How Often do you throw out “stuff”?

[Anonymous]

Not often enough. I just tooo three bags of clothes to goodwill yesterday from my kids’ closets. They didn’t even notice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand this but I’m a minimalist and yes have kept with that lifestyle with kids. Your kid should not be getting a gift every other day, that’s weird. If something arrives for mine and it’s something I think we’d keep (we get some from a certain grandparent that I don’t), I have a box in my closet it goes until the next birthday/holiday. And every single time they get new toys (only on birthday or holidays), we get rid of old ones - either donation/trash or another bin in the garage if they’re still nice and could be played with later. Number one is not accumulating stuff and it sounds like you have a problem with that. Also, if you’re having more babies, get an organizing system for clothes. Obviously throw anything out that is old/“play” or you’re over, and put the rest in vacuum sealed bags based on age. Anything temporary -especially large baby toys- I borrow or buy used so I can get rid of it asap after we’re done. It’s really not that hard, but definitely goes against the “normal” American way of having a toy room filled to the ceiling with pieces of toys no one knows what goes to what and hasn’t been played with in months. That would give me a panic attack.

So people send your kids gifts and you don’t let the kids know about it? What do you say to the gifter? I would not dream of doing that to my parents or in-laws. It brings them so much joy to send the kids things. Of course sometimes “I’m not sure” what happened to those gifts once the kids have played with them for a little while.

We live in the city and certainly do not have a playroom, or room to rotate toys or store a ton of toys to be played with later. But it takes time to organize and with 2 working parents and little kids, time is also in short supply.

DP. We also give gifts away that we haven’t opened. The joy in giving is that the grandparents like to shop and pick things out and send them. They don’t live near us and won’t know what we have given away. We choose to pass many things on to less fortunate families - unopened, so their children get the joy of a brand new toy- and it also helps me because I spend less time cleaning the house and more time enjoying my kids. Also, there’s plenty of literature starting that kids don’t play as deeply and creatively if they have too many toys. They flit from thing to thing. And I have observed this in my own kids. So we think it’s best to pass the stuff on, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand this but I’m a minimalist and yes have kept with that lifestyle with kids. Your kid should not be getting a gift every other day, that’s weird. If something arrives for mine and it’s something I think we’d keep (we get some from a certain grandparent that I don’t), I have a box in my closet it goes until the next birthday/holiday. And every single time they get new toys (only on birthday or holidays), we get rid of old ones - either donation/trash or another bin in the garage if they’re still nice and could be played with later. Number one is not accumulating stuff and it sounds like you have a problem with that. Also, if you’re having more babies, get an organizing system for clothes. Obviously throw anything out that is old/“play” or you’re over, and put the rest in vacuum sealed bags based on age. Anything temporary -especially large baby toys- I borrow or buy used so I can get rid of it asap after we’re done. It’s really not that hard, but definitely goes against the “normal” American way of having a toy room filled to the ceiling with pieces of toys no one knows what goes to what and hasn’t been played with in months. That would give me a panic attack.

Yes!!!! Me, too!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand this but I’m a minimalist and yes have kept with that lifestyle with kids. Your kid should not be getting a gift every other day, that’s weird. If something arrives for mine and it’s something I think we’d keep (we get some from a certain grandparent that I don’t), I have a box in my closet it goes until the next birthday/holiday. And every single time they get new toys (only on birthday or holidays), we get rid of old ones - either donation/trash or another bin in the garage if they’re still nice and could be played with later. Number one is not accumulating stuff and it sounds like you have a problem with that. Also, if you’re having more babies, get an organizing system for clothes. Obviously throw anything out that is old/“play” or you’re over, and put the rest in vacuum sealed bags based on age. Anything temporary -especially large baby toys- I borrow or buy used so I can get rid of it asap after we’re done. It’s really not that hard, but definitely goes against the “normal” American way of having a toy room filled to the ceiling with pieces of toys no one knows what goes to what and hasn’t been played with in months. That would give me a panic attack.

This is so funny because I do almost the opposite. Since I have a small space I can’t face Christmas/birthday toy influxes so like half the presents go in the closet for later when space frees up and old toys get broken/purged/used up. (I do this mostly with toys from me so the loving relatives get their thank you notes on time.)

For purged stuff: nice things that are age appropriate go into bags for friend with younger kids; everything else goes in a big bag and I post the contents of the big bag on my local Buy Nothing group as soon as it fills up. Never had an issue disposing of used onesies there.

[Anonymous]

I was donating things weekly. After 2 months, I was finally able to get rid of all that clutter/garbage from our house. I hate toys! I wish people would stop giving toys as gifts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand this but I’m a minimalist and yes have kept with that lifestyle with kids. Your kid should not be getting a gift every other day, that’s weird. If something arrives for mine and it’s something I think we’d keep (we get some from a certain grandparent that I don’t), I have a box in my closet it goes until the next birthday/holiday. And every single time they get new toys (only on birthday or holidays), we get rid of old ones - either donation/trash or another bin in the garage if they’re still nice and could be played with later. Number one is not accumulating stuff and it sounds like you have a problem with that. Also, if you’re having more babies, get an organizing system for clothes. Obviously throw anything out that is old/“play” or you’re over, and put the rest in vacuum sealed bags based on age. Anything temporary -especially large baby toys- I borrow or buy used so I can get rid of it asap after we’re done. It’s really not that hard, but definitely goes against the “normal” American way of having a toy room filled to the ceiling with pieces of toys no one knows what goes to what and hasn’t been played with in months. That would give me a panic attack.

So people send your kids gifts and you don’t let the kids know about it? What do you say to the gifter? I would not dream of doing that to my parents or in-laws. It brings them so much joy to send the kids things. Of course sometimes “I’m not sure” what happened to those gifts once the kids have played with them for a little while.

We live in the city and certainly do not have a playroom, or room to rotate toys or store a ton of toys to be played with later. But it takes time to organize and with 2 working parents and little kids, time is also in short supply.

If you insist on accepting gifts, you have to make time to deal with them. That means getting rid of old toys as new ones come in. If you can’t, you have to tell them not to send them. But don’t blame the gifts. It’s your responsibility. The less time you have for organizing the more ruthless you have to be about purging, even if you don’t maximize reuse or selling. That’s the way of the world. Time or money.

What? I don’t “insist” on accepting gifts. I let my kids open packages they receive. And I deal with the toys. We do a lot of donating.

But you, quite clearly, are ruthless.

[Anonymous]

With my first, I got really overwhelmed b/c I knew we would have another kid, so I wasn't just donating as soon as my daughter grew out of something. What helped was having a massive bin for anything (mostly clothes) that we werent' going to use anymore. This included anything from stained onesies that would eventually go to a textile recycling box to nicer stuff that I might sell on poshmark or give to friends. Once a quarter or so I pulled out the box, and decided what to keep for the next kid (my faves and anything gender neutral that could also be saved if #2 was a boy), put a bag together for textile recycling and donated the rest. Now that my kids are older and i'm not saving anything for future children, i honestly post something weekly on the Buy Nothing Group. It's just so easy to have someone immediately come and take it away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand this but I’m a minimalist and yes have kept with that lifestyle with kids. Your kid should not be getting a gift every other day, that’s weird. If something arrives for mine and it’s something I think we’d keep (we get some from a certain grandparent that I don’t), I have a box in my closet it goes until the next birthday/holiday. And every single time they get new toys (only on birthday or holidays), we get rid of old ones - either donation/trash or another bin in the garage if they’re still nice and could be played with later. Number one is not accumulating stuff and it sounds like you have a problem with that. Also, if you’re having more babies, get an organizing system for clothes. Obviously throw anything out that is old/“play” or you’re over, and put the rest in vacuum sealed bags based on age. Anything temporary -especially large baby toys- I borrow or buy used so I can get rid of it asap after we’re done. It’s really not that hard, but definitely goes against the “normal” American way of having a toy room filled to the ceiling with pieces of toys no one knows what goes to what and hasn’t been played with in months. That would give me a panic attack.

So people send your kids gifts and you don’t let the kids know about it? What do you say to the gifter? I would not dream of doing that to my parents or in-laws. It brings them so much joy to send the kids things. Of course sometimes “I’m not sure” what happened to those gifts once the kids have played with them for a little while.

We live in the city and certainly do not have a playroom, or room to rotate toys or store a ton of toys to be played with later. But it takes time to organize and with 2 working parents and little kids, time is also in short supply.

DP. We also give gifts away that we haven’t opened. The joy in giving is that the grandparents like to shop and pick things out and send them. They don’t live near us and won’t know what we have given away. We choose to pass many things on to less fortunate families - unopened, so their children get the joy of a brand new toy- and it also helps me because I spend less time cleaning the house and more time enjoying my kids. Also, there’s plenty of literature starting that kids don’t play as deeply and creatively if they have too many toys. They flit from thing to thing. And I have observed this in my own kids. So we think it’s best to pass the stuff on, too.

Same. I hate that we have to do this, but it seems more wasteful than opening and my kids never playing with it. If it's a really fun toy that we already have, I will regift it to another kid's birthday party.

Amazon makes it easy to return gifts that you don't want.

My issue is that I have 3 kids. It's like a continual stream of clothes going up to the attic and clothes coming down. But I was glad that I saved baby toys, high chair, first tricyles. It's less work for me to just pull it out of the attic than to sell it on FB and then rebuy it off FB. Currently it's a bit hard because I have favorite toys from my 6 year old to my 6 month old... Can't wait for baby stuff to disspear forever.

Regarding paper stuff that my kids make. I have a folder and save like 5 things a year that they drew, then I toss the rest with glee.

[Anonymous]

I donate, give away, and sell as much as I can clothing wise. Most of it is fast fashion anyway and not things that are really going to hold up and last, tbh. The nicer pieces are the ones I try to sell if possible. I'll do a bundle on FB marketplace or Mercari and get $20-50.

The junky gifts they get as party favors tend to "disappear" a few days after their shiny, new phase has worn off. If it's something that can be donated, I put it in a bag in my trunk. When the bag is full, off to the donation center it goes.

I found for artwork, the best option is to take a picture of the artwork by itself. Take a pic of the kid holding the artwork, too. Then the artwork gets tossed. I print out both pictures I took and put them in an album. It's been a great system for us. There are a few art pieces we keep.

We live in a smaller sq ft house so I really try to keep clutter to a minimum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand this but I’m a minimalist and yes have kept with that lifestyle with kids. Your kid should not be getting a gift every other day, that’s weird. If something arrives for mine and it’s something I think we’d keep (we get some from a certain grandparent that I don’t), I have a box in my closet it goes until the next birthday/holiday. And every single time they get new toys (only on birthday or holidays), we get rid of old ones - either donation/trash or another bin in the garage if they’re still nice and could be played with later. Number one is not accumulating stuff and it sounds like you have a problem with that. Also, if you’re having more babies, get an organizing system for clothes. Obviously throw anything out that is old/“play” or you’re over, and put the rest in vacuum sealed bags based on age. Anything temporary -especially large baby toys- I borrow or buy used so I can get rid of it asap after we’re done. It’s really not that hard, but definitely goes against the “normal” American way of having a toy room filled to the ceiling with pieces of toys no one knows what goes to what and hasn’t been played with in months. That would give me a panic attack.

So people send your kids gifts and you don’t let the kids know about it? What do you say to the gifter? I would not dream of doing that to my parents or in-laws. It brings them so much joy to send the kids things. Of course sometimes “I’m not sure” what happened to those gifts once the kids have played with them for a little while.

We live in the city and certainly do not have a playroom, or room to rotate toys or store a ton of toys to be played with later. But it takes time to organize and with 2 working parents and little kids, time is also in short supply.

Lol enough with the BS “your kids don’t experience joy.” You sound like a well-adjusted person nope, people don’t send my kids gifts every other day. What a first world problem. If they get a gift it’s 9/10 times from grandparents and they know my kids don’t get gifts outside of birthdays and holidays. Therefore they really only give gifts on birthdays and holidays. I have no problem setting boundaries - which includes accumulation of junk - for my own house. I prioritize taking responsibility for the cleanliness and organization of my home and it sounds like you prioritize other things. Which is fine.

[Anonymous]

We have asked the grandparents not to give gifts apart from birthdays and big occasions. It’s not a great idea for kids to have too much stuff and I don’t want to waste my time purging and then feeling guilty for giving away brand-new stuff.

[Anonymous]

When my DD was younger I was able to return, regift or donate stuff from my mother. My mom always overdoes it and I would just put some toys to the side. She preps for the holidays months in advance and she loves doing it. I think in a year or two when my DD is a little older, I will be able to tell her to just give a gift card. We live in a small space so I am constantly combing through stuff to get rid of but the toys with little pieces always allude me - barbies, lol, etc.

[Anonymous]

Have a regular place where you have containers for donation. Do not fixate on getting a good price by selling them. It's charity. You are charitable in many other ways, this is easy. Don't make it hard. If it's a more special item, send if off with kiss and a prayer that it will be found and enjoyed - trust in karma.

[Anonymous]

We learned very early on - almost as soon as our oldest started walking - to empty their hands and pockets before they walk in the door. They will pick up 12 dead leaves in the blink of an eye. Now that mine are in elementary school they know they can't bring "nature" into the house, they can only hang as many art projects as there is room for, if toys come in toys must come out, and everything has a place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand this but I’m a minimalist and yes have kept with that lifestyle with kids. Your kid should not be getting a gift every other day, that’s weird. If something arrives for mine and it’s something I think we’d keep (we get some from a certain grandparent that I don’t), I have a box in my closet it goes until the next birthday/holiday. And every single time they get new toys (only on birthday or holidays), we get rid of old ones - either donation/trash or another bin in the garage if they’re still nice and could be played with later. Number one is not accumulating stuff and it sounds like you have a problem with that. Also, if you’re having more babies, get an organizing system for clothes. Obviously throw anything out that is old/“play” or you’re over, and put the rest in vacuum sealed bags based on age. Anything temporary -especially large baby toys- I borrow or buy used so I can get rid of it asap after we’re done. It’s really not that hard, but definitely goes against the “normal” American way of having a toy room filled to the ceiling with pieces of toys no one knows what goes to what and hasn’t been played with in months. That would give me a panic attack.

I feel like I would loathe you IRL haha.

- not OP