Getting rid of stuff

No suggestions, but I wonder if he is like my 4 yo -- she remembers every toy, trinket, "treasure" and how it came into her possession. It makes it really hard to get rid of anything.

[mommax3]

Is there any room in the attic for some of the toys, if you want to rotate some? I don't have a child who keeps track that well of his stuff, but I have seen kids like that and I know what you mean. I would probably (evil mommy) pack some stuff up when he is not home, still to be his, but on a rotating basis.....that is, if you have room to stash a bin somewhere else, not accessible on a daily basis. If he complains, tell him that he can choose some toys that are still in his room to trade for the ones you took (an equal amount) and that the trade will take place in one month (or whatever you decide). You know him best....maybe it would work better if you told him to fill a box with toys by x date or you would do it for him. I am thinking that as long as the toys are still HIS, even if they are temporarily out of reach, he won't get so upset.

I have found in situations like this (I have a child who is quite attached to certain clothes and will only wear them with other certain clothes.....and yes, I have three BOYS! ) that sometimes I have to just bite the bullet and be the mean mommy to save my children from insanity brought on by their own idiosyncrasies.

Good luck!!!

Sally

I have these solid plastic containers that I store the boys' toys in. I have been known to cull through them, condense them, and toss the broken or rarely used stuff. DS1 had a fit with the old clear ones when I would edit his toys, and doesn't notice with the opaque ones. Out of sight out of mind?

My almost 5 year old still mentions that the hurricane blew his pacifiers off the top of the fridge, and that was 2 years ago!

[PrincessFiona]

I'm with Sally about the rotation of toys.

Go through things and have the kids set aside toys for a garage sale (and what doesn't sell will go to good will). Let them keep a couple of dollars of garage sale money....they'll be thrilled to be able to have their own money to buy a treat.

Then get those under the bed storage containers since you don't have a lot of storage space in the house. Separate toys out into types....we have a lot of playmobile, so we separated them out into cowboys/indians, castle,dollhouse etc...Then place labels on paper and tape them in the containers so you seem them from the outside and put them away. In a couple of months, pull the boxes out, replace the toys with what is in the room, relable the boxes and they'll feel like they have all new toys.

Clutter is our biggest issue too.

kris