I'm sure those of you with small children know exactly what I'm referring to, when I say "today is the annual post-Christmas thinning of the toys". As in, with all the new toys the kids got, I need to sort through and dispose of some of the old ones, in order for everything to fit in the house. I didn't start the day out with this on my agenda, but as I was cleaning the boys bedroom I realized that I needed to do it. I also decided that this was an excellent time to wash all the toys. So, I have everything sorted into piles -- dishwasher safe, washing machine safe, things to put in a tub full of bleach and those things that need a careful hand cleaning. Ugh...this is going to take forever!!! And to show just how truly compulsive I am, I am even planning on putting the legos through the washer in a pillow case. Yes, I am really that Type A.
The easiest things to get rid of are the broken things -- no guilt there. Of course, Reid had a MAJOR fit today when I threw out one of his broken toys. It was wooden and was starting to splinter in places, which isn't really safe so I should have probably pitched it months ago. Yet, said toy led to at least 15 minutes of screaming by him with a following lecture by me on not abusing toys. I'm pretty sure he heard 0% of the lecture.
Next are the toys that have been consistently abused (such as the toy vacuum sweeper that we had to rid ourselves of previously because the hose was used as a whip).
And, since Lucy is our last, I need to pack up the baby toys. A few (not many) are being kept in a box for when we have company over, but the rest need to be either passed on, donated or tagged for the consignment sale this spring. I would like to say that I'm a little sad about it, but the truth is that (being the minimalist that I am) I'm thrilled to get the stuff out of here.
While I don't relish the washing and sorting, I absolutely love the feeling of satisfaction that I get from completing a project like this. I wonder how many days it will take me to finish this...
Now the only question that remains is, how to distract the boys so that I can pitch all the McDonald's toys?!
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You should have worked at a daycare center or preschool... toys have to be cleaned daily. But I get weird with cleaning too, so I did not mind doing it, lol. Can't Lego's be soaked in bleach? (I would think that would be eaiser, maybe).
ReplyDeleteValerie