Hoarding - Springing Ahead

sweetpea26

Feeling overwhelmed again with all this clutter. Filled the car this morning did a car boot then dropped remaining clothes to a local charity.

Also large bag of books donated too.

Today going to sort through this one car boot lot keep a few good items for resale and drive to another charity with the remains.

I have got to stop buying from charity shops for a while.

whitewing

sweetpea,

It sounds like you are doing an excellent job.

atypicalblonde

Good Morning all


I hope the sun is shining for you on this lovely Sunday morning. I am up and at 'em this morning, that's what happens when your day starts with baby sick at 4.50am - no doubt I will try and have a nanna nap later when the children are napping.


Progress is still going well here. I have a large pile of outs waiting to be collected this morning by a local not-for-profit organisation which includes a biggie, our spare highchair. FLING! I have also made £15 this morning on Fleabay with some of DDs clothes - I priced them realistically to sell and they went very quickly so I am going to put some more bits on later if I get chance. Both children need winter gear this year so I need to save for that.


Now if only I could declutter DD out of nappies life would be even simpler, any tips? She is bright as a button and i think she is ready to be toilet trained but she is strong willed (like her mummy )


I read an interesting article t'other day about minimalism with children and it got me thinking, how many toys do children actually "need" in the homestead? I have friends with whole playrooms dedicated to toys for their kids - we haven't got the space or indeed the money for such a thing and i cant help but wonder why it is necessary? DD is currently playing with the utensils pot and some of my kitchen pans...


Have a great days all xx

GreyQueen

Morning all.

Re kids' toys, some of my favourite toys were at Grandma's; the obsolete round-ended plugs from when her cottage was rewired (this was the 1960s) and wooden clothes pins.

Basically, children will use any item which takes their fancy to play with, and lots of cultures throughout history have raised well-adjusted children with nothing more elabourate than a dolly, a ball or a few carved animals.

If you'd like to check out http://www.missminimalist.com/category/children-2/ the blogger is raising her daughter, who goes by the online psuedonym Plumblossom, as a fellow minimalist.

I would expect that with whole playrooms of toys, very few are actually being used and most of them will sit around gathering dust until the next clear-out. And having too many choices could even be detrimental to the child's well-being.

I will be heading out within the hour to my allotment to enjoy the weather (not actually raining yet) and will later on see if the charity shop where I donate is open this Sunday (it's normally open 11-4 pm but I don't know it that will be changed because it's BH weekend). Worse case scenario is that I've taken my donation bag on a half-mile round trip, but I would so like to get rid of it that I think it's worth the chance.

Well done on organising the pick-up esp the big high chair, will be great to see something so big out of your home, won't it?

silvasava

Many years ago I was a mobile hairdressser and ALL the children loved playing with my rollers. I had the old metal mesh ones & plastic ones too - my children & others used to build all sorts in their imagination & iIthink any toys that do that are the best. Carboard boxes - blanket tents over the clothes line or clothes horse. My DiL used to pack most of DGD presents away & bring them out one by one during the year as too many are just overwhelming

parsniphead

atypicalblonde wrote: »

Good Morning all
.

Now if only I could declutter DD out of nappies life would be even simpler, any tips? She is bright as a button and i think she is ready to be toilet trained but she is strong willed (like her mummy )


I read an interesting article t'other day about minimalism with children and it got me thinking, how many toys do children actually "need" in the homestead? I have friends with whole playrooms dedicated to toys for their kids - we haven't got the space or indeed the money for such a thing and i cant help but wonder why it is necessary? DD is currently playing with the utensils pot and some of my kitchen pans...


Have a great days all xx

I know that feeling atypicalblode. My little boy is showing no interest in potty training at all. He will be starting nursery in a couple of weeks and I really wanted him dry for then. He is a stubborn little thing.

The toys are a nightmare. I have always struggled with throwing out any of his stuff as I really wanted another one but as its not going to happen there is no point in keeping them I suppose. I have all his clothes and toys from day one and he is 3yo. The trouble is i get too emotional when it comes to trying to get rid of them so I give up. I did throw out some broken bits and boards with the letters missing yesterday which was a big step. Perhaps as the stress of toys gets too much it will get easier. He does have a million and one teddies that have not been touched so I think I will donate them to the local xmas collection this year.

Looking at the stuff he has been given I get really cross at the utter CR*P people will buy children as gifts.

GreyQueen

I feel a bit sheepish giving mummy-tips to real-life mums, but just in case it may be of some assistance, here goes.

Mum had a terrible time trying to get my kid brother out of nappies and even sought advice from the GP. He suggested that by changing him frequently, as in whenever he was soiled, she was making him too comfortable and he had no incentive to want to use the potty. GP's advice was to leave him awhile in a soiled nappy so he wasn't comfortable and would get the idea that using the potty was better.

It worked a treat. Of course, these were the terry-nappy days, don't know how this would work with disposables, and it may be utterly abhorrent to you mums here, but I thought I'd mention it in case what works on a 1960s tot can work on a 21st century one.

whitewing

Two things that helped get DD out of nappies.

1. She needed to be able to talk and have a conversation. (She was a late speaker).

2. She needed to see us adults use the toilet, so she understood and she learnt.

Pullup pants (as in the pullup nappies) were no good for her.

atypicalblonde

GQ no need to feel sheepish I appreciate all advice! We are going nappy-less today and will see how it goes. Regarding the high chair, boy oh boy I am practically hopping with excitement at the thought of it leaving the premises. SPACE, GLORIOUS SPACE.


Parsnip - I have been exactly the same about DDs clothes. I kept all of them and kept looking at them longingly in the drawer wondering what the heck I would do with them, but at the same time not wanting to do anything with them. In the end I was completely ruthless and allowed myself a small pile to keep and store, and the rest have been either passed on to a friend of mine with a baby girl who has very little money, or sold on eBay. I gave the majority away though rather than Fleabaying - my friend was so grateful it made giving it all away easier to deal with IYSWIM. I have a couple of "designer" baby clothes that will sell well so I am going to list those this weekend and use the money for winter boots for DD.


Thank you for all the toy comments. I agree so many children have waaaay too much, and it really limits the use of imagination creatively. DD's current favourite "game" is digging in the garden with wooden spoons, bless her cotton socks.


Righty ho, best go encourage some potty use - wish me luck! xx

atypicalblonde

parsniphead wrote: »

Looking at the stuff he has been given I get really cross at the utter CR*P people will buy children as gifts.

This really resonates with me. I always enquire if there is anything a child needs or wants before purchasing a gift. For DDs birthday she received a really large, really cheap dolly swing set. DD has no interest in dollies and the friend who bought it knows that. Plus we have very little space so such a large item takes up a fair proportion of our sitting room. Turns out that, by her own admission, said item was on offer in Arg0s hence the purchase.