{"id":8260,"date":"2014-11-24T10:17:11","date_gmt":"2014-11-24T08:17:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/responsive.jozikids.co.za\/zaparents\/?p=8260"},"modified":"2022-06-22T09:34:51","modified_gmt":"2022-06-22T07:34:51","slug":"help-my-kid-has-too-many-toys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/lifestyle\/charities\/help-my-kid-has-too-many-toys\/","title":{"rendered":"Help! My kid has too many toys"},"content":{"rendered":"

I don\u2019t know about you, but my kid\u2019s playroom fills me with anxiety (I don’t know about you)<\/p>\n

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  1. There are overflowing bookshelves.<\/li>\n
  2. There is a play kitchen \u2013 well, a play kitchen post a small earthquake.<\/li>\n
  3. There is a large blackboard, with multiple stompies of associated chalk.<\/li>\n
  4. There are enough plush animals, dolls and characters to fill an ark.<\/li>\n
  5. There is Lego. Crayons. Puzzles. Fluffy boas. Masks. Bottles of bubbles.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Everything is quite organised, in that it (more or less) has its place. There are one or two things without working batteries, or with bits broken off, but most of the contents of Armagedda-Playroom are in working order. There are even large plastic containers for the smaller pieces of \u2018play-play\u2019 food and the many, many tea sets.<\/p>\n

    We\u2019ve never discarded a toy<\/h2>\n

    Over the 3.5 years of my daughter\u2019s life, we\u2019ve never \u2013 as far as I\u2019m aware \u2013 discarded a toy. I guess that\u2019s part of the built-in human tendency not to want to have to let anything go (from which I certainly suffer). Or sentimentalism (me again).<\/p>\n

    But, before you think we\u2019re parenting a spoiled brat, you should know that a whole lot of my daughter\u2019s toys are my husband\u2019s, from his childhood. A batch is hand-me-downs. And the rest are loot from three birthday parties and adoring family members.<\/p>\n

    Having said all that, my kid has too many toys. That\u2019s the simple truth of it.<\/p>\n

    \"\"
    www.tomorrowsworld.org<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    What are we teaching her?<\/h2>\n

    It pains me when she doesn\u2019t seem to know what she owns. When things get broken or go missing, and she shrugs at me. Or says, \u2018Don\u2019t be upset, Mom – we\u2019ll buy another one.\u2019 I feel, often, that Armagedda-Playroom is symptomatic of a rabidly consumer culture that prioritises mountains of branded, unbranded and plastic stuff, in a bid to make us feel like good providers, good entertainers and good parents.<\/p>\n

    And that\u2019s all, well, rubbish.<\/p>\n

    Michael Thompson, author of\u00a0The Pressured Child: Freeing Our Kids from Performance Overdrive and Helping Them Find Success in School and Life<\/em> believes that \u201cToday\u2019s kids have too many toys.\u201d This teaches them to look for the next new thing instead of enjoying what they have. \u201cIf they\u2019re always looking to material things to entertain themselves, they\u2019ll soon get bored,\u201d he says. He\u2019s right.<\/p>\n

    On a recent camping trip we gave our daughter a large stick and that\u2019s what she played with. For three days. And it occurred to me that if we removed 75% of the stuff in Armagedda-Playroom, and packed it into the garage for three months, she\u2019d play with the remaining 25% and be happy to be reunited with the rest in due course.<\/p>\n

    I googled the phenomenon, and there were 51 million results to help parents cope.<\/p>\n

    Some tips to help us all out<\/h2>\n
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    1. Make a clean sweep of your kids\u2019 toys right now. Today. Remove the \u201clow-hanging fruit\u201d (toys that are no longer used). Put the clean, unused toys in boxes and donate them. Chuck the dirty or\u00a0broken ones. Then purge on a regular basis.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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      1. Have your kids pick their five favorite toys \u2013 those they love most. Then have them find five they don\u2019t love that much any more. Involving your kids in the purge helps them to make decisions about what should stay and what should go.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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        1. Encourage time and attention to developing a love for reading, writing, and art.\u00a0Fewer toys\u00a0allows your children to love books, music, colouring and painting.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          Tips for festive season gifting<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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          1. Bake. Make. Upcycle. Use sites like Pinterest<\/a> and The 36th<\/sup> Avenue<\/a> to inspire you and your kids to create (and not buy) consumable gifts this festive season.<\/li>\n
          2. Arrange gift swaps with family members and close friends, instead of gift giving. Gather a selection of toys your kids have grown out of, and exchange them.<\/li>\n
          3. If you\u2019re going to buy toys, buy quality stuff that will last for many years or time-tested favourites, like blocks, Lego, art supplies or dolls with good \u2018pretend\u2019 potential. Family psychologist and author John Rosemond says, \u201cGenerally speaking, store-bought toys are fairly worthless.\u201d He explains that toys with only one function, like a wind-up train or a branded must-have, quickly become boring to small children, because they don\u2019t allow them be creative or imaginative.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            So, my plan? This weekend, Armagedda-Playroom is getting a major make-over.<\/p>\n

            Up next week \u2013 \u2018Gift ideas for Christmas: freebies to cheapies to biggies\u2019<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

            This article was originally written for Jozikids by Tiffany Markman in 2014.<\/em><\/p>\n

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