{31 Days} Intentional Living – Day 9

You can find the rest of my {31 Days} Intentional Living series here.

I am de-cluttering again.  It honestly seems like I am always de-cluttering and I can’t figure out why.  I am not bringing new things into my home, so why am I de-cluttering again?  I think I am learning to live with less, and when I constantly keep re-evaluating what I have and what I actually use, I realize some of the things I keep holding on to are not really worth the effort it takes to maintain them.

First up are my kids’ toys.  Don’t worry, they go through their toys with me and help decide what to get rid of.  Christmas is coming, and that means more toys.

I have written before about toy organization and it always seems to work out well.  The problem that I am finding now, is that we have gotten rid of all the toys that are not used, the majority of the plastic toys that we don’t want to have, and are left with good quality toys that make you use your brain a bit to play with them.

I am not sure I want to get rid of the good toys, and I am also not sure if I want to spend the time to store them for a few months and then rotate them again.  What is it that kids really need?

I asked Emma yesterday if she would rather have her toys or play outside, and she said play outside.  It is always play outside.  Unfortunately, my little area is not a great place for me to send my 2 and 4 year olds out to play alone…and while I love to play outside with them, I do still need to make dinner once in a while.

I notice that when my kids have a lot of toys available to them, they feel overwhelmed.  They aren’t entirely sure which toy to play with, and so they take them all out.  That isn’t necessarily bad, but after a short while of playing they are bored.  They have too much choice.

So today, we are going to go through their toys and only keep a few things available to them, and see what happens.  Will they be more content?  Will they be more creative?  Will they still get bored easily?

I want to teach my kids to live intentionally, and I want them to learn to make good decisions, but I sometimes wonder if we are trying to give them too much at one time.  Thoughts?

I am linking up at the Hip Homeschool Hop, and at the Mommy Club.
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2 Comments

  1. I like this thought—-too much choice. And I like that you're using basic and well-made toys to stimulate their brains (not that I thought you wouldn't…). I'll be interested to see what you learn about watching them with what you keep. I think I've shared this before…but the happiest kids I've ever seen in my life were a group of boys playing catch on a gravel road in Argentina….by American standards they were in extreme poverty…and they're ball was a crumpled up and taped discarded plastic bag. Our trash…their treasure–amazing.

  2. I rotate toys a lot and it works well…..that bring said, we still have a lot of toys! We accumulate so many and nobody wants to get rid of them. I do go through and remove toys that are no longer age appropriate and that is a non issue. Our main issue is our stuffed toys but I am also aware that they play imaginative games constantly with them and I'm all for that – this weekend we had a veterinarian office here and it worked out very well. They still prefer to play outside and we are active too. My goal is always higher quality toys and less of the junk…….easier said than done!

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