuff but the true magpie phase doesn't last that long and in the meantime, recycle, give away, chuck as much as you can.

You are in charge pretty much about what comes in to the house up until the age of about six. Then you have to be ruthless between six and 12 yrs (I wasn't!). Then it all tails off dramatically during teen years as they tend to have fewer (more expensive) things.

This too shall pass and all of that!

clothes are useful. he can wear them and when he grows out of them sell them in bundles on eBay.

Just bin all the crap after a week or so. Mine understand that things need to go into the recycling bin so they can buy more paper to make more stuff.

Btw I only have one child and still let crap build up so probably shouldn't be posting here

Toys go in their bedroom and you cull ruthlessly every month

I feel your pain! My 4 year old is the same. A few pieces of art work get displayed and the rest go in a big drawer. I sort through it when I get the chance and try to thin it out, filing some away in a memory box and others in the recycling

Toys and other random crap is more difficult but I try to explain to my son that things he no longer plays with or uses can be packed away for his younger sibling, donated to charity or sold (if worth anything!). I regularly encourage him to do this but NEVER force him to get rid of anything he's not comfortable to part with.

Large, garish, noisy or otherwise annoying unsolicited 'gifts' remain at the gift givers house to ensure they get to 'enjoy' the gift too.

Oh yes, just remembered, we used to have a stall at a church sale every year to sell lightly worn, lightly used toys and that helped clear the decks. But I suspect you are talking more about endless party bags, multiple sets of crayons and notebooks (I swear those breed) and similar "small" crap.

Lightly worn clothes!

Oh, I was hoping this was a thread about the endless crap of being a parent but you mean actual tat

Yes I am also fighting the tide. I do have a twelve year old and agree it gets a bit better.

I hear you and share your pain OP. Inside me there is a minimalist screaming to get out but who is defeated by those I share my living space with.

My DH is naturally messy. He buys far too many clothes/shoes/coats/stuff and refuses to clear out his wardrobes to make space. He thinks the dining room chairs, banisters, door handles, dining table etc are good places to hang clothes and leave his stuff on.

My two DDs are 18 and 20 and instead of toys and drawings it's now clothes and makeup. It's bloody everywhere! I don't know the answers so have given up trying to have a tidy minimalist home .

Oh I can so sympathise op! Drives me mad. For drawings I have a folder for each child. Any decent drawings I want to keep go in the folders with the dates on. Anything else goes in the bin. I bin most of what comes home from school, I feel bad but you just cannot keep it all.
I have regular toy decluttering sessions but it does feel like an endless task. I actually dread birthdays and Christmas as we get overloaded with so much tat. I know that sounds awful but I really wish people wouldn't buy it.

I cull frequently but only at night.... I have several destinations for the tsunami of stuff that comes through the door. I would only bin as a last resort. I try to recycle and reuse as much as I can.

school/nursery for books and dress up costumes, small tat and soft toys (ours often ask for it for lucky dips at the school fair),
car/handbag - duplicate sets of crayons, small notebooks or activity books, little handheld games
charity or eBay - any duplicate or unsuitable toys
party box - balloons, small toys, figurines etc, to go into future party bags
cupboard - sweets to be saved for Hallowe'en
recycling box - leaflets, free magazines etc. Mine love to collect these things but have no interest in them once acquired.
bin - anything broken.

I also keep an eye out on local forums for appeals for books, toys etc.

Clothes I wouldn't stress about. Put the least-liked or scruffiest into a bag in the car for those times they fall face first into a puddle. Keep a spare set at the grandparents. Another set in the nursery bag.

I can't advise on the models and pictures; I love to display these, our house is full of them!

Pictures and arts stuff is looked at and admired for an evening then placed near the bin, where 2 days later it would be put in the bin.

Both dc know the drill and are ok with it as that's just what happens (with pamphlets, magazines bought etc also). Anything they were desperate to keep they know they have to really beg ask to keep.

Other tat gets binned ever few months. The crap annoys me too OP!

Pictures and craft go up in their bedroom. They are less sentimental then and are happy to bin more frequently.
There is light at the end of the tunnel on this one. Toys and tat decrease with age

One other tip: go through all toys and clothes every six months - once in summer holidays (or before birthday) and once before Christmas. Have a thorough chuck out so it becomes a twice annual habit.

thank you everyone! I am glad it's not just me... so many good ideas here!