This works well for stay at home moms, but is extreamly impossible when gone all the time... Very hard... Good sugguestions thou
We get the kids books all the time. Amity got a how to draw book for Christmas this year. They have a very healthy book shelf, ranging from beginner books, to more advanced books that we read to them. Thing is with young children, toys help with their developmental milestones, so it is good to buy toys for them. Children require play things to help develop both fine and gross motor skills, along with problem solving skills, and many more skills they require to develop in the first years of life and even later.
Tor: You're probably already doing this, but I just recommend you keep a bunch of your daughter's really special toys. A few years ago I watched an old video and saw my pink bear, neon green snake, and a bunch of toy horses--all stuff that meant a lot to me but that my mom gave away. It still hurts that she did that.
For parents who cannot politely explain to close relatives why spoiling their kids is not helping--my parents and relatives have the same attitude to toys and raising kids as I do, so no problem there. Sometimes it's necessary to be a bit like a sergeant major as Maia suggests or the lack of order drives everyone crazy in the end. It doesn't mean you love them any less! And as I said, we don't have a present-giving culture here, so no one drowns kids in toys. The kids' Turkish relatives were more likely to turn up at 9 o'clock at night suggesting that I get the grandchildren out of bed so they could play with them--but that's another story!
My son has so much Thomas the train stuff it's hard to find anything new to buy him. He does play with his stuff though. When he was younger there was a Thomas in his hand 24/7. Even in his sleep, he had a Thomas in his hand. It was really cute, unless he lost the one he just had to have. Then it was a pain. He still loves Thomas though. If you don't have any good use for the track, send it over. LMAO j/k
ww... since it's only a once-a-week project that takes only a few minutes to accomplish, there's no reason why any working mom couldn't do the same thing, on a weekend/day off... and surely, even the hardest-working working mom has 2 minutes a day to spare, to just peek in the room before heading out to work, or at bedtime... for the record, i was a stay-home mom while having the first 5, then was a working single mom, with 5 stair-step kids... and later, a stay-home one with 7... and i could always find time to do what i suggested above...
There is the age where the kids should be learning to take care to themselves. I remember not getting a party when I turned 11 because I didn't finish cleaning my room. (I haven't learned a thing)
so long as you aren't going to tell the child off at bedtime, or demand that they clean their room at bedtime. Bedtime is to remain a positive and calming experience. You alter the atmosphere at bedtime and you can cause a child to suffer from night terrors and bad sleep patterns.
When my kids were small, they accumulated too many toys and clothes that often ended up cluttering their rooms. My wife established a policy to control the growth of mess. They had to relinquish one toy or piece of clothing for each toy or clothing item they received at birthdays and Christmas. The relinquished items went into a storage box until the box was full. Then, it would be loaded into the car and carried into the Goodwill or Salvation Army by the kids. This plan kept bedroom clutter to a minimum and our kids even learned to feel good about donating stuff to those who were less fortunate. ps...If the child did not want to part with any used toy or clothing, then the NEW item went into the Goodwill box, or another child could "trade" for the unwanted item by surrendering an item to the donation carton. We saw some serious bartering among my three daughters! LOL
I feel like I should be taking notes from this thread for when I have kids. There are some good ideas being shared!
I thought of this thread today while Joel and I were cleaning. We cleaned out some cupboards of old, old, old toys from when Joel was little, cupboards that you could tell hadn't been opened, let alone cleaned and dusted, in years, and loaded everything into Joel's car to take to Goodwill. Joel's mother raided the car and stowed a bunch of the stuff in the garage, then told us off about giving things away. Because she wants to save them for our kids.
