Too Many Toys

My advice would be to start a college fund, make it be known and then when birthdays/Christmas comes around let people know that this would be so much more appreciated by Ellie and Michael when they are older whereas the gifts will be long forgotten. Good luck.

hi E. my daughter is 8 and i have asked my family mostly my 23 year old sister to stop buyin the loud toys that go off in the middle of the night and she wouldnt and still hasnt ..when she had her first little girl i did the adult thing and it was pay back time:) i did it to her it was a guatar(cant spell) so she was mad and she said ur mean i said erica i will do contune to do it as long as u do and she stopped
thats what i am telling you to do

H.

I have always said -a toy in a toy out. I have 4 kids and in the beginning lived in a small apt. organization was key, and kids really gravitate towards 2-3 toys, the rest they forget-but i don't, good will here they come, or i gave them to the nursery at my church-or day care centers LOVE them. I felt a little guilty about it because they were gifts from family members but i decided they were sharing with the community and helping others, so ehh-no one really remembers what toys they have given you anyway. Good luck. I know how out of hand it can get...

Sometimes you have to come right out and say I do not want you giving my children toys for a while,they have way to many..If that doesn't work then you can tell them that the toy they bring will go back home with them..I know it sounds like making that kind of statement seems really rude but sometimes it is the only way some poeple get the hint...I hope this has helps you..The other thing you could do is take half of the toys pack them up and put them away then when you find the children not playing with them swap the toys around..This way they do not have the same toys to play with all the time..I myself have done this and when I took out the other toys the children thought it was great..They always had something different to play with... :)

With four children of my own, I understand the whole too many toys things. My in-laws believed that each child needed to receive the same toys for each birthday- we now have four identical tricycles, four identical buggy cars, ect. Finally, we told them that the kids can learn to share and we do not need four of everything- besides the fact that each kid has their own interests and personality. In order to control the toy population, we also reminded everyone that the kids have bank accounts for college, cars, houses, and that all the money they get goes into that. For us, that was the quick fix- at least for holidays and birthdays. If the kids do not need anything specific, they get money. Even my seven year old gets excited to get money because we tell them how rich they are and that they have way more money than mom and dad :)

Has all your family been to your house? If they haven't then they really don't know that you don't have room for the everyday gifts they are buying. Have them over show them around. And if that doesn't work then don't have your kids open the gifts and give them back and just let them know you don't have room and they should give the gifts to someone that doesn't have so many.

Maybe in a nice letter, explaining the small apartment problem, you can suggest them giving your kids a beany baby or matchbox car, along with a savings bond to help your kids save for college or a car. that way they still have a toy to give, yet can help the kids in a practical way as well. Or maybe they can give the kids movie tickets, so you can take them out to the movies, or blockbuster gift certificates or something. Hope this helps! It is a nice problem to have, a family that is too giving!

E., Gosh, I wish I had an answer for this, as we have the same xact problem here. I have a 5yr old and a almost 2yr old. We literally have thousands of dollars worth of toys here! NO kidding! Stuffed animals? I have had to put up the mesh thingys on the wall just to contain them all! ugh!
I have asked the family not to buy anymore stuffed animals or big toys, but that doesnt deter them at all. My only solution has been to keep giving to goodwill!
Good luck and let me know if you come up with something that works!

This is a topic that is near and dear to my heart! From the time my son was born my husband and I respectfully requested that our family members only give ONE gift during a birthday or any other holiday. If they felt that they didn't spend enough $$, they are more than encouraged to make a deposit into his college fund or savings account. My side of the family complies with this, in fact loves that 'rule' and on my husbands everyone but my mother in law complies (both of my sister-in-laws wish that they would have thought of it!!!!) and every year I she pouts for months and tells everyone who will listen (including me!) that I ruin her Christmas/Easter/halloween/4th of July/President's day! This year I did threathen (not an empty threat, mind you) that I will ask my son to choose his gift that he would like to keep from Nana and I will donate the rest to toys for tots. A little mommy dearest, but it worked!
Also, about every season I go through my son's toys with him and we bag up the toys he has outgrown and bring them to children who aren't as fortunate as he his. He is only two and a half and he actaully puts real thought into what he is giving away and the last time put his favorite 'momo' into the bag!

Good luck, this is not an easy situation and based on all the responses you have gotten, it's not an uncommon problem!

Hi E.,
I HAD the same problem..until I started telling them that there are so many toys here that I'm running out of room...so from now on what they buy stays at their house, so the kids can enjoy their toys there, and know that it is from them...it worked, they don't buy as much now, knowing that the mess is staying at their house :)

My sister politly says thanks and then returns the gift for store credit and gets what the family NEEDS. Works everytime. Think of it a money towards a store instead of a usless gift.

I encountered this problem too. We have four kids and the relatives were nice enough to give gifts to all the children on each child's birthday as well as to the bday child! I finally had to take each adult aside and convince them that it was taking away from the special-ness of the occasion if there was too many gifts. I then progressed the conversation into the please-only-one-gift-each, which has yet to be observed by one set of grandparents, so I've scored a victory on three sides!
I feel so wasteful because as you say, the more toys they have the less they play with!

You can box up toys and rotate them to save room and interest. I gave a lot away too.

I was blunt, and said, gee we really need some books. He likes stories about..... and that did the trick. Also, now that mine are older, they also like craft supplies. Those get blown through, so there is no such thing as too many washable markers, or playdough or paint.
Good luck,
D.