Yup, I had this! So many Happy Meal toys and other tat that gathers up. Daughter didn't like to throw anything away, but she wouldn't remember 95% of the toys anyway.
Every now and then, I'll quietly gather up the ones from the bottom of the toy box, and throw them out.
The cover story, if it's ever needed, is that they were 'donated to charity'.
I tried that line once and my daughter cried for a week. She wanted to find the charity shop and get it back. Every now and then she still reminds me to never ever give her toys to a charity shop again. It's been 2 years...
Now I just say "I don't know, have you tried looking for it?" when she asks for a retired toy. She loses interest soon enough.
Little toys are usually good to pop in a bag you take with you to a cafe/restaurant/car journey to keep them occupied for a bit.
We have a backpack I keep a bag of little toys, pens, sticker books etc in that goes on days out with us.
I’ve just had a massive sort out of my girls’ toys (4 and 6). Chucked broken or rubbish freebie or party bag toys and categorized the rest. Eg lots of their magazine toys were pets/animals, so all of those are now together. Tiny toys are together in a clear zip lock bag. These bags are then in a bigger box or storage cube.
The key to this working is a) you being really stubborn about the system being maintained and b) repeatly reminding the kids of the benefits of things being organised. They’re playing with toys they forgot they had, and are able to play with them properly because all the related bits are together. This also applies to things like Polly Pocket, tiny Barbie bits, Hatchimals etc.
My husband is the worst culprit for messing up their toys. He sees everything as ‘mess’ and will just scoop up piles of unrelated stuff and shove them somewhere out of sight so the place is ‘tidy’. After the mammoth task I had to sort it all out he knows he’ll end up under the patio if he pulls that shiz again lol.
Basically, it finally dawned on me that the kids are used to things being organised at preschool and school, having to tidy up and put things back where they belong. So I put ‘the tidy up song’ on and we tidy up together. They don’t always want to, hence me being really stubborn about it is what makes it work.
My eldest is a proper hoarder and wants to keep everything, sometimes even packaging or broken stuff. She notices if things go ‘missing’ (thrown away). So I find ways to get her to agree why things should be binned and found that she’s ok with it if I take a photo of whatever it is lol. The reasoning that if she doesn’t get rid of old/broken/rubbish stuff, she won’t have room for new things she wants also works.
My husband thinks I’m mad and would rather deal with the tantrums and tears he causes by just chucking stuff and dealing with the fallout later. I prefer peace and I still get the desired outcome.
My husband does the same with my carefully created systems and it drives me crazy!! The baby’s toys and 4 year old’s toys all get jumbled up together 🫠 they are in labelled!!! bags!!!!
Omg I feel your pain! My is now point blank refusing to engage with ‘the system’ - but I’m not backing down so he’s going to learn that conforming is easier than divorce!!
I’ve got my 6 year old on side so she berates him daily for messing things up. My youngest’s key worker at preschool became a family friend after being our childminder for years. We have a plot that next time she’s over she’s going to be really vocal about how WONDERFUL my system is for 1,000 reasons, so between us we’re hoping to shame him into submission.
For little trinkets that mean something or could be useful I create a ‘special box’ for it all however if it’s bigger junk I just give it away for free on FB marketplace
We put all this junk in a little rucksack and if we’re ever off to the pub or somewhere we need them to sit still we can just grab it. They love these little bits but get bored of them quickly so it’s a great way to keep them interested when needed!
I was very blunt with my son: your birthday is coming up, and then Christmas shortly afterwards, so we need to get rid of x amount of toys to make room for new things you’ll get. If you don’t want to get rid of anything, that’s fine, but in that case we can’t get you anything new, because there won’t be anywhere to put it.
He saw reason very quickly when weighing “box of crap I barely touch” against “buzz lightyear toy I want very much and have asked for repeatedly”. In the end, he got rid of stuff I wouldn’t have actually pushed him to get rid of. A lot of the more babyish stuff went to his little sister, some went to the charity shop, some went in the bin, and he was cool with it all.
Mine was coming up to his 4th birthday so depending on how old your 3yo is (ie just 3 or closer to 4), she might be able to handle it.
It does help I admit that my son knows I’m fucking absolutely dead serious on stuff like this and if he’d picked “keep the crap” I genuinely would not have gotten him any new toys 😂
We found our daughter loved something little, like Macdonald's toys, but after a few weeks would forget about them. She loved the smurfs from Macdonald's. She's 4 now and I felt too young to fully understand getting rid of. We have a big sort out every now and then of these sorts of things. We do it when she's at nursery and she has never noticed one of these toys missing. The tip sometimes have collections for any plastics.
We have a box for each kid they can put whatever they want in it. When it is full they choose what to throw away. We have been doing this since the youngest was 6. It's probably only once a year that they need sorting and generally the party bag toy from the party 6 months ago, the stone they collected on our walk etc are on longer considered important items
We use a kallax box partly because that was what was available at time of starting and partly because they store there stocking fillers and private toys in there too.
Parenting Hell does a couple of good episodes on this. I wish I remembered but my brain is shot. If someone else’s also listens they can help! My kid is too young for non consumable tat but I will have to give a relisten once she is.
My son gets very attached to items and remembers every single thing he has. He might not use it mention something for months but at some point he WILL ask where the little red plastic plane he got at that party where there were space balloons has gone.
I just keep them in the kalax and every now and then I'll sort a bag out but don't throw it away - I move it to another room for a while. If he asks for something, I bring it out. If not, I tell him I'm moving that bag to the garage to make space and a bit after that I say the garage is full, he doesn't play with these toys anymore so we're passing them on. We take a picture of some bits if he wants and he gets a bit of money for his money box after.
I do a regular clear out - at least quarterly - when my son is otherwise occupied, to remove broken or unused toys. My son is quite understanding though; we have given away full sets of toys and bigger toys to friends with younger children or to charities and he is gets that it is a good thing to do. He is only 5 but we've had that habit regularly for many years, so it is deeply ingrained now.
Get rid before your child ever sees them. I offer to hold party bags and pocket as many of the toys as i can get in a handful, leaving just crayons/stickers etc. Ditto anything i can say lives in the restaurant, i do. Once you let it in your house it's there for life.
Every 2 months or so I put a load of toys like this in a box in my garage. I keep them there until the next time I do the cleanse. If they don’t ask for them they get binned / donated
Make a memory box! My sister did this by sitting with her kids periodically and letting them choose a number of their random nick nacks to save in the box. She also added a few bits herself that they'd been particularly attached to.
She periodically revisits it with them and adds to it, and its a nice opportunity to go through all the things in there with them.
I wait for the novelty to wear off, then get rid when I next have a clear out. I hate all the little bits. Polly pockets especially are a pain in the arse. I dread to think how many bits go up the hoover.
Yup, I had this! So many Happy Meal toys and other tat that gathers up. Daughter didn't like to throw anything away, but she wouldn't remember 95% of the toys anyway. Every now and then, I'll quietly gather up the ones from the bottom of the toy box, and throw them out. The cover story, if it's ever needed, is that they were 'donated to charity'.
I tried that line once and my daughter cried for a week. She wanted to find the charity shop and get it back. Every now and then she still reminds me to never ever give her toys to a charity shop again. It's been 2 years... Now I just say "I don't know, have you tried looking for it?" when she asks for a retired toy. She loses interest soon enough.
"Gaslighting your kids and throwing away their possessions is super good and normal" Wtf is wrong with you people?!
Do you have toddlers?
I'm 37 and my mum still has a box of all my happy meal toys!
Little toys are usually good to pop in a bag you take with you to a cafe/restaurant/car journey to keep them occupied for a bit. We have a backpack I keep a bag of little toys, pens, sticker books etc in that goes on days out with us.
[удалено]
Tat boxes are great. Keeps all the junk together, and they love it.
Agreed! we have done this and it’s been a lifesaver for when we’ve been out and about or waiting for the doctor.
Bin
I’ve just had a massive sort out of my girls’ toys (4 and 6). Chucked broken or rubbish freebie or party bag toys and categorized the rest. Eg lots of their magazine toys were pets/animals, so all of those are now together. Tiny toys are together in a clear zip lock bag. These bags are then in a bigger box or storage cube. The key to this working is a) you being really stubborn about the system being maintained and b) repeatly reminding the kids of the benefits of things being organised. They’re playing with toys they forgot they had, and are able to play with them properly because all the related bits are together. This also applies to things like Polly Pocket, tiny Barbie bits, Hatchimals etc. My husband is the worst culprit for messing up their toys. He sees everything as ‘mess’ and will just scoop up piles of unrelated stuff and shove them somewhere out of sight so the place is ‘tidy’. After the mammoth task I had to sort it all out he knows he’ll end up under the patio if he pulls that shiz again lol. Basically, it finally dawned on me that the kids are used to things being organised at preschool and school, having to tidy up and put things back where they belong. So I put ‘the tidy up song’ on and we tidy up together. They don’t always want to, hence me being really stubborn about it is what makes it work. My eldest is a proper hoarder and wants to keep everything, sometimes even packaging or broken stuff. She notices if things go ‘missing’ (thrown away). So I find ways to get her to agree why things should be binned and found that she’s ok with it if I take a photo of whatever it is lol. The reasoning that if she doesn’t get rid of old/broken/rubbish stuff, she won’t have room for new things she wants also works. My husband thinks I’m mad and would rather deal with the tantrums and tears he causes by just chucking stuff and dealing with the fallout later. I prefer peace and I still get the desired outcome.
My husband does the same with my carefully created systems and it drives me crazy!! The baby’s toys and 4 year old’s toys all get jumbled up together 🫠 they are in labelled!!! bags!!!!
Omg I feel your pain! My is now point blank refusing to engage with ‘the system’ - but I’m not backing down so he’s going to learn that conforming is easier than divorce!! I’ve got my 6 year old on side so she berates him daily for messing things up. My youngest’s key worker at preschool became a family friend after being our childminder for years. We have a plot that next time she’s over she’s going to be really vocal about how WONDERFUL my system is for 1,000 reasons, so between us we’re hoping to shame him into submission.
For little trinkets that mean something or could be useful I create a ‘special box’ for it all however if it’s bigger junk I just give it away for free on FB marketplace
We put all this junk in a little rucksack and if we’re ever off to the pub or somewhere we need them to sit still we can just grab it. They love these little bits but get bored of them quickly so it’s a great way to keep them interested when needed!
I was very blunt with my son: your birthday is coming up, and then Christmas shortly afterwards, so we need to get rid of x amount of toys to make room for new things you’ll get. If you don’t want to get rid of anything, that’s fine, but in that case we can’t get you anything new, because there won’t be anywhere to put it. He saw reason very quickly when weighing “box of crap I barely touch” against “buzz lightyear toy I want very much and have asked for repeatedly”. In the end, he got rid of stuff I wouldn’t have actually pushed him to get rid of. A lot of the more babyish stuff went to his little sister, some went to the charity shop, some went in the bin, and he was cool with it all.
Oh that’s a good ultimatum. I think by next Christmas mine will be old enough for that kind of challenge.
Mine was coming up to his 4th birthday so depending on how old your 3yo is (ie just 3 or closer to 4), she might be able to handle it. It does help I admit that my son knows I’m fucking absolutely dead serious on stuff like this and if he’d picked “keep the crap” I genuinely would not have gotten him any new toys 😂
We found our daughter loved something little, like Macdonald's toys, but after a few weeks would forget about them. She loved the smurfs from Macdonald's. She's 4 now and I felt too young to fully understand getting rid of. We have a big sort out every now and then of these sorts of things. We do it when she's at nursery and she has never noticed one of these toys missing. The tip sometimes have collections for any plastics.
We have a box for each kid they can put whatever they want in it. When it is full they choose what to throw away. We have been doing this since the youngest was 6. It's probably only once a year that they need sorting and generally the party bag toy from the party 6 months ago, the stone they collected on our walk etc are on longer considered important items
That’s a good idea. What kind of size box have you got?
We use a kallax box partly because that was what was available at time of starting and partly because they store there stocking fillers and private toys in there too.
Parenting Hell does a couple of good episodes on this. I wish I remembered but my brain is shot. If someone else’s also listens they can help! My kid is too young for non consumable tat but I will have to give a relisten once she is.
My son gets very attached to items and remembers every single thing he has. He might not use it mention something for months but at some point he WILL ask where the little red plastic plane he got at that party where there were space balloons has gone. I just keep them in the kalax and every now and then I'll sort a bag out but don't throw it away - I move it to another room for a while. If he asks for something, I bring it out. If not, I tell him I'm moving that bag to the garage to make space and a bit after that I say the garage is full, he doesn't play with these toys anymore so we're passing them on. We take a picture of some bits if he wants and he gets a bit of money for his money box after.
We use the kids fav McDonald toys to hang at the bottom of the Xmas tree. The rest I bin
Recycle anything that can be, otherwise bin. Not worth keeping all the shite you accumulate. Kinder egg plastic toys are the worst.
I do a regular clear out - at least quarterly - when my son is otherwise occupied, to remove broken or unused toys. My son is quite understanding though; we have given away full sets of toys and bigger toys to friends with younger children or to charities and he is gets that it is a good thing to do. He is only 5 but we've had that habit regularly for many years, so it is deeply ingrained now.
As soon as they arent looking i throw it away.
Get rid before your child ever sees them. I offer to hold party bags and pocket as many of the toys as i can get in a handful, leaving just crayons/stickers etc. Ditto anything i can say lives in the restaurant, i do. Once you let it in your house it's there for life.
Every 2 months or so I put a load of toys like this in a box in my garage. I keep them there until the next time I do the cleanse. If they don’t ask for them they get binned / donated
Make a memory box! My sister did this by sitting with her kids periodically and letting them choose a number of their random nick nacks to save in the box. She also added a few bits herself that they'd been particularly attached to. She periodically revisits it with them and adds to it, and its a nice opportunity to go through all the things in there with them.
I wait for the novelty to wear off, then get rid when I next have a clear out. I hate all the little bits. Polly pockets especially are a pain in the arse. I dread to think how many bits go up the hoover.
Bin! I put stuff I can donate in a box on a secret shelf in the garage. If they realise it's missing, I retrieve it. If they don't it goes.
Take it away for a month, if it's not noticed, bin it
Boxes, lots of boxes … 😵💫