Could you throw a cuddly toy in the bin?

[mimblewimble]

I can't do it. I have to give them to charity shops and hope/pretend they'll find a new home. That's the only way my (teenage) children will ever agree to get rid of any too. I know it's illogical!

Does anyone else feel very attached to their kids' soft toys?

(To be clear, while I do have one very old and tatty teddy I've kept from my childhood, I'm talking about the children's toys here.)

Oh god yeah, in the skip they go! I LOVE getting rid of stuff though.

If they are clean and intact, I know of animal charities that want them. Any good ones, MLP/Stitch etc always go to charities. If my own pets have been on them, in the bin they go.

No you can’t. It’s impossible. Just look at their little faces. I am elderly and my friend Is too. We have teddy bears and a squirrel which belonged to my children. We found ourselves talking to them. However, when she said Sammy Squirrel looked cross eyed I was afronted and said he would now need counselling ! My (then) friend said he was too easily upset. Cross eyed I ask you!!! What a cheek. She is in her seventies and I am 83.

I have often taken the kids' soft toys to the charity shop, but only in good condition with the labels attached. The ragged ones stay with me!

No of course not! Have you never watched Toy Story! 😆🥰

Great for school.fairs adopt a cuddly toy tombola every ticket wins. Nothing like seeing them go to clutter someone elses home.

Our school fair used to have a huge pile of them going for 50p each. One year I glanced at it and lighted upon a duplicate of DD's favourite small, obscure, hard-to-find soft toy. Instantly I dived in, yelping, and snatched it ... and it turned out to be an absolute godsend later that year when we lost the original.

Moral of the story is - that little cuddly toy may mean nothing to you or your kids, but it could be special to someone!

I really can't get that attached to stuffed animals. If they need chucked they get chucked. I'm just not that sentimental 🤷‍♀️

I can throw anything in the bin. But I have to make the move irreversible so I can't have second thoughts later. So: cut the head off, and shove the thing right in the bottom of the bin where I can't see it.

The same goes for kids' artworks: destroy them immediately, before I have a change of heart, and never ever leave them where a child could find the evidence.

Charity shops do accept cuddly toys x

Nope. I also feel bad for them being in cupboards ! I read somewhere that it can be a trauma response to a difficult childhood ie when your animals (oh god I don’t even call them toys) have been your friends and you’ve been alone in your room and turned to them for comfort. So that’s my excuse!