I've spent the last few days decluttering the kids' rooms.
A lot of the toys that we're getting rid of are from their last birthdays or last Christmas. Goodwill has stopped accepting donations of toys, so I went to take a few bags of toys to the town Thrift Store (accepts charitable donations). Well, the Thrift Store has also stopped accepting donations of toys. So, now, the kids' gently-used toys are going to largely go into the garbage.
I called MIL and told her, "There isn't anyone accepting donated toys anymore, so when you're buying Christmas gifts, try to pick ones that will get lots of use and won't just add to the clutter." She said, "Oh no, I won't get any bad toys... I've been looking at getting them X, Y, and Z." Now, one or two of her ideas were good ones for my kids, but several of her ideas are just cluttery junk that will cost her money, not get played with, and will end up at the dump sooner or later.
And, yes, I have tried to recommend the "passes to the park" or "tickets to a show" ideas to MIL. I've also tried to encourage her to get the kids one or two meaningful gifts instead of a heap of junk... spending the same $$ but on stuff that will get more interest and use.
So, I guess this post is part Public Service Announcement and partly query. For those of you who are starting to shop for the holidays, please try to consider the gift recipient's actual interests and try to give gifts that are "greener".
Also, what less cluttery gifts have you given that worked well? My kids love getting magazines, so that's a great gift for them. And they can be recycled when the kids are done with them! My parents (who live cross-country) save shipping on gifts by sending the kids money or a gift card (Target, Walmart, etc..) so they can buy whatever they want after the holidays. This has the added bonus of making sure the kids will like what they get... which is usually some item from their wish list that they DIDN'T receive for Christmas.
And what do you do with the toys that need to leave your home?
A lot of the toys that we're getting rid of are from their last birthdays or last Christmas. Goodwill has stopped accepting donations of toys, so I went to take a few bags of toys to the town Thrift Store (accepts charitable donations). Well, the Thrift Store has also stopped accepting donations of toys. So, now, the kids' gently-used toys are going to largely go into the garbage.
I called MIL and told her, "There isn't anyone accepting donated toys anymore, so when you're buying Christmas gifts, try to pick ones that will get lots of use and won't just add to the clutter." She said, "Oh no, I won't get any bad toys... I've been looking at getting them X, Y, and Z." Now, one or two of her ideas were good ones for my kids, but several of her ideas are just cluttery junk that will cost her money, not get played with, and will end up at the dump sooner or later.
And, yes, I have tried to recommend the "passes to the park" or "tickets to a show" ideas to MIL. I've also tried to encourage her to get the kids one or two meaningful gifts instead of a heap of junk... spending the same $$ but on stuff that will get more interest and use.
So, I guess this post is part Public Service Announcement and partly query. For those of you who are starting to shop for the holidays, please try to consider the gift recipient's actual interests and try to give gifts that are "greener".
Also, what less cluttery gifts have you given that worked well? My kids love getting magazines, so that's a great gift for them. And they can be recycled when the kids are done with them! My parents (who live cross-country) save shipping on gifts by sending the kids money or a gift card (Target, Walmart, etc..) so they can buy whatever they want after the holidays. This has the added bonus of making sure the kids will like what they get... which is usually some item from their wish list that they DIDN'T receive for Christmas.
And what do you do with the toys that need to leave your home?
