Anxiety about how to fit new toys given at Christmas

[Rebelwithallthecause]

I have two young children
They share a bedroom
We live in a small 2 bed Victorian terrace

I’ve had a clear out today of anything they had grown out of as we were overflowing

There still is no room for any more

I’ve got anxiety now about how we will manage Christmas

The magic of the toys on Christmas morning is so important but how do we keep the magic without bringing in too many toys?

They have big families too who all want to buy for them

My sister has a 2yo ds too, I might seriously suggest to them that we don't get each others kids things for Christmas. Or agree that we'll always get something semi disposable like a really nice colouring book and new pens.

You need to put it about they are collecting something small and improbably expensive like playmobil, Lego etc.

Also lean on grandparents to contribute to good quality storage.

Lots of good ideas on here!

The kids are a bit young for it at the moment - but once they are older how about a magazine subscription. National Geographic do some good kids mags.

I don't think it's a bad thing clear outs are needed. My kids do get bought a lot of stuff by family. It's not just toys though, it's clothes and shoes etc. But toys also get used and broken. It's necessary to get rid of the stuff that has been trashed. The jigsaws with half the pieces missing, Captain America with two limbs missing (I'm probably being a bit ableist there) the noisey toy that doesn't make noise any more no matter what batteries you put in it and is therefore redundant. The plastic tat they collect from birthday parties and happy meals. When they were younger it was all of the stuff that had been chewed. Their interests and needs also change so much in a short space of time. A 5YO isn't going to play with a baby walker.

You wouldn't keep clothes that were tatty and don't fit anymore, why would you keep toys in the same circumstances?

Would about doing an amazon wish list and then encouraging clothes books etc that you will actually need. Most people find this much easier anyway.

I know how you feel! I have dds 5 and 1, from family alone they will each receive 13 presents from family for xmas - it's a lot of stuff to find space for. It makes me anxious too. To negate this we don't buy the dcs many toys for birthdays/Xmas but to some extent I really begrudge this and begrudge spending £100 odd on my nieces and nephews Xmas presents when I could instead spend some of that money on each on my dcs and buy them 1-4 more toys that I know they'd like/which complement what they already have etc rather than a big pile of yet another colouring book, more pencils/felts, more playdoh sets, more books (how many copies of the Hungry Caterpillar and the Gruffalo does one child need?! ), random fad toy, another dressing gown, more soft toys, more rubbish craft sets where I am compelled to keep the creations, yet another sodding baby doll.

No real advice I'm afraid. I can't refuse to buy niece and nephews presents as we'd forever be the meanies of the family, my suggestion of doing a joint present from all aunts and uncles for each child went down like a lead balloon (idea being they'd get 1 decent present instead of 8 smaller things). It's not considered uncouth in our families to do amazon wishlists but when everyone's budget is circa £10 it's quite difficult to think of 20 odd suggestions to add to the list (bath bombs though feature heavily this year as the dd's lurve them and they vanish hurrah!). Last year one relative bought theatre vouchers - hallelujah they were gratefully received and dd5 is so excited to go and see something.

I'm fairly ruthless with toys but am still drowning in them. But things that have helped include kallaz style unit, anything broken that can't be easily fixed is in the bin. I sell old toys/duplicates/any toys I don't approve of at nct sales (can't sell on Facebook as family members are in the same selling groups so will see 👀), hide toys away and if dcs forget they are sold/charity shopped.

Yes I'm a mean grinch.

If you are having anxiety in July about getting too much toys for Christmas now is the perfect time to put a stop to excessive gifting.
Ask people not to buy gifts , I suspect people will be glad not to buy anyway as people may be struggling financially after the pandemic .

I have 2 boys and their birthdays are December 23rd and the other is Christmas Day... I'm dreading Christmas this year I'll have nowhere to put toys
I'm going to maybe get clothes for both of them and maybe a toy each but nothing excessive

I would talk to gift givers about your lack of space. They could get:

Activity presents (e.g. tickets to somewhere of a future day out).
Clothes
Duvet cover set
Swimming bag and toys
Art for bedroom
Things that can be used up (playdoh, craft set)

We have a ruthless clear out the week before Christmas and donate anything in decent condition to a local play group.