One of Ryan's most commonly used phrases over the last several years has been, "Keep It Simple, Stupid!" I assure you, this is not directed at me. He is not calling me stupid. We just look at some families around us and see how over scheduled they are, how much "stuff" they have, how many sports their kids are involved in and so on. I realized that some families just work well that way, but we are not one of them. We strongly feel that the simpler you life it, the better and happier you will be. We always try to keep our "things" down to a minimum and our schedules at an appropriate (for us!) level. As we've been reevaluation several aspects of our lives, we came to to conclusion that we have somehow lost our minimalist attitude when it comes to the kids toys. Admittedly, buying toys for our kids is our biggest weakness. Combine that with out of control grandparents (you know who you are!) and we've landed ourselves in what looks like a day care center on some days! I went on a rampage this weekend clearing out toys we don't use and/or don't need. Gavin was so awesome during the whole process. He was willing to give up so much with little to no complaining about it. This mama was proud! I feel like the decluttering felt so good that I am moving to other areas of our house this week to see what else I can pare down! So, that's what we've been up to. We're tryin' to "keep it simple" over here!
I emptied out this entire bin full of toys - Charlotte isn't quite sure what is going on!
Here's a load of stuff that I am going to either sell on Craigslist or in a garage sale
I don't feel even the least bit bad for getting rid of toys because this is what my kids end up doing all day anyway!
That's almost 9 feet up!
I emptied out this entire bin full of toys - Charlotte isn't quite sure what is going on!
Here's a load of stuff that I am going to either sell on Craigslist or in a garage sale
That's almost 9 feet up!
6 comments:
That's awesome! Way to go on the de-cluttering! I've been doing some myself as I unpack boxes and settle in Boston. Today I threw away some nail polish that was sooooo old! I have no idea why I was keeping it!
Wanna come over and declutter my house next? :) I hear you, I too LOVE the decluttering process and afterglow but these days my "keeping it simple" mantra is to just try and keep my family fed and my kitchen and bathroom clean. :)
Btw, Gavin is an incredible climber!
wish we could come to your garrage sale!!! i just bought a bunch of new to us toys at a garrage sale Friday. it is hard work keeping six kids busy for the summer. plus we are very hard on toys, so most go in the trash (that is how we declutter.) but i am right with you... too much in our schedule is too hard on our family. we try to keep our home and life as simple as we can.
I TOTALLY agree with you. We have very few toys and I love it. I have had several people tell me that when they walk into my 600 sq. ft home, they can hardly tell kids live here. Don't get me wrong, my children have plenty to play with and are not deprived. But we keep everything in a toy box or in crates on a shelf my husband built. If we have more than what fits in those places than we have to get rid of something. I almost don't want to throw my kid's a bday party with their friends because of all the stuff they'll end up getting!
Nice work! I am doing some of my own this summer to clear a little space for Rose ;) --how in in the world did Gavin get up there?! I am impressed!
I hear you! I need to get into our kids playroom here soon and pack away the baby toys and pare down what is in there! You're right, kids don't play with their stuff as much as they try to climb, imagine, run in the summertime, especially. And when they do sit down to play, they really only play with a few things over & over.
We did have one little boy over who asked "where are all your toys?" after he got every.single.toy. out of the bins by DUMPING them. I would sure hate to be his mom, cleaning all that up x100 (with what I know he has - a huge stash of toys)
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