It’s almost moving day. What in the world was I thinking? Who moves in the middle of December, right before Christmas, in the snowblowing region of Northeast Ohio?
That would be us. My family. Don’t get me wrong, we are very excited for our new home, but I gotta admit, I underestimated the amount of work that goes into moving.
How soon we forget — especially since this time around, we now have tons of kid stuff to move in the process. As I was taking inventory of everything I wanted to take to our new home, I couldn’t help but notice the abundance of toys we’d accumulated throughout the years. It’s even worse because I am terrible at periodic purging, or helping to reassemble toys before we put them away. As a result, this makes for a ton of incomplete puzzles, broken crayons, mismatched Barbies, and just an overall mess. It’s too much and I’m over it, I have begun THE PURGE.
This Christmas, we’ll be giving away a lot of my kids’ toys. As a family, we’ve really started talking more and more about kids and families who are less fortunate than us — and I think it’s starting to sink in with my daughters.
About once a week before the move, we filled some “give away” bags with things with which we’d like to bless others. It was a great way for them to go through their own things and make decisions about whether they still play (or need) an item or if another child who doesn’t have as much would enjoy it more. One day, I even found my 5-year-old in her room filling a bag for the kids on her own, without me even asking. We then would give them to Goodwill or The City Mission (donatestuff.com).
This is a whole new journey for us, but my goal this year for my kids is to try to only keep the items that I feel encourage their imagination and that they actually play with — and the same goes for new toys. Why am I doing this? To declutter my home and give back, yes, but it’s also for them, too. There is just so much for kids to have these days when it comes to toys, especially when you add digital devices in the mix. I guess I’m hoping less is more. I think back to when I was growing up — I played dress up in my mom’s clothes, played outside with other kids, made mud pies, and used my imagination. I want my kids to experience that, too.
Anyone else planning on giving away toys this holiday season? What is your method? I’d love to hear from you!
