...I see that it is unfinished for the girls, but it has progressed just like I had hoped. Because we have worked SO HARD to clean out TONS of toys that had accumulated over the course of over seven years (since Caleb's birth) and over the course of multiple birthdays and Christmases between three kids!
The room used to look like this...
...that is, when it was clean. Oh, dare I show what it ACTUALLY looked like? Ok...for the sake of being honest.
It began to actually repulse me. My in-laws and parents would joke, "Boy, they sure don't have any toys!" And I sort of wanted to strangle them since most of the toys came from them. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate their thoughtfulness towards my children, but as you can see, it got to be too much.
And honestly, I know kids who have more.
So one day Josh and I spent HOURS cleaning out the toy room, knowing it would need to transform into a girl room. We do not have a basement or a way to keep everything, and even if I did, I wouldn't want to. We kept what they played with the most, and bye bye to the rest. We donated most things to our Caring Center (which is like a local version of Goodwill) and a few things I gave to friends. It's funny how sometimes this sort of purging from the house can be the opposite of hoarding...I now find myself thinking, "What else can I get rid of?!"
Caleb is mostly past the toy stage. He LOVES his Legos and he loves playing games on the Wii or Nintendo DSi. He has started reading chapter books, so that takes up some of his time, too. Sarah mostly plays with Barbies and Ponies, so that doesn't take up much room (except for her Barbie house she received for Christmas). Gabriel has a few toys here and there that he likes, mostly some left over that Caleb used to like that we decided to keep!
I'm excited about this new transformation in our home. While it may feel crammed with 4 kids sharing 2 rooms, I can see the benefit of us staying where we are for a while. No space means not keeping things we don't need. And in a way, it's certainly a teachable moment for our kids to learn to give to others who don't have as much.
More transformation to come. Girl room needs a bed for Sarah and some decorations on the walls. Caleb has picked out a color for the boy room, and since we painted for the girls, we should be fair and paint for the boys. :)
3 comments:
Good for you! Inspiring!
Love it! I do this weekly it seems like...I'm always looking around for more to get rid of! We, like you have all the kids toys in their bedrooms...and no storage space, so they don't get to keep much. So. much. better!
Purging all those toys is like cleansing the soul!!!! It always feel SOOO good when you're done!! I just said we need to get the rooms cleaned out here!! I have 3 boys in 1 room...luckily they have a walk in closet that has been turned into the toy closet...if it doesn't fit in there, it can't stay!!
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