I’m enjoying the challenges of trying to minimise the STUFF in our house, inspired in part by my friend Jess (who’s Minimalist Mum blog I don’t get a chance to read very often).

Today I’ve taken a step to tackle toys.

Like most children these days, mine have a LOT of toys. I’m very uncomfortable with throwing out their toys once they’re old enough to form attachments to them… it seems fundamentally disrespectful to dispose of their property without asking their permission. And I daren’t ask their permission, because I suspect the answer will always be “No!” and they’ll suddenly realise that the toy they haven’t touched for six months is their favourite thing on the planet and they can’t live without it.

The Prep

The kids have been prepped: last week at our inaugural Sunday evening “family meeting”, Bob and I chatted to the kids about minimising clutter. We tried to introduce it in a positive way, emphasising that it’s about valuing and appreciating and being able to FIND the things we have, not about being deprived in any way.

The Plan

Today I packed up most of the kid’s toys into some plastic roller boxes (which ALL miraculously fit under our spare bed). I then asked each of them to choose seven toys that they wanted to play with for the week, and they happily did so (although I chose for Zoe, and Linus and I also had to choose most of Ada’s – she was distracted after she’d chosen two!).

If they decide they want more things out, I’m happy to be flexible. Maybe they can do a swap; maybe they can get something out for a limited time; maybe they can add the item to their wishlist for the following week. As long as it doesn’t result in masses of toys spread undiscerningly all over the floor or forever lost at the bottom of a toybox, that’s fine by me.

At the moment books are excluded, as are large toys like ride-on bikes and the doll’s pram.

I’ve also excluded items that were in the toy box that weren’t technically “toys”, like a back massager, some weights, and some little calculators. I see these as household items that everyone in the family should have access to.

The Hopes

I hope that the house will be tidier, and quicker and easier to clear up.

I hope that the kids will “play” with more non-toy items… tools, pots and pans, and other safe household items. The them-and-us divisions of “that’s a toy, that’s NOT a toy” often make me uncomfortable about the precedents being set.

I hope that the kids will learn to appreciate what they have and enjoy the anticipation of what they’ll get out of the box next Sunday night.

I hope that we’ll all gradually learn what toys the kids really do love playing with and which ones they can happily dispose of.