Toys... Tired of the clutter

[Meximo]

Hi all… Happy Mother’s Day to all Moms (physical and spiritual)

I have a dilemma… our house and my husband’s garage is cluttered with toys. His garden shed/garage is almost full of our boys toys… Toys that aren’t being used or have been taken away because they didn’t care of them… I have purged a lot and I know I need to get rid of more(all), but I feel I might hit some resistance.

Some of them are “collector’s items” collecting dirt (Star Wars, Transformers, etc) and some of them are educational or productive… Legos, Megablocks… some toys we know we will keep the Jurassic Park(JP) toys, HO Train sets… the kicker… These things cost money and I am dealing with some guilt on getting rid of them because we spent X amount on the toys.

Many of the toys were collected in our secular days and the LEGOs… those just keep growing… We have at least 50 pounds (weight) of Legos (at least)… The boys are 15 and 10. The 15 y/o really doesn’t care…except for the JP as a matter of fact his recent art project was of a dinosaur. Our youngest doesn’t really play with toys… give him paper and something to draw with and he’s busy.

Your advice is appreciated.

Thanks,
Meximo, drowning in toys…

 

[gardenswithkids]

If you think these truly have some collectible value and you don’t want to simply give them away, considered an auction like ebay or children’s consignment store or even a garage sale. The amount of money people will spend on used collectible toys depends on their condition, along other factors like trends. You could offer to deposit the money made on the sale of their toys in a bank account or spend it doing something fun with the family that you wouldn’t otherwise do.

 

[Em_in_FL]

You need to really evaluate WHY you’re keeping the items…

Are they for the investment? Then consider selling them on ebay… or if you want to wait several years before selling, box them up and put them in the attic (or another storage area that’s out of the way).
Are you keeping them for your grandkids to eventually enjoy? Again - put them in far-off storage (in the attic, basement, whatever)…
Are you keeping them for sentimental value? Take digital pictures of them! Several shots of the various toys and how they worked and opened and operated… this captures the memory without taking up valuable space.

We have one toy cabinet… the kids are allowed to have whatever they can fit (within organized bins)… we have some sentimental items that we’ve stored in the attic… everything else gets a few digital pictures and gets taken to charity or thrown out (if they’re too worn)…