Overwhelmed with the Toys and What to Do About Christmas!

We just cleaned out the toys 1 weekend ago. 3 bags full. It is so nice to be able to close the toy box again. No I did not tell them, they haven't even noticed or asked once for something that is missing. If I haven't seen them pick it up or play with it in 3 months- it's gone. I clean out toys about every 4 months. The last time I did it was this Summer before a yard sale.

2. When my kids are smaller I go through toys w/o kids around. Toss broken + items missing parts/pieces. Then box & store toys that Im considering getting rid of. Any toys in box my kid doesnt ask about or look for are tossed or donated

My older child goes through toys, tosses broken items. For each new item my child has to rid of at least one old toy

I get rid of toys, but mine are still pretty young. I have gotten "busted" before, and I gave the toy back for a day or two then just snagged it again.
We just unloaded a TON of stuff to our local goodwill. Like you we are SWIMMING in toys. Between us, grandparents, aunts and uncles it seems to never end! I have started putting part of their "loot" aside and pulling it out later, or giving it away to someone.
We are definitely cutting back on what we buy them because we see how overwhelming it gets. Again ours are young so they don't question much. Depending on the age of your kids, I would just sit them down and explain that quality and quantity are very different. Alot of times gifts are bought only to fill more space under the tree. Money should be reserved for other things. We have started giving our boys money that goes right into their banks. We want to show them the value of saving. We also plan on adopting a needy family from our community.
It's very easy to lose sight of how fortunate we are, and not help others, or simply to just not spend and splurge needlessly. I think many of us are guilty of that, I know we are! Start early showing them the value of money and "things" that our plan LOL Hope it works :)

Before Christmas every year, my daughters and I spend a few hours in their room. It's up to THEM to decide what to get rid of (though I heavily encourage them to get rid of some things). They know, because I've been telling them for years, that Santa will not bring new things if they don't have space for it. SO, they're VERY good about it. Anything that's broken or missing pieces goes in the garbage; things they just don't play with, we donate to less fortunate kids. The girls LOOOOVE helping other kids who can't afford toys, books, and games of their own! So it's a great learning experience as well. Then, Santa prioritizes ;) This year, the girls NEED new bunk beds, so that's obviously going to be their big present (though they don't know it yet)... then they usually get one or two things off their list, things they want, then they get a few things they need. We've never had a HUGE stack of gifts under the tree, so they don't know if they're missing out or not ;)

Get the boys on board, make a day of it, and have them make piles of things to donate, and let them go with you to donate... it's the best!! :)

Good luck in there, I know how overwhelming it gets ;)

I clean out my daughter's room without her (because if she had her way I would still have ALL her infant toys and she's almost 5). I go for more educational toys but try not to get too many. I also encourage grandparents to go for experiences rather than stuff (tickets to plays, movies, skating, bowling vs. toys).

My son is 2 and his room looks like a preschool (we don't buy him alot but his grandparents and great grandparents do) and we have a small home. With another baby on the way I decided to clean out everyones stuff to make room (I swear my hubby is worse then my son...he keeps everything!) I went through my son's toys and packed up the younger toys that he doesn't play with. I put them in the new nursery. Well my son found them and made it clear that they were HIS toys NOT the babies. He takes them out of the nusery all the time and I have to put them back latter. I don't know how old your boys are but I think at christmas kids tend to get more excited about opening gifts then playing with them alot latter. Why not get them a couple practical gifts (like new jammies) or smaller gifts that don't end up all over (dvds)

Our daughter knew that we cleaned out her toys for her birthday and before Christmas. It also helped that she liked giving toys to the children that did not have toys, There were times that if I asked her to get rid of stuffed animals she had trouble with that, so I would pull out the ones, I knew she would never miss, place them in a trash bag and give her a few weeks to ask for them.. NEVER happened.

Our daughter wasn't so much into toys as games, dress up and activities. We also tended to give large out door toys for the holiday gifts. Her absolute favorite gifts were books.. Stacks and stacks.

With all of the relatives, that is where most of the toys came from. So the Christmas tree had plenty underneath it.

I go with quality over quanity. Get a few more expensive toys they will love and will last. You didn't say how old your kiddos are, but most will understand if you explain beforehand. Plus, the gifts will be so much cooler and not break (because they are cheap), they will have just as much fun if not more!

I try to keep a mental log of what my son plays with the most and then I perge his room twice a year (sometimes a third smaller one since his birthday is beginning of October and then we have Christmas). Some toys I remove without him knowing and smaller toys slowly get thrown away, like the little things from happy meals and the dollar store that he wanted then but then when we get home finds it's way under the bed never to be played with again. If it's a larger toy that he would notice but doesn't play with anymore I tell him, honey why don't we get rid of this, we can donate it to another child that doesn't have any toys (we donate to the battered women's shelter in our area) and that usually gets him on board with getting rid of some stuff. I also tell him we have to get rid of this many bigger items in order to make room for birthday and christmas presents. If he can't decide which ones to get rid of then some new toys will stay in the box until we can make room. So if he get's 4 bigger items for his birthday and Christmas then 4 bigger items that he no longer really plays with need to be removed and donated. So far we haven't had any issues and he seems to like that he's giving toys to kids who aren't as fortunate as him. Good luck.
H.

I box up old toys and put them away and wait to see if they notice and ask for any specific toys (they never do but I wait and see) then I get rid of them. My kids get a lot of gifts from relatives so I try to find non toy items to wrap and put under tree, like cool light up sneakers, a T shirt with their fave character on it, a book, a puzzle from the dollar store. If relatives send in the mail those go under the tree as well.

So frustrating! I was almost done typing my answer and accidentally erased it...so here's the shorter version.

When my oldest was young, I would periodically take toys she didn't play with and pack them away. If she didn't ask for them for several months, they went into either the donate pile or the garage sale pile.

As she got older, I stressed the importance of making way for new things, and showed her the show "Hoarders." I told her that people who keep everything eventually end up living like this. That's a very good way to illustrate the concept to children. She's very good at clearing away her own things (she's six) and choosing whether to donate or sell. She understands that every year, our garage sale is what affords us our swim passes for the summer, and that if we want to swim all summer we have to make X amount of dollars...and we all contribute. She also understands that there are children with very little, and that some of her things (usually those she's really enjoyed and thinks someone else might enjoy) go to charity.

For my second child, I buy less. Because they are five years apart, I have regifted to her (and it'll be many, many years before she realizes what I am doing.) For example...the Little People sets. They were expensive, quality toys so I saved them from my first child. Packed them away for years. Recently wrapped them up (for a birthday) and gave them to my youngest, who was just overjoyed! Bonus...no toys had to go in or go out in order for that gift to take place. I know that's not practical with every situation, but it works for us.

I want to suggest you enlist your children's help when getting rid of things. You may be surprised at what they are willing to part with. If they won't part with anything, show them Hoarders. :)

You do not have to "toss" good toys to thin them out...you can pack some away and then rotate them in and out so toys seem new again and no one gets bored. Depending on how old your kids are involve them in the process of thinning out the toys, observe what really gets played with as well.
There is no reason why you can't say we are only getting "X" number of toy gifts this year, buy something larger for the family, buy gift certificates for things to "do" lazer tag or bowling or movie passes? Buy art project sets or books...whatever your sons are interested in. Start a new family tradition, Christmas doesn't have to be all about "gifts" only if you make it that way...

I enlisted my dd when she was 5-8 to help clear out room for all the new toys that would be coming in. The few times we gave them to a friend, she wanted them back later. We sold some and let her buy something new. Others we donated. The crappy ones I trashed when she was not at home.
I told people NOT to buy stuffed animals. Of course she has some special ones, but many are just taking up space.

My daughter wants to keep EVERYTHING, even broken old toys.

I purge her room for her. I get rid of all broken toys and happy meal stuff. I box up the toys I don't see her play with and donate them. The nicer toys I allow her to sell and make money off of, she's more willing to part with things if she can get some money.

I also do the one-month deal. I put the toys I'm not sure about in a box and I hide it in the garage. If she asks for they toy then I "find" it. If she never asks for it the box gets donated in one month. I've never had to "find" anything, nor has she ever asked about the toys.

Having her help is stressful. She won't let ANYTHING go, including pictures she's drawn. She can have 100 pictures of a hastily-drawn flower and she want each one! Having me do it helps a lot.

You could go for higher-quality toys and let your boys know that Santa brought more expensive toys this year so you get less. I've also asked for books for her, clothes etc. Usually she only plays with 2-3 main toys she gets anyway and the rest are forgotten. So I think she's overwhelmed as well.

Yes, I have always limited our gift giving to only 2 presents per child. Family members more than make up for whatever we cannot afford. As for the accumulated gifts, yes, I make my children purge their old toys that they don't play with. And yes, when they are in school, I help them out and I don't care if I get "busted." Most moms will agree that we know what our kiddos play with the most....the rest is either junk or stuff they just are not interested in anymore. My children know that we have limited space so what I always tell them to do is keep only the ones they would be lost without if the toy was ever gone forever. It also helps to have them sorted. I have a rolling cart with drawers for my son's toys. All of the toys are grouped together making it easier for clean up, easy retrieval, and easy purging when the time comes.

I had to cut back because we will have a newborn, and we are spending a lot for her.
I only get rid of toys if she says so. If she knows she wont play with it, that's when I throw it away, donate it. or give it to my friends.

before christmas i clean out ALL OF HER TOYS/STUFF ANIMALS and put them in the attic and do the same for her birthday i clean out the old to make room for the new i do it when she is not home or when she is a sleep