There was an evening not too long ago where I stood in my kitchen and cried. When my confused husband asked what was wrong, I told him I was upset because Leo didn’t have many toys. Yes, I cried my eyes out because my 9 month old son only had a handful of toys. All his little baby friends had boxes overflowing with Fisher Price goodies and here was my boy with a few soft toys and only a couple expensive talking/singing ones. Living off one wage was so difficult and we didn’t have the money to pay the bills on time let alone buy fancy toys for Leo.
It is strange to think about that time now after I have just spent 10 minutes clearing the floor so I can hoover. Thanks to Christmas, birthdays and all too generous grandparents Leo now has so many toys. Too many toys in fact. Leo has so many toys and now I could cry for a whole load of different reasons. The constant sound of creepy electronic voices and toys trying to keep going on old batteries is enough to bring me to tears. Every time I tidy up just for Leo to throw everything back on the floor 2 minutes later brings me to the edge of an emotional breakdown, Most of all I could cry because it is because of my amazing family that my son now has enough toys to fill a small nursery.
 |
| Eeep, we have run out of room in the toy box. |
Although I am grateful to everyone for the toys, I am now starting to long for those days where Leo only had a small boxful. I miss the days where it only took a couple minutes to tidy up at the end of the day. Now Leo has so many toys he doesn’t know what to actually play with. He prefers to chuck everything out of the box and then proceed to throw toys around the room rather than actually play with them. Instead of sorting shapes or stacking blocks, Leo likes to empty my bag or jump off the sofa.
 |
| Leo ‘playing’ with his toys. |
I now realise that toys and possessions are nowhere near as important to a child as I thought they were that evening I cried in the kitchen. I now find myself worried about what is going to happen at Christmas when we will no doubt we be getting another onslaught of toys. Perhaps I will have to convince the husband to build an extension?
 |
| Using toys to store more toys! |
Does your child have lots of toys? Or do you think only having a few is better? Tips for effective storage techniques when the toy box is overflowing would be very much appreciated.
My daughter was the same, with very few until her first Christmas. I remember coming home on Christmas day and after unloading the car, the entire living room floor was covered. I'm also worried about this next Christmas and where the heck to put them all, but I'm having a 2nd now, so I don't want to throw them out as the next baby will use them. The only solution I have found is to sometimes take some to Grandma's to live in her toybox there! x
#maternitymondays
Boo has loads of toys. I think I bought them her to ease my conscience when I went back to work. The good thing is I hardly buy G any as he uses all of her old ones but then I feel guilty that he has none. You can't win! #MaternityMondays
Aww congrats on baby number 2, it is good that you won't need to spend so much money on toys for him/her. Honestly most of the day our house looks like a war zone, it only looks normal once Leo is in bed. Good idea, maybe I will try palming some of the more annoying toys off to my parents and in-laws!xx
No you can't win can you! I am storing all of Leo's in case one day we have another baby but I am rapidly running out of space!xx
Yes, I went through the feeling guilty for lack of toys and now? Well he's two. He has a lot of toys! And also lots of things that are not toys but that he loves playing with and pretending are toys. I go through every now and then and bring out an old toy for him to play with that is forgotten or to get rid of some! I really love the action shot…is that a digger about to be launched across the room!? #maternitymondays
My 10 month old doesn't have many toys, but I like that she does actually play with the oens she has. We only recently introduced a all singing/talking/ musical toy which she is very amused with after her silent play! Her first birthday and Christmas is coming so I expect will we be drowning in toys soon!