I am a SAHM of 3 boys. Two are in school (5 and 12 yr) and I have a two year old too.The 12 yr old is not into toys and has got rid of his by himself. The 5yr old is in kidergarten all day. I recently have decided to pare down the toys. REALLY pare down. I got rid of 1/2 of the toys in a garage sale earlier this summer and am doing it again right now. How many toys is too much ....or enough..depending on how you look at it? Supernanny would say 10 toys each, but is that crazy? Does anyone else have a hard time getting rid of thousands of dollars of toys that are basically new?

Any suggestions and/or opinions welcome!

I am in your shoes. I feel SO guilty when I get rid of stuff, but darn it, all they do is make a mess that I get to deal with! LOL So, yes, I pared down...a lot. I got rid of tons of little things...all but a small box of legos (a MANAGEABLE box), puzzles, matchbox cards, etc. We went and bought storage boxes..just bigger than Daddy's size shoebox...and we keep them labeled..and seperated. If something that belongs in that category doesn't fit, we take out and give away something old until we have room. It has been a HUGE help. I just this weekend got rid of one bigger thing, too. I sold a really cute and like new doll center. It was precious...looked precious in my youngest daughters' room. BUT, they never played with it...and once I got it out of there, they have the room to play with their doll houses..which is their favorite toy..and they can keep it all together in one spot now. It was WONDERFUL to go upstairs after them today and find it all compact and again, MANAGEABLE!! I think 10 toy limit is a bit much, but I do think kids have WAY too much...and once they start in school, especially, there is just so little time for them to play with it. Just my thoughts...

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I am constantly trying to simplify around our house. I don't mind keeping any toys the kids play with, but the ones that don't hold their interest for more than a few minutes... those I tend to pass on. Things they have outgrown, presents from well meaning relatives, toys that I have bought that were duds... they have to go. It's hard, but I tend to get cranky picking up toys that just get thrown around becasue the kids don't really play with them.

I buy at garages sales and clearance sales a lot, so I don't have a lot of money invested in the toys. Maybe that makes it easier to say goodbye. I just sold a lot at a consignment sale and was really happy knowing all the stuff went to people who really wanted it.

I think if toys aren't being played with, if there are so many around that there is no "open space" left for the kids to play, roll around on the carpet, etc, if you are always having to buy more storage containers... then there are too many toys.

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I don't believe in miracles; I depend on them

I have trouble getting rid of them too. I have gotten rid of some, but there are still way to many here. Both my boys will be in school this year and they really don't play with most of them and they are all like new too. I'm not one to have garage sales, dread the thought. I wish I could find a little one I could just hand them over too. Sometimes I donate them to the church or salvation army. This fall I'm going through this house. That will be the one nice thing about being home by myself during the day.

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The mighty oak started out as a nut that held its ground.

I give tons to my daycare and my boys don't even miss them!

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~Happiness is a large family~

I too think that 10 toys are a little extreme. I was downsizing when I ran across a tall shelf on the curb and decided to just try reorganizing. After painting it and scavenging around the house for small baskets and such, it turns out that all of their toys fit just fine and the kids are very excited to see what they have. They seem to be playing with them more and learning better to keep things tidy and organized. We had company over, and my 2 yr old wanted to show off his toys... When it get's out of hand I usually donate them or put them up on freecycle...
Good luck finding what works best for you!

I saw that Supernanny show you mentioned. My kids think this is a good idea. We have 1.2 billion Polly Pocket pieces so I know this won't work!

We are turning the playroom into a nursery. DH put tons of toys in the storage cubby. Tomorrow will be a week, they have asked for 2 things. And we have a playroom, toys in their rooms (trying to weed out all but special stuff though), toys in the basement, plus 2 kitchen cabinets with art/coloring/beads, etc.

Yes, they have waaaay too much. And I am working on it. I now make them get rid of something if they get something new. I sneak a lot out. I stay away from stores with toys when I can.

My 4 yr. old starts preschool next week, so I can't wait to be home alone with a black trash bag....

I guess I am the oddball again. I have tons of toys for Treston. I also have 2 containers in the gargae that have barbies in them from when my dds were little (they are 21, & 19 now) and i just pulled out hot wheels that were my oldest ds (25 y/o) for Treston to play with. I have bought Trestons toys from the thrift stores and garage sales and don't think except for b-days and Christmas he has gotten anything new. I refuse to get rid of stuff as I watched my oldest son have to leave toys and other things he felt were special and precious to him behind each time they were transferred to a new duty station. There were things I bought him that got left behind that he misses to this day. I guess I will never have SuperNanny in my home as she would freak out. I do need to get another shelving unit and a couple of plastic containers so I can put the little people stuff (he has a lot) and all the accessories in. I guess I am a BIG pack rat LOL

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All the kids with their kids (my grandbabies). One more one the way in November!

I do purge all year round but I also save. I have no problem getting rid of toys by donating them to shelters or our church, school etc Like right now I'm trying to pare down the stuffed animals. My boys are too old for most of them now and we have a TON.

For nicer toys, like Tinker Toys, Lincoln Logs, Legos, Playmobil etc My kids still play with a lot of them but for some things like that, I keep them in bins and sometimes I store them in my inlaws storage unit. They were expensive to begin with and I'd like to offer them to my neices and nephews when they get older or maybe even my own grandchildren.

I think you need to just figure out what works for your own family. My kids definately have more than 10 toys but we have rules about what can be out at one time and they have to clean up in between. It works for us.

10 toys! That's it! well i'm way over! I did pare down alot, but if you looked at the pics of my playroom you would not be able to tell

I do go through every month and what can go gets sold if it's nice on Craigslist or donated or freecycled.

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A woman is like a teabag. You never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water.-Eleanor Roosevelt