DECLUTTERING YOUR LIFE....TOYS!

After 6 weeks you've done 9 different things to DECLUTTER your life!

You have:

1. TAKEN OUT THE TRASH
2. STOPPED THE SPENDING
3. ORGANIZED A JUNK DRAWER
4. TURNED ALL YOUR HANGERS BACKWARDS
5. CONTROLLED THE MOUNTAINS OF PAPERS
6. STARTED USING TRASH, KEEP, DONATE BOXES.
7. SORTED YOUR BOOKS
8. CLEANED OUT YOUR LINEN CLOSETS
9. MADE YOUR PANTRY MORE MANAGEABLE

Now it's time to tackle all the TOYS!

Are you feeling buried alive??

There are three different ways that I purge in this area.

The first way is to go through everything with my children and ask them if there is anything they don't need or want anymore. They usually come up with a few items on their own for the donate pile. My 5 year old has 100,000,000 cars. Occasionally, we dump out his gigantic box and I say, "Pick your top 5 favorite cars." We put those back in the box. Then I say, "Now pick 5 that you don't really play with anymore, that you would like to give to kids that don't have any toys."  I put these in another box. We continue through his entire stash. If at any time he says, "Mom, I don't want to give away any more." then I stop. It works pretty well and we usually come up with a full plastic bag for donating.

The second way is to pack up about half of their toys, that I know they don't play with very much, or have grown out of and put them in the attic for about 3 months. I do let them know I am doing this. At the end of the 3 months we go through the toys together and they usually find a few things they are excited about rediscovering again and the other items they agree can be donated.

The third way....some of you are not going to like this....is going through the toys when my kids are not at home.

Come on now....we all know those items that just take up space that aren't going to be missed. How many Happy Meal toys do you have laying around your house right now? See! I knew you could come up with a few things that are....let's be honest....useless, dirty, broken and not worth (even emotionally) the plastic they were made out of. 

On the other hand, both my boys have special toys that they have had since they were babies (special stuffed animals, a blanket, a puzzle of their name etc.) that are very special to them that I would never consider throwing out. They each have a SPECIAL box of items and it is theirs to do with as they like. 

I take this time to go through things buried in their closets, under their beds, in jammed drawers and in all their bins and baskets they are hoarding. I tend to find broken pieces, widgets from store dispensers, hard play dough, dried out markers, candy and old birthday party bags.

Believe me, they will never miss them!

Here is how I organize my five year old son's toys.

 This is my favorite piece for storing smaller toys.

 We also have this piece of furniture, which can be placed upright or turned on it's side.

We also have these in their bedrooms for stuffed animals.

My 10 year old son likes to keep all his stuff in his room.

Family games are kept on a shelf in the closet, so that pieces don't get lost.

Along with not worrying about how to fold a fitted sheet, I also don't stress myself about how tidy my boys rooms are. They don't smell, food is not allowed, the beds are changed and floors are vacuumed once a week and the stinky clothes are (usually) in the hamper. Other than that, it's pretty much left alone.

So, that's where we're at. I've had fun doing this series and I'm sure I'll post more. Let me know if you have more questions or need help in a particular area.

HAPPY PURGING!