too many toys

we have long thought that we’ve got way too many toys in the house. I especially bemoan this around Christmas and birthdays (and to compound it we have lots of birthdays in December). yes, I like cool and fun stuff, but I also don’t want to be materialistic, so it’s an inner struggle. thus we haven’t really done much about the littered landscape.

but then a few things happened recently:

first, we went on vacation for a week to a cabin, and packed one small kid-sized backpack of toys for each kid. and they did fine. of course much of their time was spent outside and on adventures as a family, but that’s part of the point. they had some of their favorite toys, and they played creatively with them and didn’t miss all the other stuff left at home.

second, Michelle was especially moved by the story of an old friend visiting a child in the slums of Uganda. her friend sponsors a child through Compassion International. wow, it’s a great story…read it here. so we signed up to sponsor a child…our “other” Caleb…and started praying for him and considering more how much we’ve been given, trying to teach the kids (and ourselves) to be generous and thankful. so looking around, we realized how much stuff we have that we really don’t need, and maybe even the blessing of abundance is also a curse.

also, we’re starting to get ready for homeschool, and have converted the play room to the school room. they never really played in the play room, except a little when friends came over. it was a little silly to have a whole room of toys that they didn’t use much, so why not get rid of it.

we also got Michelle a book for Christmas that she recently uncovered while cleaning out the bookshelf (fitting, no?). The Creative Family by the “soule mama” has a section dedicated to the joys of less. very inspiring.

not to mention a few ongoing things:

the kids rooms are nearly always a disaster. even if we told them to clean up, they clearly wouldnt know where to start. and all the clutter obscures the truly good toys that inspire creativity and good play together. Caleb’s desk was piled so high with papers (mostly cute preschool and sunday school papers we didnt have the heart to throw out) that it was useless. away with all but one or two favorites!

I have long been tired of all the little plastic junk/toys around the house that I call “detritus“. I’ve been just as quick to throw away even somewhat-junky things instead of shoving it in a drawer.

so, mama and Sara P tackled the kids rooms this week, and we’ve got quite a pile of give-away (if you’re on the neighbors or church email list, you’ve seen the list), not to mention the throw-away. and some to put-away for when the baby is older, or just for down the road so it’s “new” again and so we have more space to play.  the cool part is the kids are totally on board with giving stuff away. hopefully they’ll keep this generous spirit as they grow. and last night the kids actually played in their rooms — running back and forth like the crazies they can sometimes be. and they got out some toys and actually put them back! Caleb especially is a perfectionist, so he’s most likely to keep things organized.

so come next birthday or Christmas, if you’re one of the folks in our life who would want to give a gift, please consider the idea that less is more. one truly creative toy, book, game, activity or art-supply goes a lot farther than a big pile of plastic flashing lights and noise. or go crazy and wrap a gallon if ice-cream (or beer, depending on the recipient) or something like that.

I hope all this doesn’t come across as holier-than-thou to anyone, as it really is a struggle to let go of stuff. I’m definitely inspired by the easy-going attitudes of the kids in this process. so I hope we don’t offend if we’ve already given away what you may have bestowed recently, or if the next thing doesn’t last long. we will always be thankful for the generosity of friends and family, but we want to emphasize to the kids and ourselves that life isn’t about stuff. we hope we’re modeling that life is about love, faith, learning, and fun, most of which seems to be hindered by having too many things.