Why We Have a Toy Cleanse After Christmas

Every January my family goes through what I like to call a “toy cleanse.” We do this annually after the holidays and sometimes after my kids’ birthdays. There’s no science behind it: after they are gifted tons of new toys to play with, we (kind of) organize their current toys while they set apart the ones they don’t really play with anymore. No mercy. We then donate the discarded toys to make room for new ones.

My boys are lucky to have an amazing big extended family that loves them and spoils them rotten with gifts, especially on Christmas. My kids love it! Their excitement every time they find out what’s under the wrapping paper is priceless. This past Christmas my little one had some health issues so we had to stay home and missed the big family celebration. My son was devastated, but everyone was kind enough to send the kids their gifts. As he was opening his presents my son kept saying, “Thank you, [insert family member’s name here]! Thank you wherever you are!” I really appreciate everyone’s thoughtfulness.

But usually, the result of all of this excitement is a bunch of new toys: toys that they love and can’t stop playing with, but in the end, too many toys. I could easily just keep piling toys in the playroom and keep everything forever, but I actually look forward to this yearly activity that we do as a family.

I know a lot of people just take out some toys without the kids even noticing, but I like to get my kids involved. Here are some of the reasons I do this:

Visual Proof 

As much as I keep telling them, “You have a million toys to play with,” every time they say they’re bored, there’s nothing like taking every toy out of the bins and lining them up on the floor: visual proof of the amount of toys they have. You’d be surprised how many toys those IKEA’s Expedit units can hold!

Rediscover Old Toys

Sometimes a favorite toy gets lost at the bottom of the drawer and stays there for months. Taking everything out helps them find lost treasures. Every time we do this I find them playing with an old toy that they thought was lost.

Less Clutter

Clutter attracts more clutter. It’s easy to pile toys on top of toys, but if we do this, my kids wouldn’t even know what toys to play with. Avoiding having an unlimited number of toys helps us declutter and attempt to maintain an organized playroom.

Sharing the Good Stuff and Helping Others

My husband and I encourage our kids to donate all the toys they don’t use anymore. That means anything from Happy Meal toys to former favorite ones, even if those are the big, expensive, fancy toys. They recently donated all their Paw Patrol toys, including some big gifts from Santa from a few years ago. I’m not gonna lie; as I saw the humongous box filled with their big collection, I couldn’t help but think, What a waste! But they hadn’t played with those in years, and those toys served their purpose. They made my kids happy for a while, and now it is time for other kids to love them as much as my kids once did. A little Toy Story inspiration here.

Detachment

A lot of people hold on to material things and have a hard time letting go. I firmly believe that if you have a hard time letting go of things, you will also have a hard time letting go of negative feelings, thoughts, and other things that hold you back. I hope that if my kids learn to part with a favorite toy at a young age, they won’t depend on material things as they grow up, and they will eventually know how to let go of everything they need to let go of, in a healthy way.

Awareness When Buying

My kids ask for a toy every time we go to the store. Sometimes it’s a toy they don’t even like; they just want to buy it for the sake of buying something. Plus, they want to collect every single thing. First it was Thomas the Train mini blind bags, then it was Disney Tsum Tsums, dragons, dinosaurs, robots, Hot Wheels, Pokemon cards… You name it, they’ve collected it. A few months later, these toys are forgotten at the bottom of the toy chest. My hope is that this activity will make my kids and us parents more aware of our consuming habits and the waste those habits create. And also remind them (and us) that more things does not equal happiness.

I encourage you to try a toy purge every year. There’s no set number of toys you need to discard or a certain number of shelves you need to clear; it’s just whatever works for your family. In the end it’s all about perspective. While some people have stated that my kids have a lot of toys, others are impressed at how very few toys have. Me? To be honest, I still think they have too many toys, but my kids think they have just what they need. I guess I’ll just enjoy this clutter while it lasts and do my best to keep it organized.

Alejandra
Born and raised in Mexico just two hours away from San Antonio, Alejandra moved to the Alamo City in 2010 with her husband. A year later they welcomed their first son, and in 2013 she officially became a mom of two boys. She has a degree in Communications from the University of Monterrey, and has worked as a writer and editor for both print and web media. A classically trained pianist, Alejandra currently freelances as a copy writer and translator. Favorite Restaurant: Palenque Grill Favorite Landmark: The Historic Pearl Favorite San Antonio Tradition: Fiesta de las Luminarias

4 COMMENTS

  1. ¡Muy bien Ale! Fíjate que yo hice lo mismo en diciembre antes de Navidad. Como ya sabía que venía en camino una buena dotación de juguetes (regalos navideños) entonces empezando diciembre hice limpia. Como Nacho aun es muy pequeño como para decidir, pues saqué los que yo sabía que ya ni pela. Y tal como dices, sientes feo de sacar juguetes aun muy buenos y caros, pero pues así las cosas.

    • ¡Hola Fer! Gracias. Sí se siente feo a veces, pero yo siento más feo cuando veo todo desordenado jajaja te mando un abrazo 🙂

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