sea of toys!

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

ARGH!  Today I got fed up with the amount of clutter my kids produce, so I dragged every toy out of their room and made a pile in the center of the living room.  Then I went out in the garage and pulled in every box marked "toys" or "kids room" and dumped it on top of the pile.  By the time I got done, they covered the 6 by 8' area rug about waist deep (my waist deep, not the kids!!!)  Now this wouldn't be so aggravating if before we moved from Wisconsin we hadn't seriously thinned down all the toys.  Each of the two older girls kept ten toys apiece, and the rest we donated to Goodwill.  We moved from Wisconsin with one big box of toys.  I think they went into hiding in the garage and shed and bred and multiplied!!!  I unpacked 8 big boxes/tubs of toys today!!!  So, I got the girls in here and we took pictures to document the mountain of toys, and we've been going through stuff and have gotten a couple of big boxes to donate.  It still needs thinned down more, but it is a start.  I gave them a pep talk before we started about all the kids whose homes burnt to the ground around here last week and how they didn't have any toys left and so forth.  I was surprised that there wasn't a bit of whining thus far and they were quick to donate some of their favorite toys... a robot, a huge floor puzzle, and their train track set.  At the rate we're going, it may take more than one load to go deliver it to the donation place. 

[Sassy]

So, where's the pictures?   

[pagan]

Yeah really, pics or it didn't happen. 

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

   Still on the camera, along with the ones of the cleaned-out garden beds and the new chicken  resort hotel we built in the back yard!

[Sonoran]

My Mother-in-law had a very good method concerning getting rid of toys.

When she would try to get rid of the toys by going through them with her kids, she would hardly get rid of anything.

Eventually, when the kids were at school, she went in their room and put all of their unused toys in a black trash bag.  When they got home she told the kids that if they could name one toy that she had in the bag they could keep all of it. (I think it was one...I'll double check with my wife when she gets home and if it was more I will let you know)

I don't know how many times she did it, but they never got their unused toys back!

[pagan]

Along with the Picasso and Rembrandt hanging in the living room...