My kids are going to be mad at me

Discussion in 'Childhood and Beyond (4+)' started by rissakaye, Feb 27, 2014.

  1. rissakaye

    rissakaye Well-Known Member TS Moderator

    I recently went to working part-time.  I drop my kids off at school in the morning.  Then I run errands, grocery shop, clean for about 3 hours and then go into school and bring the kids home with me after school.  Sarah has observed that Mom has about 3 hours too much time alone with their stuff undefended and a trash can and Goodwill.
     
    So this morning, I did one of the big things I've been wanting to do.  I took some of Sarah's toys out of the playroom that she really doesn't play with and made her a nice American Girl set-up with the larger furniture (bed her great-grandpa made, kitchen set, tent and stable area).  Sarah has always been adamant that she didn't want that stuff in the playroom, but it's just been shoved in her closet because she has no where to really set it up.  So she'll either explode when she gets home from school or love it.
     
    In the meantime I'm looking at some of the stuff I'm cleaning out and wondering why it took so long.  I know some of it was guilt.  Just guilt that someone gave it to us so we "had" to keep it.  I'm over it.  My goal is to be done going through everything before spring break in a couple of weeks.  We just had birthdays a month ago and xmas a month before that so we're at capacity.  Tomorrow the first load goes to Goodwill.
     
    Marissa
     
  2. Danibell

    Danibell Well-Known Member TS Moderator

    Good luck!!  It's far easier to clean when the kids aren't home, you don't have the constant "But I LIKE that!"  "It's my favorite!"  "No you can't throw THAT away!!"  lol!
     
  3. gina_leigh

    gina_leigh Well-Known Member

    That's something I really need to do soon. We have so many toys that have lost or broken pieces it's not funny.
     
    I like the idea of setting up all her AG stuff! Reagan would love that! 
     
  4. rissakaye

    rissakaye Well-Known Member TS Moderator

    She took it well!  
     
    Part of me wonders why it took me so long to pull some of this stuff out. I do much better when the kids aren't home. I'll keep at it.  That was only one small step in the process.
     
    Marissa
     
    1 person likes this.
  5. MNTwinSquared

    MNTwinSquared Well-Known Member

    I sorted my youngest kids dresser.. now his pajama pants won't be shorts!  :D  You inspire me to clean the kids' rooms.  Thanks!  Please let us know what response you got with your handiwork!
     
  6. kingeomer

    kingeomer Well-Known Member TS Moderator

    You gotta do what you got to do.  I've told my kids that if there is stuff that they've outgrown and no longer play with, the right thing to do is to pass it along to another child who would get joy out of it (kind of like how Andy did at the end of Toy Story 3.  For whatever reason, this works for my kids).
    I find that when I do get rid of stuff that they don't bother with that much, one they really don't miss it and if they ask about it and I say it's gone, they are okay with it.
     
    How did you make out?  I think the AG set up sounds fun!  I know my daughter would like that for her doll.
     
  7. ECUBitzy

    ECUBitzy Well-Known Member

    We do all of our toy and clothing purges late at night and pack the items away in our guest closet to sell and give away. I sell a lot on local yardsale sites and craigslist and the girls used to get so emotional- "that's MY lamp!" They've gotten better, though, so I hope to start involving them in their own stuff soon. It's definitely a challenge!
     
  8. rissakaye

    rissakaye Well-Known Member TS Moderator

    One trip to Goodwill down.  One bag ready to drop off at the neighbor's with a few clothes and too little activities for Sarah.  My neighbor has 2 little girls that I used to baby-sit so I usually can pick pretty well the things of Sarah's that they would like when she outgrows them. 
     
    This is almost embarrassing but I'll tell it anyway.  My parents live 12 hours away.  About 7 years ago, an older lady at church asked them to take a set of doll bunkbeds for Sarah.  They had been in her family for 4 generations and there were no little girls to take them.  Mom asked me.  I said "no, we don't have room for them".  We were in a very small house at the time.   Mom knew we were looking to move soon so she told the lady "yes".  Then she called me and said that she took the bunkbeds but would just hold them for us until we moved and had room.  I should have had the guts then and there to tell her "no" again.  But I didn't.  So once we moved, she showed up with them.  They are quite sizable for doll furniture.  Her AG dolls could have fit in them with room to spare.  Except Sarah never used them.  So, I just put them in the playroom and smiled and nodded when Mom asked me about them.  Fast forward to yesterday.  Those went out of the playroom and there is now an AG stable set-up in their place for my horse crazy daughter with her AG doll horses.  This morning those beds went to Goodwill.  Part of is embarrassed for just keeping up the charade for so long.  When Mom asks next time about them, I'll just tell her we didn't have room anymore and I'd rather Sarah have the doll bed her Great-Grandpa made her.  I just can't believe I kept a guilt trip for that long.
     
    Next on the list is to keep sort through the small stuff in the kids' rooms.  I've already done that in the playroom.  Both of them have all their legos down there, set up in villages or something.  Timothy has a Mario Kart track set looping around on the floor.  And Sarah has the AG furniture down there.  That's really it in the playroom.  I've limited it to the large sets that need space.  I pulled all the other small stuff out of the there and most of it went to trash or Goodwill.  All they use the playroom for now is the big sets that need space.
     
    I also need to go through the too small toys in the storage room.  I've been overly generous about keeping too little toys because my kids are the oldest cousins and I was baby-sitting some much younger kids for a while.  But that's done and the cousins aren't around that often.  It's time to sort that down.  The only thing that is absolutely not going is the kids' Thomas Trains.  I have some Little People stuff that's going to go.  I'm also going to have Timothy sort through some of his large cars and give some to a little boy at church.  
     
    The kids are taking it pretty well now.  Sarah just wants me to be done.  But she is a hoarder at heart.  Every scrap of paper is precious to here so I ignore the protests and keep going.  She's thrilled now with her AG doll set-up so she trusts me a bit more right now because I did have a good idea.  Timothy isn't a hoarder.  He'd rather the stuff go so he has more room to play indoor basketball in his room.
     
    Marissa
     
    1 person likes this.
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