The Last Straw. A Toy Story.

I am so tired of fighting the toy clutter. I have spent enormous amounts of time and energy trying to pick up, divide, sort, put away, and clear all the toy clutter! And it seems that as much as I try and teach the kids about putting things away in the right place, it NEVER lasts! I am tired and I have decided to clear the house of all toys. No more toys in any child accessible areas. I used to keep only a few toys in their bins in a shelf where the kids could easily get to. But now I give up.

I am angry and upset right now. It seems that I spend every day telling the kids to clean up their toys. No more! I am putting everything in the basement or in the attic. No more toys in their rooms. No more toys in the living room. No more toys ANYWHERE! If they are bored, I’m sure they can come up with something to do. I’m tired of the entitlement they feel. I’m tired of the attitude of not caring if something gets broken or lost. I’m tired of them being spoiled with toys. I refuse to let my children grow up thinking that they can always get something for nothing. I refuse to let them turn into materialistic brats. The more I give them, the worse they get. Sure they are all “thank you, mami” and “I love you”…but that wears down pretty quick.

I want them to really know what being thankful is. I want them to know what being grateful feels like. I want them to learn to take care of things because it matters to them and to others! What kind of a mother am I if I don’t teach them humility, thankfulness, gratefulness? What am I doing to them when I yell because I am once again inundated with toys and child clutter? Is it their fault? I feel like I’m pointing a finger to them only to see it point back at me.

So today I am canceling our afternoon lessons. I am moving the toys out. I will still let them play with things, but not like now. I want to go back to the days when we didn’t have so much stuff. When things were simple and we were entertained by just reading a book or playing outside. When playing with toys meant you actually played with one toy for more than a minute before throwing it out. I pray that this is the solution to my current problem and that it will cut down on the amount of frustration I feel everyday.