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The Toy Dilemma!

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When friends walk into my house, the words I dread hearing the most are, “You have so many toys!” I look around and embarrassingly agree, Yes, we do have a lot of toys. Toys that I don’t know what to do with that have somehow piled up over the years. I’ve found more ways to organize them with cute storage bins and discrete compartments disguised as something functionable. And no matter how many toys we give away to local second hand stores like Once Upon a Child, or throw into boxes ready for Goodwill, they still seem to pile up. One year, I tried giving to a local giving tree. My kids were inspired to wrap up toys they no longer wanted, ready to hand off to a child in need. I was impressed with their motivation and I saw change coming. This is it! We are going somewhere! I thought. Although it was a great learning experience (and I must admit, fun for all of us) it didn’t last long. We continued on with bad habits and the toys continued to grow. Not to mention, adding another little one to the equation didn’t help our toy problem. One of my family members and I joked about this real-life toy dilemma, laughing it off like we are defeated and this is life now. They mentioned how they still have birthday and Christmas gifts that their kids haven't opened. Their idea was to re-wrap and put it under the tree for another holiday. Midway through laughing, I thought, That’s really not a terrible idea. Kids don’t need a whole lot, and more than likely, they won’t ever get to play with everything they have and will forget about it and move on. Therefore rotating toys throughout the year is also a great idea rather than buying new to downsize the clutter. See, I’m full of great ideas - it’s a matter of acting on them that’s the problem. Talking to other moms and dads, I found I wasn’t the only one in a rut. We all are in it, but I was inspired to hear how some parents clean house and proactively rotate and give away toys on a regular basis. I encourage everyone (including myself) to take the little time you have throughout the day or week and set aside toys your kids no longer need or play with. There are lots of toy drives happening throughout the holiday season (check out our roundup on page 6); plus knowing Christmas is around the corner, it’s a great time to clear out some old toys before Santa brings the new ones. Here are some ways we can get started: • Talk to kids about giving away toys. • Ask your kids what their favorite three or four toys are. • Separate items into like categories, then declutter. • Give your kids choices and set limits. • While the kids are in school, declutter the “junk” first. As we all inspire each other this year to go out with the old and in with the new, I would love to hear about how you declutter (or at least attempt to) your toy dilemma. Tell me all about it by emailing me at amandahayward@daycommedia.com. Happy giving everyone!

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