H and B have a ridiculous amount of toys. And it's crazy, because 3 months ago we literally got rid of pretty much everything, with the exception of wooden blocks, puzzles, and few other miscellaneous things. And in the three months since, we've managed to accumulate even more than what they previous had.
Certainly the holidays and amazing well-loving family and friends have helped. And it's, of course, greatly appreciated. But J and I also have a problem buying our kids things.
To the extreme.
We're not big holiday gift-givers. For some reason it just seems to not be our thing. We buy gifts for our friends and families, but not really for each other or the kids.
But we do buy year round. We haven't yet gotten to the ages where our kids really ask for things. But we still buy them things.
All the time.
When we feel like it.
When we see something we like.
When we see something we think they would like.
When it's appropriate and a decent price.
All the time.
A huge part of it is simply from our childhoods. J grew up poor. He basically had no toys.
I certainly had toys, but not to the same extent as a lot of kids, and not when I was really small.
Neither one of us begrudge our childhoods for their lack of toys.
And yet we want to give, give, give to our kids. We give them incredible amounts of time and attention, too, which we weren't terribly privy to as kids. So it's not like we just buy them things and expect them to go away. I spend the majority of my day playing with our kids. Other than when B takes his 45 minute nap which currently = quiet TV time for H (she loves that TV is being allowed inside during this time instead of solely in the car) when I take time to do chores and blog, as well as the hour I spend at the gym each day while the kids play at the play 'n learn center (which they love), I'm playing with them all. day. long. So trust me, they're not deprived of attention.
And pretty much every awake moment that J is home for is dedicated to the kids. He's playing with them from the second he gets home, before he has a chance to put down his bags or take off his shoes.
And logically, even academically, I know this all that they need. In fact, it's probably a bit too much and we should encourage them to play more on their own. But we like playing with them. It's why we had them, we say.
The toys, they are all just extra.
A lot of times I think they would be better off with fewer toys. That they don't really need our entire dining room turned play room, as well as our living room, full of stuff. But then when I think, "What would I get rid?" I just can't. In my defense, they really do play with it all.
I read the book "Simplicity Parenting" about a year ago and I really love it. Mostly because I would love to be a minimalist, and the book is about minimalist parenting. Love it.
But it will never happen. I'm great at getting rid of my stuff, but not the kids. I've done a lot of purging this past year. I condensed my books to two bookshelves when it was once three overflowing bookshelves. So now one book case holds the kids' games and "educational" materials.
I have less clothes than my husband! How many women can say that? My clothes take up about 1/4 of our closet space. But I really only have about 7 "fall/winter" tops. And 3 pairs of jeans. I have quite a few other shirts floating in there, many that I should pitch still, as I haven't worn them despite thinking I would. Last summer I had two pairs of shorts.
Now you want to talk swim suits it's a different ball game. It's pretty much the only thing I have more than J of. Because I have a weird obsession with them. But even there I've purged a lot.
Although they have way more clothes than me, I easily get rid of the kids' clothes as they outgrow them.
But toys. Oh, no! I just cannot part with those.
So I'm just going to hope that having so many toys isn't somehow damaging. I mean, I've read plenty of things that say with so many toys babes don't play with them all. They don't use their imaginations as much. They don't have the "gift of boredom."
But they do play with them. They do have amazing imaginations. And they even do tell me they're bored on occasion.
Or maybe that's just me justifying my own need to give, give, give to them.
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