To hate toys so fricken much?!

[lucymegan]

Dd birthday yesterday. We always buy her outside toys (only summer born baby we have) and a few other toys dolls,puzzles ect. Between mine and dh's family there's a lot. 3 sets of grandparents. Lots of aunts uncles and god parents. She's ended up with so much 🙈 included a huge Barbie camper which I really didn't want her to have because of the 99000 tiny pieces of plastic. She's not responsible enough to look after it.she also got LoL dolls with their 5000 accessories 😩

I've spent all morning going through hers and her sister toys and filled two black bin bags and a box of toys for charity shop. I haven't even tackled their bedroom yet and will no doubt take another black bag (or two) out of there.

So many toys on the floor and I'm sick of having to treat my dinning room like an assault course tip toeing over Little pieces of crap and trying not to get something embedded in my foot!

Seriously though what is it with toys coming with so many small pieces. I don't remember toys like this when I was her age (that makes me feel so old) I'm dreading Xmas 😩

Oh god, same here. Luckily we have a playroom but it's a sea of miniscule plastic pieces...which spread all over the place. My dd is pretty smart and knows if one goes "missing" in the bin

Oh I'd love a playroom. The toys are everywhere and I know I should just tidy up when their in bed but I'm tripping over all sorts here. I've sucked up some barbie shows with the hoover and I'm not even gonna bother retrieving them

I've just reduced the toys dramatically and my kids haven't missed them. They play better now they have less we just have 1 box lego, 1 box duplo, 1 box playmobil, 1 box dressing up stuff, 1 box wooden train Brio and the toy kitchen (I drastically reduced the bits though and even that will be gone by end of the year)

It makes tidying up a breeze and like I said it's better for everyone Mo having So much stuff

Sorry I should add, they were on board with most of the toys we got rid of but old baby stuff that was given to us secondhand anyway just went as it wasn't really theirs

I know what you mean about tidying. These miniscule pieces of plastic crap are impossible to tidy! I'd rather have big toys in one piece that I could chuck in a toy box!

Oh and despite having a playroom, there's still stuff in all the other rooms! Even worse the playroom has glass doors so the mess is always visible.

How old is she? I found a great way to cut the crap was to ask for contributions towards the termly club fees, or to buy a piece of uniform they might need. DS1 had beavers uniform bought, DD1 got scout uniform. DD2 and DS2 both got leotards for gymnastics as examples. It means one person can spend as much (an entire uniform, subs for a month/term) or as little (a t shirt, belt, hat) as they like and benefit from knowing the children are thoroughly enjoying themselves as well, rather than buying something they may or may not appreciate but was bought because 'everyone of that age likes X'.

We make sure to take regular photos and share with friends and family who have chosen to help them out,

I'd rather have big toys in one piece that I could chuck in a toy box!

Yep me too. Honestly the shit that's come with this camper. Tiny little pieces the same size as my little finger nail  and the way she keeps slamming it shut it'll be broken by next week!

@minisoksmakehardwork that's a great Idea. But I come from a family that like to buy gifts. So they'd be all up for that but would still buy them a toy 🙈 she's 5 and her sister is 2

I've got the in laws upset that I'm sorting out the toys and giving them too charity shops because I think they expect me to keep them like they have done with their kids. I'm not sentimental at all so don't hold on to things. Plus I'm fed up with picking up the same crap day in day out.

My mum was always a stickler for letting us have one type of toy out, so all the Barbie's or all the Playmobil etc and then when we had finished they all went back into the correct box before we picked something else, it worked pretty well and I try to do the same with my boys.
They will make the playroom look like a bomb site but it's all Lego so I know I can scoop it all back into one box with them without needing to sort it. Sometimes they want say the cars and the bricks but it's nice and easy to get them sorted.
Equally we do still lose the odd small piece here or there, under the sofa etc...
I'm glad that Lego is the only thing they play with these days that have small pieces and I've never had to deal with LOL dolls thankfully!

we‘ve imposed struct rules for birthdays: one gift per family unit, party invites go out with „no gifts please”. it made such a difference. rather than drowning in crap, they now play with the stuff they have (they still get 6-7 gifts per occasion, so are hardy deprived!)

I feel the same. Have two DC, eldest with precious relationship so have presents for DS’s dads family as well as us, my parents, my grandparents and Oh’s parents, then uncles etc.

My relatives seem to buy the most awkward gifts too. Often Gifts that come in loads of pieces and difficult to store. My mum often buys cheap plastic toys and that just fall apart constantly.

Myself and OH aren’t buying much this year. Obviously they will get gifts but nothing too big or extreme and I try and discourage the family from buying massive gifts but sometimes they don’t get the hint.

Mil bought DD a battery operated car. No room in the house, no garage, obviously can’t Be left outside, will get ruined in the shed so it’s in the attic and mil always asks where it is? Does she expect me to keep it in the lounge all the time??

Argh I only sort of understand the feeling.
My DS is 2 and I swear my house is full. I only have 1 child but could sustain a nursery I think.
DS loves and plays with EVERYTHING so he notices if something isn't there. I dont know how to start thinning out ..

It does get better @lucymegan But mostly with age. My youngest are 7 now. PIL love buying gifts for the children but instead of a huge bag filled with toys that they spend about 5 minutes playing with, they've gone for the investable approach or a small gift with the subs. Eg ds1(9) got an x box game and one month cub subs for his birthday. DD1(11) got the case to go with the iPad we gave her, and a few bits of stationery. Dts (7) got bought Lego to expand sets they already had, along with a contribution towards their trampolining club kit.

But that has very definitely come about with the increasing age of my DC.

Another suggestion is a book that they loved as a child, or reading to their own children. I'm a huge fan of books for children and the kids have a very well stocked and much loved bookshelf.

Bloody toys. I am always having culls. Kids now seem to have so much. My DD has FOUR WATCHES. She is 4 ffs.

@minisoksmakehardwork I have teens so know that it gets better ( 9 year age gap) but it's just having to go through these early years. Can't believe I went back to this when my older kids were practically done with toys lol.

I counted the books today too. 57! 😬😩

Try to get them totally obsessed with just a few decent quality types of toys - Lego, Playmobil, Hot Wheel Cars or whatever. Then at pressy time say to all the relatives "we are buying a wooden car garage for xmas so if you want to buy a present some cars to go with it would be lovely". That way you still have 1001 toys but at least it's a 1001 bits that match !

DD learned at a very young age that stuff that doesn't get put away (especially tiny stuff )is gone when i sweep the floor /hoover. She has a lot of different boxes/storage and a dolls house. We do a clear out every other school holiday and two big ones in the summer and just before xmas. Unless we make enough space she doesn't get any more toys.

Now she's older ,we put better toys up for sale and she gets the money. She's pretty ruthless when it comes to clearing out.

Nooooo! I have 4 (11,9,7,7) so a two year gap and until last Xmas it felt like we were completely overrun with toys. I did a massive cull when the kids were in school. Toys which they haven't played with in months and they've still not noticed they have gone! Is that an option for you? Some people recommend putting stuff away and rotating toy boxes but I never found that particularly helpful with mine. They still wanted the put away stuff if they knew it was available.

Only 57 books though?? We've a four shelf bookcase rammed, two layers on some shelves. Although I appreciate as well that books aren't everyone's cup of tea.

I’m quite ruthless with books-some are absolutely dreadful to read to DC and if I find it clunky to read I send it off to the charity shop