“Drowning in toys…”
Shared by Breanne Smedley
Charlee isn’t even two yet.
But, somehow, almost every room in the house has a baby, toddler, and kid toys in it.
The living room is a prime example.
We have four big cubbies in our living room that used to sit, unoccupied.
Now, I can barely close them.
Overstuffed with toys, hundreds of parts of toys, and stuffed animals.
It’s the same thing in our bonus room. It’s been overtaken by books, kid chairs, and cubbies full of toys that look similar to the ones downstairs.
Like “where did all these toys come from?!” I found myself asking the other day.
And she has a birthday coming up, where are we going to put all the new toys?!
Which other room is she going to slowly take over?
When she does play with the toys, it looks like a friggin bomb went off within seconds.
Everything comes out. I can barely see the floor.
99% of the time, she usually only plays with one or two of the toys anyways.
Or, just leaves the mess. The fun was pulling out the toys, not playing with them.
And when it’s time to clean up, I feel slightly overwhelmed. So, I can’t imagine what a 2-year-old feels, staring out at a room full of objects, some, almost half her size, and being tasked with putting everything away.
So, we work together. Trying our best to stuff everything back into a cubby. Holding down the top while we push it back in.
Only to have them emptied again 15 minutes later, like they threw up in the living room.
This weekend, I’d had enough.
I’m going to sound like the meanest mom ever.
But, while Charlee was taking a nap, I got rid of most of her toys.
Gasp!!
I should clarify..I didn’t throw anything away. Or give anything away. (Yet).
I left all the books. And I put no more than 2-3 toys in each cubby.
The goal=to actually be able to SEE what’s in there!
I did this in the living room, the playroom, and her room.
The rest of the toys? Bagged them up. Two big garbage bags of toys.
One to keep in the closet two swap out toys when she gets bored.
One to give away.
You know what happened when she woke up from her nap?
She went downstairs, opened a cubby.
Excitedly, she said, “OOHHH! Let’s play balls!” (Lol, we’re working on it…)
Then, she played with the same toy for 25 minutes.
A xylophone toy with three balls that you push through the top.
That toy has always been in the cubby. Buried under all the other toys.
This was the first time, in a long time, that she actually sat and played with it.
And when she was done, she had one toy to put away. Something she could actually manage to do.
In this life, we get messaged early on that more is better.
More toys, bigger house, more clothes, nicer cars.
Comparing what I have to what my friends have. Always wanting something bigger and better.
The next quick fix. The next thing that will make me happy.
When really, all that chaos just prevents us from enjoying what we have.
It’s distracting. It’s confusing. It’s a vicious cycle that cuts our confidence.
Always hoping for the next thing.
Simple is better.
Less is more.
Quick fixes don’t work.
Sometimes we just need to be reminded.
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#MindfullyEvolving
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