How to declutter toys

In the USA we live in a culture that makes you feel like you have to have all these things and puts a lot of pressure on moms to entertain their children with stuff but this, I've found, has more often than not just added stress and mess to mom's lives rather than relieving it. One thing I have noticed is that some of my daughter's favorite things to play with are the things we already had in our home too so why spend the extras money on things to just sit around and not be used? So, I decided to simplify my life by removing many of my daughter's toys. Research shows that the amount of stress a mom experiences is directly related to the amount of clutter they are surrounded by each day. If you're a mom, you know kids can make a mess really easily and out of what seems like nothing let alone if they have options, so I think this is a great place to start. This not only will benefit you as a mother though it will benefit the whole family.

How can this benefit my children?

Watch your kids the next time they are "playing" with they're toys are they calm, happy, sharing, and actually using them or do they seem overwhelmed, stressed, arguing, and just pulling them all out? One way I know my daughter had more toys than she really needed was because she really didn't (and honestly most of the time still doesn't, although she plays more now that she has less) play with them she would just get all of them out and then move on. So, I began to as myself why do I have these if we just play this back-and-forth game of pulling everything out for me to put it all back? The other thing I have noticed is my daughter seems less over stimulated with less toys around too. Many other parents with more children also report their children fighting less and playing better together with less toys around. These are just a few reasons to get rid of many of your child's toys.

How can my husband and I benefit from this?

The biggest thing is you will have less messes to see, walk around, and if you have smaller children to clean up each day. Even if my daughter gets out all of the toys in a given room, I can put them all away in about 10 minutes or less and I usually have her pick up her toys or pick them up twice a day, before nap and before bed and some days we don't have to clean up anything accept maybe the pillows off of the couch because those are some of her favorite things to play with. Another way moms specifically benefit is less clutter often equals less stress and if you are less stressed you are more joyful and have more capacity to focus on the things in your life that matter. This in turn will benefit dad because if mom is not super stressed and overstimulated when dad gets home from work you will likely have a much better and more enjoyable evening together as a family and as a couple.

So, how do I do this?

The best place to start is with anything that's broken or missing pieces because it's easy, its trash and you can easily tell that to your kids that too. The next suggestion is to create a designated space for the toys and if you're doing it with your kids tell them this is the space you have, whatever fits you get to keep, whatever doesn't fit needs to go. This might be a shelf, bin, toy box whatever you decide but you have to create a boundary for the toys. This is also really helpful because then you don't have to be the bad guy, the container is. This is called the container concept, for more on that check out this video The Container Concept Explained.  You can use this tactic with or without your kids and you as the parent know them best, so you will know whether or not you should include them in the task. If the thought of tackling your whole toy pile seems like an overwhelming impossible mess, then just do 5 minutes a day, find a few things you know can go and be content to know that your five minutes closer to your goal of a simpler and cleaner home.

Speaking of goals it can be helpful to set some too. Where do you want to be? Do you want everything to fit nicely in your playroom, on this open shelf, in that toy box? Do you want to be able to have all the toys picked up in 15 minutes at the end of the day? 10?  Setting goals like this can help you keep focused and give you the motivation to keep going when it stars feeling hard. Lastly, remember that decluttering is an ongoing process so even after you have achieved your main goal you will occasionally need to go back in and move things out to maintain, especially around birthdays or holidays. Your children can help with this too and using the "one in, one out" rule can help you stay on top of the stuff around those special times. Another thing you will need to do is stop shopping, just because something looks cool in the store, is on sale or free even on the side of the road, or your child shows interest doesn't mean they need it in your home and if your child does show interest in something it's okay to wait it out a bit to make sure it is somethings they will actually enjoy before you purchase that thing.

I hope this helped you take the plunge and ditch the stress of too many toys in your home and if you don't yet have children or you're in the grandparent stage of life this might be helpful for you to know what to actually get for other people's children for celebrations (hint, experiences are way better than material things).