The Great Toy Purge 2009

We don't force our kids to give away their toys, either to their siblings or to charity. But we do strongly encourage them to and for the record they are more likely to give stuff to charity. Funnily enough, Jenna was the strongest proponent of giving away her baby toys and it was the boys who slowed the process down. I guess it was because they understood it better, they knew that once those toys hit the blue bag they were gone forever.

I too, had some trouble saying good-bye to a few of the baby toys. I looked at the ball thingy and remembered the hours I spent with Aaron watching those balls fall down and across and down. The books I sat and read to Sam when he was little, the toy camera that Jenna would wear around her neck for days at a time.

I realized that I had held on to some toys not because they were played with a tremedous amount but because I thought there was something about that particular toy that would make the kids grow into better, smarter, faster. As if owning them made me a better parent and once I gave them up I was giving up the dream of that fabulous, crafty, musical, block builder, flash-card making mother.

My husband continues to remind me that it is the memories that are important, not the stuff. And he is right, theoretically. But sometimes it takes a glimpse of an item to trigger the memory and without the colourful music maker lying around, how can I remember how Sam used to dance and dance to the nonsensical tunes?  

The thing that makes it better is knowing that kids who don't have ridiculously-outfitted playrooms in their basements will be making new memories with our old toys. But that is a tough thing for a young mind to understand or even care about. So I get it, when Aaron doesn't want to give away the stuffed dog that he never plays with but that has sat on his shelf for 9 years, and I understand that Sam wants to hold on to that Transformer from McDonalds. But I hope that the semi-annual Great Toy Purge is eventually a memory that they want to hold on to.