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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To throw away or give to charity (good ones only) lots of the dcs toys?

31 replies

PosieParker · 19/04/2008 15:28

because they have too much and are jaded with choice and expect material things a lot, because nothing has any value. DP thinks we shouldn't have bought it and it's a waste but lots of it we didn't buy, his parents did and it's rubbish. How much is enough really, dd is under two and dss are 5 & 6? Should their playroom resemble a study area with toys or a multi functional room or a toy shop.
I thought I would pick five things at a time and ask what they'd like to keep, so far the boys have no real attachment to any of their things.....

OP posts:
Swedes · 19/04/2008 15:33

I think their playroom should be a postmodernist interpretation of light, white and space - acheived via the use of several bolts of 18th Century continuous filament Organza which is necessarily moth-eaten.

foxythesnowfox · 19/04/2008 15:33

How about taking some to the Childrens ward at the hospital? Or call Social Services and find out if there are any refuges in your area. They could select the toys to go, maybe take them?

lilyloo · 19/04/2008 15:33

I have just collected two bin bags full for freecycle.
We are just back from a holiday and whilst there we decided we wouldn't be drawn in to buying loads of stuff for the dc's and despite the sulking, protestations etc. it's surprising how quickly they accept it. Which just shows that they weren't really bothered anyway.
Mine have too much too and we don't have palyroom so i have to try and edit there stuff regularly so it doesn't take over esp after birthdays and xmas as both dd's birthdays in Jan.

Original poster
PosieParker · 19/04/2008 15:40

Swedes, I feel you may be mocking me? You don't have to have a big house to have a playroom, of that's your beef??

OP posts:
RubyRioja · 19/04/2008 15:41

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

southeastastra · 19/04/2008 15:42

dp has just come home with a massive bag of lego from the charity shop arrrgh more lego arrrgh

justabouta · 19/04/2008 15:46

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expatinscotland · 19/04/2008 15:48

i do this quite often.

we live in rental housing, and our lease is up. we're just going month to month.

but the nature of our landlords' business abroad means we need to be in readiness to move, so that's means being ruthless about clutter.

if i'm really desperate, i donate them to whoever is hosting the next flea market around here and they can do what they like with them.

Original poster
PosieParker · 19/04/2008 15:49

We have 'charidee' shops that inpect clothing before they'll take it, gone are the days when needy people shopped in charity shops it's more your 'saving money' middle class!!

OP posts:
Swedes · 19/04/2008 15:51

Sorry I just found the idea of 1,5 and 6 year olds having a study area very amusing. [sorry so immature emoticon]

Kimi · 19/04/2008 15:51

Forget bin bags, I feel like getting a sodding skip and de- cluttering my DCs toys, far far too much stuff

expatinscotland · 19/04/2008 15:52

I cull whilst DD1 is at nursery.

Original poster
PosieParker · 19/04/2008 15:58

You're right, but they do have desks and love to draw, make book etc and they have homework and violin to do......fucking hell it does all sound a bit twee.... Swedes I take your point!
DCs couldn't care less it's dp, who's away on business and has told dcs he's bringing them something back from NY, now that's their focus something new, which they will enjoy for two minutes. I would like them to be happy for Daddy coming home.... grrrr.

OP posts:
Original poster
PosieParker · 19/04/2008 15:58

I love to commit typos in every post.........

OP posts:
justabouta · 19/04/2008 15:59

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

milliec · 19/04/2008 16:01

Message withdrawn

justabouta · 19/04/2008 16:05

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

chamaeleon · 19/04/2008 16:31

bag it up, see if they/he notices and after a few weeks get rid. i took 3 bin bags of stuff to school for school fair, they didnt even notice! what prompted me was the nothing having any value idea, they would break stuff but didnt care because there was so much more. i now buy them a lot less aswell and they have become much better at taking care of stuff (mostly!)

BubbaAndBump · 19/04/2008 16:36

Clear stuff out! They won't notice, and Foxy's idea of taking it to the children's ward is fab. You could always invest in a couple of storage boxes which you fill with toys and then rotate from time to time so DCs don't get bored...

tkband3 · 19/04/2008 16:45

I took a load of stuff to a charity shop before Xmas and they wouldn't take the plastic stuff because of that scare with the Mattel toys.

dizzydixies · 19/04/2008 16:50

same here, took a tonne of stuff to the Red Cross charity shop, all good quality good condition and they wouldn't accept it!

our wee local independent charity shop does or the NCT sales will take it and sell if for their funds

failing that car boot sale and 10p everything

have done the playroom/sutdy/spare room/dumping ground whilst they were out - their books are getting it next

(those are all one small box room by the way so nobody thinks I live in a castle with a west wing devoted to dc!!)

Elloeise · 19/04/2008 17:04

I've not long had a BIG clear out of ds toys (to be fair he's the only 'baby' {3 yrs}in the family, 16 years between him and next youngest and has been spoiled a bit by other family members as i'm not in a possion to do it and he also has his birthday in jan).
However he still has not one but TWO big toy boxes (1 upstairs and 1 down) a small one, two bookcase's full of books, a free standing cooker, diy bench, a lego zoo as you can see not only is the list is endless but i could carry on! But he only played with the same cars and trains over and over and over again but since i cleared out (some to mum for we visit and the rest to charity) he is now activtly playing with the toys both upstairs and down and things he would normally have said no to (don't get me wrong we still have lots of car parks/traffic lights and train tracks but we also picnics, music and animals or board games and he seem much happier being able to get to the toys hes got rather than having loads he cant get to. I also found i had a lot of his toys put away before and was forever having to go through them and swap them so he got to play with them all.

Elloeise · 19/04/2008 17:34

Sorry i have just re read that and i suppose what i was trying to say through all that waffle is that were both a lot happier with a few less toys around the place, and he still hasnt noticed sum have gone or magicly turned up at grannys 3 weeks later.

Smithagain · 19/04/2008 18:17

We had a major declutter session three weeks ago. Something just snapped inside me and I was SO FED UP of all the rubbish toys.

We chucked out two bin bags full of tat/broken toys/outgrown baby toys with no hand-me-down potential.

We also stored away two more crates of toddler toys, some of which will go to charity shops and some of which will be kept for posterity/visiting children.

That was three weeks ago. Neither child has even noticed that anything has disappeared. And they have rediscovered several really good, versatile toys (playmobil, lego, puzzles, role-playing stuff) that was so buried under the tat that you couldn't play with it.

They are 2.5 and 5.5. I was worried about getting grief from DD1, who I was sure would remember some long-lost toy that had been binned. But she has noticed nothing.

Do it - you won't regret it.

posieflump · 19/04/2008 18:19

my problem is dh
he is a hoarder and won't let me cull just yet
I'm waiting for my bf to announce her pregnancy and then when she does I am going to get revenge on her by boxing up all the noisy toys she has ever bought for us so she can experience the joy of them