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Parenting & Farm Kids:  Too Much Stuff  |
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Lindsay C
True Blue Farmgirl
117 Posts
Lindsay
Rogersville
AL
USA
117 Posts |
 Posted - Jan 23 2011 : 05:31:49 AM
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I have a three year old little boy who has way more than he'll ever need. We're really trying to raise him to appreciate people and experiences more than things, but we run into a problem with grandparents and other family members giving him a ton of toys and such around the holidays. And sometimes just any regular day of the week!  We have brought up the idea of donating some of his toys to needy children, but he didn't seem to understand the concept. Do any of you have the same problems? What have you done about it? I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings and we are grateful to have such wonderful family. But the toys are taking over, and that's not the message we want to give our child.
Lindsay
Farmgirl Sister #1452 |
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woolgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
901 Posts
Elizabeth
Great Lakes
IL
USA
901 Posts |
Posted - Jan 23 2011 : 06:09:47 AM
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I feel the same way. We have started to try and just keep a few things out, and then rotate them out every once she seems to be getting bored with the ones that are out. The rest are in a bog box in the garage. It seems to be going well.
Farmgirl #1947 |
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gramadinah
True Blue Farmgirl
3557 Posts
Diana
Orofino
ID
USA
3557 Posts |
Posted - Jan 23 2011 : 07:24:42 AM
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As a grandparent I know what there trying to do. But I try not to get the kids more stuff than they can use or can play with. But I too also don't know what is to much. Tell the the grands to please stop but when he is in need of something say hey he really needs what ever it is. But get your toy inventory down to what you can manage and really he will never know that they are gone.
Diana
Farmgirl Sister #273 |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22937 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22937 Posts |
Posted - Jan 23 2011 : 09:32:00 AM
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What we do periodically is go in when Nora is at Preschool or sleeping or some such and weed out the toys that I know she isn't playing with and we donate to the local thrift store or to the Family Services where disadvantaged people can come and take free items. We are going to be working on that today and getting rid of a lot of the "extra" stuffed animals. We don't need this many!
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com
www.allergyjourneys.blogspot.com
Put your pin on the farmgirl map! www.farmgirlmap.blogspot.com |
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Lindsay C
True Blue Farmgirl
117 Posts
Lindsay
Rogersville
AL
USA
117 Posts |
Posted - Jan 23 2011 : 09:51:15 AM
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That's a good idea Alee. I'm pretty sure there are things he would never even remember he had if we did this!
Lindsay
Farmgirl Sister #1452 |
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natesgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
1735 Posts
angela
martinsville
indiana
USA
1735 Posts |
Posted - Jan 23 2011 : 09:52:48 AM
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We have a major problem with grandparents and aunts and uncles. We decidied to have a talk with them and it helped for a while, but it began again all too soon. We finally had to put our foot down and tell our problem members that they had a limit. They were allowed to spend $20 per child for christmas and birthdays, $5 per child for other holidays, and anything any other time must be approved by me. I had to deal with a lot of hurt feelings, but it was better than havin to hurt my kids feelings by getting rid of their stuff all the time.
Sometimes you have to make a hard choice and hold a hard line. I had to put a stop to the weekly stuffed animal train since there were more than a bed could hold each year coming through the door, per kid, and I have 3 kids!
Farmgirl Sister #1438
God - Gardening - Family - Is anything else important? |
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msdoolittle
True Blue Farmgirl
1143 Posts
Amanda
East Texas
USA
1143 Posts |
Posted - Jan 25 2011 : 5:07:17 PM
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Alee, that is exactly what we do. Now that the girls are older, I let them sort through the toys themselves and they are fine with it.
You can bag up the toys that you know he doesn't play with and if he doesn't ask for them within a couple of weeks or a month, then I'd donate them. My parents have bought the kids some very nice expensive toys, but if they don't play with them, what's the point in keeping them? I get fed up with toys VERY easily.
for the last 2 years, I have asked the grands to buy them things like Playdoh, pajamas, sheets...stuff that they need and stuff that I know they will enjoy. They do still buy them one toy or so, but it's nowhere near how it was. :0)
FarmGirl #1390
www.mylittlecountry.wordpress.com |
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HollyG
True Blue Farmgirl
214 Posts
Holly
Hamburg
Arkansas
USA
214 Posts |
Posted - Feb 03 2011 : 11:18:18 AM
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I'm not a mother myself, but I was raised by a great one. She always gave us "limited" toys. We had a few things we could play with, and the rest were stored in the attic. She kept a rotation of about 3 months or so - and the things we never seemed much interested in, finally "disappeared." There wasn't a need for the drama of us selecting things to donate when we were too young to understand the concept. Sounds like everyone else is on the same page.
We have one nephew in our family and he is on the receiving end of more than he can ever play with from extended family and friends. Our side of the family has started asking my brother & sister-in-law about specific things we can purchase. My parents gave them money to purchase a table and chair set for his room as a Christmas present. I have him money for his college fund - or anything else he needed. If they wanted to spend it on pampers (he's 19 months old) or spring clothes - anything he needed, they were welcome. They live 14 hours from us, so we aren't able to drop in with a cute shirt we found on sale or stuffed toy. Monetary gifts may not be appreciated by everyone, but it works for us in our situation. You may consider requesting this, or setting a spending limit. I have a friend who's child got more enjoyment out of a dollar store bow & arrow set than he did the new bicycle he received.
HollyG
Farmgirl #2513
www.mydeepwoodslife.com |
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FebruaryViolet
True Blue Farmgirl
4810 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4810 Posts |
Posted - Feb 03 2011 : 11:34:25 AM
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I started this before Violet was even a year old. With her birthday following Christmas, it can get a little overwhelming, and, we have 3 sets of grandparents who always go a little overboard. They by for my niece and nephew, who's mother gives an "approved" gift list...and I offer little to no suggestions, so they are limited in what they purchase. If I am pressed to "pick something", it's only one item.
Violet only plays with certain things, anyway. We stick to educational toys, paper/crayons, things like that--she's much happier with the roll of paper that I bought at Ikea and her crayons than anything. She will be 2 at the end of February, and I've already told family that she needs clothing and money for her bank account for her birthday, since she is still discovering her toys they so generously bought her at Christmas.
I sort through her things quarterly--we live in small house and I donate on a regular basis to women's shelters and other children's charities. She never misses anything, but of course, she's just turning 2.
He's still a little young to understand the concept of children less fortunate than he, but one day he'll get it and you can't start soon enough. So, right now, clean out the toys yourself, gage what he doesn't play with anymore and out it goes.
Musings from our family in the Bluegrass http://sweetvioletmae.blogspot.com/ |
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Tall Holly
True Blue Farmgirl
2305 Posts
Holly
Worcester
Vermont
USA
2305 Posts |
Posted - Feb 09 2011 : 4:36:10 PM
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Maybe you could start a college saving plan and for the occasions the child could receive one present for the occasion and then a monetary gift could be deposited into the acccount. I know there is some sort of IRA for college time but it is not called an IRA
Good Luck.
Holly
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Catherine L
True Blue Farmgirl
408 Posts
Cathy
Newton
Texas
USA
408 Posts |
Posted - Feb 10 2011 : 08:31:52 AM
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That is what my daughter and son-in-law have done, started a college fund. The bank supplied slips of paper with the deposit information. Since our grandson is only one, by the time he gets ready for college he should have a nice bit of money.
~Catherine~
Farmgirl 2428 |
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countrymommy85
True Blue Farmgirl
898 Posts
Krystle
MT
USA
898 Posts |
Posted - Feb 25 2011 : 10:04:04 AM
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After Christmas and birthday I weed out the old toys they don't play with and keep the very few toys they like to play with and then I donate them to either the pregnancy crisis center or goodwill. Good will is my last choice because my toys are always in good shape(there are way too many of them!) and a lot of those people do not have the money to buy their kids nice quality toys like my kids have in abundance. I do not mean to be rude to family so I just rotate and everyone is fine with that :) You are not the only one with the abundant toy problem :) It is a blessing to have too many things and then pass the many things on to others who have none, abundance can be a blessing in disguise for some (think zucchini!)
~We can make the world a better place for our kids and future generations by what we do today!~
http://countryrenaissance.blogspot.com
http://www.etsy.com/shop/SunflowersAndHoney |
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Parenting & Farm Kids: Too Much Stuff |
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Too Much Stuff
