Am I a mean mum or do you do this?

[linzoid]

Just had a massive clear out of the cupboards and the kids bedrooms. I have put loads of toys and stuff in bags for charity and some just away in a cupboard under the stairs. I don't like having sooo many toys all over the house and christmas is coming but i reckon when the boys come home from school they will moan like mad, their rooms are still full and it's only really stuff they rarely play with. I'm not sure kids really need tons of toys, do you keep your kids toys to their rooms or do you have kitchen cupboards full up with them too like us? Think the charity shop is getting a good deal actually as theres some good stuff in there.

Of course you are not a mean mum. I figure that while my ds is searching for the wheel-less car I threw away yesterday, he will find fifty other interesting toys and forget all about it.

We used to have a dining room before ds was born, now we have to wade through train sets, tricyles and hundreds of cars to get to the table.

When I was little my mum used to give each of us a cardboard box just before Christmas and tell us it had to be filled with old toys for charity to make room for the new ones.

Lin I do it every xmas. You arent mean at all. x

yes. I take it to the Gps so they can play there!

I also do a pre-Christmas clear out but only with the boys help. I insist they each fill a box but I don't tell them what to give up and I wouldn't give anything away without their permission. I figure it's their stuff and one mothers junk is another boys treasure!

Nerdgirl / Janstar - very good idea & when Lottie is older I'll do that with her.

Kind of on that subject - my friend keeps back some Xmas presents to then give out throughout the year to her little girl. Kids get so much stuff that it can be overwhelming at Xmas. Her little girls still opens about 20 presents on the day but then 12 or so could be held back for a new toy to open and play with once a month.... just an idea thrown in to be thrown out again!

Defintiely not mean, we've sent a few bits in the christmas shoebox appeal, very proud of dd as she went through and sorted out which could and what couldn't go.

nerdgirl, I wish my mum had been like you She used to go through our things without asking. I still remember being home from school sick & going with mum to her playgroup only to find my favourite toy cat in the toybox there. (It came home again under my jumper!!)

To this day I horde stuff & can't bear to throw anything away & I'm sure it's because my things were not treated as personal when I was little. (I also never insist my children share because I can't bear sharing my things!!)

If I ask my 2 they don't want to part with anything. Every now & again I gather a bag for the charity shop, unbeknown to them. I then leave it under the stairs for a week or 2 if nothing is missed then it goes. If something is missed/requested I "find" it, but they don't know where from.