Was it hard to get rid of your kid's toys

Yes, Yes, Yes! I have had so much trouble getting rid of dd's toys and clothes. She's my only child and will sadly be my only child. Getting rid of her stuff feels like I'm giving away a piece of her childhood. When it's time to get rid of stuff I get my dh to help me. He's more ruthless than I am about this type of thing which is strange because he would keep every computer part/computer magazine he has. Also having him to talk to is a big help. When I get a bag of stuff to donate I have him put it in the back of my car immediately. Out of sight out of mind works well for me.

My daughter is five and will be six in just a few weeks. My husband has been putting off "The Great Toy Purge" for a few years now but it's time. We are overrun. I know it will be hard to part with some things. I've been talking to her about it though. We need to get rid of her baby toys so she has room for the new toys she will get for her birthday. For the time being, we are just putting them in storage. I hope to have another child to be able to play with them.

Yes. They also have a story about why they should keep everything. Boys are going to camp soon. I am cleaning then. I am looking for storage solutions for what we do keep and will be/already have started a thread on it.

Evidently, yes.  Tub after tub of toys stored in the garage and in closets in the house.  He will be 29 next month!

I thought that I did pretty well, but one look in the attic seems to contradict my story.

My kids are only 2&3 right now, but I've been purging as we go...we already seem to be overrun with toys!

What I do is rotate toys. We keep some on the expedit in the playroom, and have 3-4 large bins of extras in the basement. Every few months, I rotate some from the bins onto the toy shelf. If something doesn't make it into the rotation after 6 months or so, it goes into the 'sell' box.

I have 1 bin for each kid of 'keep forever' - clothes, baby toys, etc. Those get weeded out periodically too. I kept a lot of baby outfits at first, but if it didn't evoke any special memory when I took it out again, off it goes to the sell box I took lots of pics of them in different outfits, so we always have that to help our memories!

Yes! Dd just turned 9 last week and she and I are in the process of cleaning out her toys for the first time. It is really hard because she is our only child. Some of the toys are hard to part with because of fond memories, but even the ones I don't really care about are hard because it's like giving away another piece of that hope for a second child. Dh decided he didn't want another child after dd was born and I've always had hope in my heart that he would change his mind, but every time another toy goes into the donate pile, I realize it's just not going to happen. Also, I'll be 35 next month and that was always the deadline in my mind, so that looming in front of me along with the cleaning out just makes it extra tough. Dd has been very sweet though, offering to keep certain toys just because she sees me linger on them for a moment. I know it needs to be done, but it's definitely tough! Hang in there and don't feel bad about keeping a few things. (I don't know how to add smilies from my phone so insert smiley face here!)

Every time I want to purge my kids' toys, I cannot bring myself to get rid of the Legos. We have several BIG totes of them. Other stuff, I run by them. Some ended up getting "re-discovered," others tossed.

I kept many of my Barbies, thinking I'll pass them onto a niece or daughter. No nieces, no daughters so I ended up selling most of them off in a yard sale. The last two I came across I'm giving to DH's cousin's little girl as she is the closest thing I have to a niece.

This is timely, as I recently did a big donate/keep/trash purge in my girls' rooms.

I've struggled with getting rid of things in the past, but it's gotten easier every year. I've gotten to the point where I can look at it practically and remind myself that we can't possibly keep everything we've ever owned. Then I think of "Hoarders" episodes I've watched, and I get to work.

I involved both daughters in the recent purge, and they made great decisions about what to get rid of and what to keep. That was a huge help, as I didn't sit there worrying they would miss something I was tossing, etc.

It really is a tough process, though. My husband even got a little teary eyed when I gave away the Dutalier glider to a family acquaintance. He remembered all the times he rocked them to sleep in that thing, and had the hardest time watching it get driven away!

The don't-leave-the-batteries-in post made me remember this - in case anyone needs it.

My dd stopped playing with her Leap Pad and it ended up going unused for years before we grabbed it to give it away. Of course- we hadn't thought to take out the batteries because it wasn't a conscious decision to stop playing with it, kwim? I did some research and found out there's a way to save toys that have been damaged by leaking batteries.

Take a Q-tip  and straight lemon juice and swab the area with battery gunk- particularly the connection points. It's amazing how quickly and completely the gunk disintegrates. Let it sit for about 10 minutes, then swab it again with water to take away the stickiness of the juice. Let it dry completely, put new batteries in and give it a try. 

It saved the Leap Pad - and we were able to give it away looking and working like new, with all it's cartridges/books and carrying case.

I'm really glad I saved my son's Thomas the Tank Engine tracks and trains. (There was some Playmobil in there too.) My daughter has a 2-1/2 year old who always, always, always asks to play with the trains when she comes over. I kind of wish we had kept a few other things. The key for saving playthings for grandchildren is to make sure they're quality items (our Thomas stuff is all wood) and simple. I kind of wish we had kept the Lincoln logs.

Yes as we were hoping another child would come along. This never happened.

We donated all or most of DS' stuff to our Montessori school. They were more than happy to take the stuff off our hands.

We had some wonderful puzzles and DS loved doing them for years and years. The school asked if we would consider donating them when he was done with them and I said yes. Eventually the year came to donate them. I went to the teacher who asked for them (she did it nicely) and I said you probably don't remember our conversation about this all those years ago but here are the puzzles. She thanked me profusely and gave me a big hug. She was one of the awesomesauce teachers we had. Jean you are wonderful!!!

I saved my daughter's favorite 'bunny head on a blanket" thing. And I have all of her legos, and all of her Thomas the Tank Engine stuff. Lord, she loved all the trains and track and accessorites. She spent countless hours over countless years with those things. We probably have over a thousand dollars of it (she played with very little other toys), and it is all sturdy wood that will last through several more generations of girls or boys that may come along.

nope as soon as they out grow a toy or clothing it's gone. We do not have a lot of spaces to keep stuff. Each kid has two tubs one for Toy and other small one for clothing.