Every Monday I post Real Life Minimalists, a profile of one of my readers in their own words. If you’d like to participate, click here for details.
This week, Minimalist Mommy gives us an inspiring account of how she decluttered her toddler’s toys. I think all of us with little ones can relate to her story!
Minimalist Mommy writes:
I am a stay at home mom of 2 wonderful children. My son is 3 years old and my daughter is 3 months old. Before my son was born we were so excited for his arrival that we gathered up as many toys we could from garage sales and hand me downs from friends and made our entire bonus room into quite the playroom! He had so many toys and he wasn’t even born yet! Once he got to the age were he could actually play with all these toys, we discovered how quickly our home became a complete disaster, multiple times a day. I spent so much time cleaning up and maintaining these toys and it was getting quite irritating.
Then we went on a vacation to Kauai. We had very limited space to bring toys with us so I just packed his favorites, a handful of hotwheel cars, his favorite books, a watercolor paint set, crayons and color book and maybe a few other small items. We were there for 8 days and he was perfectly content with what I brought. That was kind of my “Ah ha” moment. As soon as we got back home I donated about half of his toys. And you know what? He didn’t even notice! Since then I’ve been slowly paring down the toys and only keep what he really loves and plays with and now he has about 1/4 of what he had and he doesn’t miss any of it!
Once I got pregnant with my daughter the “nesting” kicked in and I was inspired by all these famous minimalists online to pare down my whole house. And I did! I gave away about 1/2 to 3/4 of what we own. And once again I don’t miss any of it! Now that I have a toddler and a newborn it is so nice to be able to quickly clean up any toys on the floor or any messes and have so much more time to spend with them and my husband. It’s been well worth it!
{If you’d like to learn more about minimalist living, please consider reading my book, The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide, or subscribing to my RSS feed.}
You’re very fortunate to have gotten your “ah ha” moment so early in your children’s lives. You’ll be able to limit the stuff that enters your home. You’ll soon find out how all those school projects, etc. can take over. Good for you!
I’ve done something similar with our toys and the kids hardly notice! Mostly it’s been MY wants for things I think my kids should have that make the clutter.
Children nowadays have too many toys that parents, relatives, and friends buy for them. They should go more to the zoo, explore nature, play outside, play board games with family members, etc. In the end they’ll appreciate that better.
Has anyone else started watching the feeds for the show Utopia on Fox? The show will start on September 7th and I’ve been watching the free live feeds since they started on Friday. The show is about people getting together to form a community. They got two cows that are pregnant, and they have seeds to plant, and a lake. For now they don’t have much electricity, beds or chairs, refrigerator, stove, you get the idea. They have to build their own society in 5 acres of land. What I don’t like is that there is too much drama. But I love how they don’t have too many things, that is so liberating. I want to see when they come together with a business plan to get money to buy the things that they really need, and I also hope they’ll get along better. It’s going to last one year and some people might be voted out and others will be voted in. Just wanted to share with all of you.
You are so blessed to be making choices that will enable you to give your children more attention, love, and conversation! These are the things that make for well adjusted adults.
This is such a great post. It is beautiful to see someone applying it to the health and happiness of their children. Thank you.
The best playroom seems to be outdoors: a walk in the forest, on the beach, the desert, around one’s neighborhood. There is no end of treasures to be found; a bit of bark, a sweet shell, a handsome pebble, a bouquet of fallen leaves. These are the best toys ever made. Natural treasures. :)
So true! Now that the leaves are starting to change here in NY, my 4 yo and 2 yo love to pick up the fallen leaves and bring them inside. I have very low-budget fall decor on my kitchen window sill thanks to their hard work. Our living room side table boasts painted pine cones and acorns that they’ve found and painted. I’m not a fan of clutter, but I try to let these treasures have a special spot in our home for a time :)
My daughter is now 38. For a gift one year I took a skein of yarn and crocheted all her Barbies -second hand from a neighbor-hats and coats. She thought it was great. Another time we made dollbeds with shoeboxes and fabric scraps. We also made Star Wars dioramas like the creature cantina out of boxes with toothpaste boxes for seating the boys got a lot of use out of that. You don’t have to buy into the culture.
Kudos on embracing simplicity with kids! It is so freeing to realize they are content with a few beloved playthings. And might I add that I adore Kauai. I bet you had a fabulous time! :-D
Good job! I love the sort of reverse nesting of getting rid of things instead of bringing in new :-). We recently moved to a smaller house and got rid of many of our kids’ toys, especially the annoying, battery-operated kind. Like yours, they didn’t notice! Kids don’t need as much as people think. Our kids sleep on mattresses on the floor quite happily and share one cube organizer of toys. (There are more in their closet for rotation.)
I too had that nesting-purging thing with our third. It’s good to know I’m not crazy! We just celebrated two kids’ birthdays, so this post is encouraging me to go through their toys again and purge old unloved ones. We just moved to NY though, so I’m not sure how far to go with it. Will they go crazy in the winter when the snow banks are up to our ears and we’ve been stuck inside for a week? A lot of our neighbors have turned their garages into play rooms for this reason. We’ll probably be visiting them a lot!
I always wondered how having kids and minimalism would be a challenge. My thoughts are that when I have kids, I will want to give them things of course, but I plan on utilizing mostly gifted toys from family and friends. Bravo!
You’re absolutely right: the more toys the kids have, the faster your house becomes a total mess. And it’s not worth it! The less there is, the more they will play with what they have instead of being overstimulated by too many choices. You were lucky to do the big purge while the kids are still too young to take much notice. It gets trickier as they get older, I promise. The key to keeping it under control as they get older is to limit what comes in; then you don’t have to fret so much about what needs to go out.
How wonderful that you figured this out when your kids were young instead of many of us that figured it later down the road. Wish you the best as you enjoy your extra time playing with your kids instead of cleaning up after them.
We continue to live with less and keep what we have longer. The books we have belong to my mother, who is in a nursing home, and one closet is full of her clothes. I have gotten rid of lots of hobby materials and instruction books. A lot of photos are saved on DVD’s.
Every time we buy anything, 2 things have to go. I bought a new sweatshirt and gave 2 sweaters to my mom. I sleep in my oldest T shirts, the ones older than that get cut up for rags. There are still things to be given away. Dishes designated for a charity event. Glasses for my daughter in law. Dishes for my son when he gets his own place. Always fewer items.
My son, DIL, and my son’s MIL stopped over yesterday. The kids have been here many times but Rachel’s mom had never been here. How wonderful to be a minimalist. The house is never messy. We have a 2 BR condo with a small storage room. My husband’s telescopes and our carry on suitcases full of winter clothes are there. Extra linens, pillows, etc. are in the spare bedroom dresser.