fellow moms.. you know when you hit that point?

[KristinCB]

where you can't take the toys and mess anymore? yea.. i'm at that point. tomorrow both kids are at school (lucas just for the morning) but during that time there will be a MAJOR purge happening in this house. I can't take the mess and toys and papers and bits of crafts anymore. I apologize to the very earth friendly people but there will be lots taken to the mr. garbage dump tomorrow.

[Leila]

I know it all too well. The boys are really lucky that I can't climb the steps to do a full on clean out of their rooms. I'm about ready to hand them baskets and make them bring me the stuff to go through.

[Lindsay]

Every now and then the boys know that mommy goes a little psycho and must purge the room. They get to sit with me and we've got three piles: Keep, Toss, and Give Away. It does their room good and they feel good knowing that other kids can benefit from their gently used toys. We give books they no longer want to school and the kindergarten teacher loves when the boys bring in little odds and ends for their goody box. So then I don't feel so bad when I say, "That's it, I've had it!":blink:

[Traci Reed]

yes, we get that way every few months...I actually stopped buying toys and started filling my kids' time with activities and outside play instead because I refused to buy more things for them to ruin. I'm even contemplating buy a Disney trip for christmas and a few small things instead of massive amounts of crap.

[Sarah8914]

Ugh, yes. Often. And I never purge enough.

[LibbysMommy]

Yes. So often. I just took two garbage bags filled with old toys out of their room and they still manage to cover the floor with toys daily!! For Christmas I'm not really getting them any toys...mostly educational things and dress up clothes, which I think they'll love a whole lot more!!

[Freckles]

Oh yes, this drives me crazy a lot of times! And if only they were a little more tidy and would clean up after theirselves! But I just endlessly have to re-organize their toy bins, the craft closet, their book shelves. They just throw it all together. sigh. It can be so demotivating to see the living room turned into a disaster area one day (or a couple of hours!) after you cleaned, doesn't it? I should definitely purge more stuff. I think I might just do that today, lol!

[MamaBee]

Oh my yes!! Now I get why my mom went ballistic when I was a kid and I lost all my Barbies for 6 years... lol! :o

Why do things have to come with so many parts!! :blink: We just went through a major purge - and I have my living room, mostly back... but the school room is still a mess, but that is mostly books and educational items... we really need to go through the books and pull out the "baby" ones and put them in the rummage sale box...

[jenn7]

I'm doing the same thing!

[heathergw]

I desperately need to do the same thing

[ZaCola3]

With only Landen one would think it might not be so bad. BUT it is awful. I need to do this big time...maybe this weekend...

[MommaTrish]

Yup. Two or three times a year I do this too.

[mummytothree]

We stopped buying new stuff after kid 3!!! I've learned to rotate toys for the little ones and they never know the difference. 3 big tubs full of toys get rotated every three months...by the time 3 months has gone by and the first tub of toys comes back it's like Christmas...they kids feel like we just took a trip to the toy store!!! I also have the rule that if they ever get tired of a toy and think they want a new one, we can "barter"!! I let the kids give it up and trade it for something special (sweet treat, movie night, trip to the park, new book, new tunes for the older girls, ect). That keeps the toys in check too!!

I've also trained the grandparents and aunts/uncles on the gifting of toys, only 1 for birthdays and only 2 for Christmas and they know that if they get more I take it right away and either donate it or put it in the closet for a future gift giving!!! :thumbup:

It's not a perfect system and if I get lazy it can bite me in the butt, but it works for this house and for that I am grateful (and just a tab bit less crazy!!! :D :D )

[Scrapper007]

Yes, I go through this at least twice a year. :-O

[carriesmom]

Um... like every weekend. My tolerance level has plummeted. Seriously, I can't stand clutter.

[rach3975]

I get to that point and do a purge a few times a year. We just did it last weekend since there's a consignment sale coming up that we donate things to. But with 3 kids who all have very different interests, there's still just too much. Like other people have said, it would be fine if they cleaned up after themselves because we have a good organizational system and everything has a place, but only my oldest is any good at cleaning up after himself. The books are still driving me crazy, but for me books are a lot harder to purge than toys.

[LeeAndra]

I involuntarily twitch whenever I walk by Tyler's bedroom, and Jeff not only refuses to throw anything away (despite most of it being either too little for him and/or something he no longer plays with), but cleans it up for Tyler (who will be 9 next month!!) vs. having him do it himself so he doesn't have to deal with the whining/drama/headache.

:cursing::cursing::cursing:

In my own fabulous passive-aggressive way, I make sure that Eliana (who is only 2!!) picks up her toys from the living room and her bedroom (with some direction from me) when Tyler is here and Jeff is around and L-O-U-D-L-Y go on and on congratulating her on picking up her room, what a big gurl she is, how proud I am of her, etc. She picks up after herself every night, but it's only when the two of them are in hearing range that I make a production out of it.

:p:p:p

This also means that I wait until Jeff is at work or class and go through Tyler's room and bag up things, put the bags in the garage, and then sneak them into the trash or into the trunk for Goodwill when he is not paying attention. I don't ALWAYS mind his ADHD...

;););)

[Andrea G]

We have a playroom that is in our basement. It helps alot, but the toys seem to migrate upstairs and into rooms again...

I have to crack the whip on making toys stay IN the playroom, and not everywhere else in the basement, and not in rooms. I do let my 6 yr old have several small bins and a small organizer of toys in his room, but he's impeccably neat, which I love!

I do clean out our playroom every so often, and just get rid of toys that are breaking or have missing parts.

I'm almost to the point that if they get any new toys it needs to add to the bins of toys we already have like: lincoln logs, legos, geo trax, etc. Toys are so bulky!

I felt bad, I had to put locks on the two big BIG playroom closet doors. There are some toys that are in two bigger baskets (that are out all the time and can be cleaned up in a few minutes) that anyone can play with and a ride on roller coaster thing that's always out, but if they want any of their favorite toys, they have to come get me and I have to get a bin out for them.

It's kind of a pain to have to stop what I'm doing to go get a bin for them, but considering it took 12 hours for me to ::very thoroughly:: clean it 3 years ago, it's worth it and I figure since I don't exercise (I hate it) it's prolly my only hope of getting exercise and I can prolly use it, haha!

This has kept the bins straight and not mixed up, and they have more fun playing in a clean space that's not knee deep in toys, which is what we had before we had locks on the playroom doors (which were added 3 yrs ago when I wised up, lol). :o