I have been MIA lately. Fortunately things have turned at work and I have meaningful work to do now thanks to my ex-sister-in-law. And no, I don’t mean that sarcastically. We both had the misfortune of being married to brothers, which we have both divorced now. So we have that common bond and working together never has been an issue at all.
I was catching up on some of my favorite blogs today and skipping over to some favorite blogs of the bloggers I follow. I found this post that really hit home with me. TOY OVERLOAD! I have often joked about my house looking as though Toys-R-Us exploded. At some point after Christmas as I was trying to get all of the toys from the living room to my son’s room it dawned on me that he didn’t play with the toys he had, is he going to play with the new toys? Sure he liked the train set for a couple of weeks. Now it is in a box in his closet. There is a toy chest in his room. It hasn’t been opened in a month. He does play with a simple Thomas the Train and three cars that attach. And he has been inseparable from a dragon from his Happy Meal on Sunday. But what does he play with? A rock, magnets on the refrigerator, a string, the sofa cushions. Mostly he uses his imagination. And that is what I need to encourage. So I am vowing to (A) not pick up that toy at Target just because I think he will like it (which he would for maybe a day) and (B) when I buy a toy try to get things that will encourage imagination. Puzzles, books, simple toys.
Here is a link that I was referring to:
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Hi Kristin - I so appreciated your comment on my guest post at Amber's place that I decided to click over to your blog. Thank you so much for continuing the conversation about toy overload over here!
I think your realization here is such an important and universal one: if our kids don't play with the things they already have, what makes us think they're going to play with the new stuff we get them? Great point!
This is a big soapbox issue for me! Great post! I am a play therapist, so I do a play post regularly...the toy thing is out of control! My big tip? Save the toy purchases for xmas and for birthdays. For my kiddo on his birthday he gets gifts from us and his grandparents but his friends are asked to bring donations to a local charity in lieu of gifts.
It's good to "see" you again! I've been out for awhile too. Work is crazy!
Best,
Tina
I do a "sweep" of all my daughter's toys every few months! I can't stand to have clutter! It can totally sneak up on you though!! Right now, I've got to box up about three tubs of toys to go in the attic for the next consignment sale. Eesh. One thing that I always do that seems to help is put up about half of her Christmas in the top of her closet. On days when she seems bored, I pull down one. That way, she can devote her whole attention to one toy at a time. Christmas and Birthdays are just TOY OVERLOAD for our family, so spacing it out throughout the year really helps. It still drives me nuts that they never play with the most expensive toys. Give my child some marti gras beads and she's good to go for hours. :) Great to hear from you again!
His birthday and Christmas are 6 weeks apart. I let him go ahead and unwrap everything. Then when he isn't looking I sneak some of the presents into a guest room closet and pull them out throughout the year.
I am guilty of not getting rid of toys because of IF we have another baby and IF it is a boy. But it just occurred to me that he will end up receiving toys too. But odds are he will only want to play with what big brother is playing with anyway. OK after we finish our outside projects, I will be boxing up for the fall consignment sales! Thanks for all of the feedback everyone!