OS for kids: Limiting the quantity of toys.

ragz_2

I totally agree OP, thank you for making me feel less like a cruel scroogie Mum! Though we have a lot more than your two boxes... I am always trying to downsize but it never seems to go down much! We have a large utility room that I use as a playroom to store the toys. They can bring a few into the living room to play with (i'm not that mean, it gets cold in there in winter!) as long as they put them away, but when the kids are in bed I like my living room to look like it's for grown ups (I love my kids, but me time is very important).
I buy one or two gifts for birthdays and Christmas, if I want to bulk it out I buy puzzles and DVDs. All relatives are used to me now, they ask my opinion before buying them anything as they know how fussy I am so I have pretty good control over what comes into the house. I make sure the kids spend their pocket/birthday money on decent things not rubbish.

For 3 kids DS age 5, DS age 4 and DD nearly 2

In our playroom (no toys in bedrooms, only books and cuddlies) we have...
1 large bucket of cars and wheeled objects
1 large box of Brio
1 large bag of Megablocks big bricks
1 large tub of Lego Duplo
1 play kitchen and tub of playfood/plates etc
1 large bucket of cuddly toys
1 play cot with dollies and dolly stuff in
1 large toy box of DD's baby toys (soon to be sorted)
1 large toybox of random toys, dressing up stuff (which will need its own box soon) and their Megasketchers (best toys I ever bought, yes we have to have 3 and they are big but they use them every day)
Cupboard of art stuff
Shelf full of puzzles (my kids love jigsaws, many get worn out and replaced) and games (another one that buys a game every Christmas )

Come Christmas we will have ...
Dollshouse (small, wooden carryabout sized as she is only little)
A new tractor and trailer for DS2 as his old one broke (playmobil, £6 off ebay)
Lego for DS1 (and a tub for both to share) as they want big boy sized lego now!

Father Christmas has decided to fill stockings with fewer presents of better quality this year, rather than a LOT of cheap plastic rubbish that never got played with. So small Lego, wooden toys for DD and a DVD each with a few treats. More pleasure, less clutter.

I don't feel I go OTT, but looking at it written down it is SO much more than we ever had as kids... it used to be ONE toybox and that was it!

xxlouisexx56

My daughter had her friend round last week for dinner (they are both 5) and whilst they were eating their dinner and i was feeding the baby we were talking about christmas.

I asked my DD what she wanted Father Christmas to bring her, she said she wanted a new DS game and some toys for the baby as she doesnt have many

Her friend said she wants a wii, because she has one at daddys house but not at mummys house. And if she didnt get one, she was going to be mad.

I think if that was my daughter i purposely wouldn't buy it for her

Out,_Vile_Jelly

I don't have kids, but nearly all my friends are starting families now. I buy them all books rather than toys as gifts. To my mind there is no such thing as too many books.

One thing I have noticed is how much STUFF there is now in their front rooms. Particularly for young babies, who to my inexpert eye don't do anything except dribble and stare vacantly, and have no concept of the plastic things waved at them.

Friends of mine spoke in despairing tones of their 8 month old's first Christmas, where he had been showered with gifts that they just didn't have the space to keep. Apparently he completely ignored everything and spent the day playing with a satsuma and a tube of moisturiser.

Lizbetty

We also have books coming out of our ears, but that's one thing you can *never* have too many of. Both my kids have been read to constantly and even though they're only little, they both sit down and read to themselves. My four year old is great at reading and I think it's because she's always had lots of books and felt she had to learn quickly to get through them all!

And I do have a confession I LOVE Buzz Lightyear, the one with all the funky noises and flashiness? Both of my kids play with him, and me too (makes cleaning their rooms more tolerable. He helps me. But shhhhh...). The noises he makes and his wings in particular I think are just great! Sigh. I think he rocks. Now that was one that did surprise me, I expected it to be overpriced rubbish. I have a friend who had one from her first son when Toy Story was first out years and years ago, and she was clearing out his old toys and took Buzz to the tip (!). She said it was talking all the way there, and she had never changed the batteries!!

And yet she never saved him.

kippers

My dd's favourite toys have just been passed onto my nephew who now has a baby. A wooden train set (from tesco) a farm board and animals (which was passed onto us by my nephew), stickel bricks and duplo.

My dd's are 11 & 13 but still wanted the dressing up clothes-not posh shop bought ones just our old dresses, scarfs etc over the years i have seen many 'shows' that my girls have put on to entertain us. We also still have lots of board games which we play together as a family.

All these toys have given me and my family lovely memories to treasure. We don't remember the 'gimmick' toys that last 2 minutes before they are broken or the kids have got fed up of them...we remember the toys that give our children pleasure to play with over and over again.

We don't have much money to spend at birthdays and xmas so we make sure that what we buy will be enjoyed and stand the test of time. I think my children now appriciate things more than their friends, who seem to get anything they want. My dd's know how to look after their toys carefully too.

I don't think i'd do anything different even if we could afford loads more to spend on them

XYZ1000

mmmm its I can understand what you mean op from a parents points of view to a certain degree. However having worked as a childminder for over 10 yrs I feel children need things to interest them. Children do learn through play/enviroment/others.

I think it takes a saint of a parent to be on hand 24/7 to engage the children's learning without any toys on hand!! Parents do need to cook and clean/tidy and can't be available all the time from my experience.
I agree it doesn't have to be "toys" but think children need items to help develop certain skills. I mean what would they do if you turned up at a toddler group which there was nothing to play with? personally I think it would soon turn into lots of unsettled children who are bored. Until they get older and have developed the imagation skills to think up games then I think toys are needed.

YORKSHIRELASS

Mmm, I can see where you are coming from. I had my first child when I was 24 and felt under a huge amount of pressure to buy him lots of stuff that he didnt need. I got wiser later in life.

One point that I want to make as a parent of older kids is that you cannot protect them from consumerism. Its pointless banning them from watching adverts on TV because we sadly live in a very materialistic society and this filters into every part of our lives. I remember once arranging a very special birthday treat for my son and when he went to school to tell his friends no-one was interested. All his friends wanted to know was what presents he had got and he felt really sad about this.

As they get into their teenager years your kids will be judged by the stuff they have. This is how it is and all you can do is prepare them for that and keep giving them the message that who they are is important, not what they have.

I know this sounds a bit downbeat but for anyone with preschool kids the earlier you teach them about being happy with what they have got the better. I wish I had started out with just a few small, simple presents at Christmas for example because once you have gone overboard for a few years its hard to change. My kids understand the value of stuff on the whole but its not an easy lesson to teach them.