Simplification: Kid's toys and clothes

What to do on a snowy 3rd day of Spring?  Why not tackle this week's Project Simplify hot spot: Kids' toys and clothes.  I did take care of most of the toys and the girls' clothes a week or two ago, so this was supposed to be a breeze.  Besides doing my big boy's room/clothes, and taking care of some hand-me-downs the girls had received, I decided to finally let go of the stuffed animals.

Stuffed animals were a huge problem in our house (until about 7 hours ago) because of my inability to get rid of them.  The kids wanted to keep some, but not the ones I wanted them to keep.  You know, the ones they got on the days they were born and the ones that had some kind of meaning to me, like the Sandra Boynton inspired ones that I got for L because we used to love to read them together when he was a baby.  Here's what we started with:

All of this was shoved in my kids' stuffed animal box.  Scary!  Here are the steps we took to manage this mess in less than 30 minutes:

1. Put all non-stuffed toys where they belong.

2. Take all of L's stuffed animals out.

 3.  Allow L to choose his top 5. This was hard for him, he even cried because he knew who got him what and didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings.  Such a sensitive boy.  But, he did it!

Chicken Little did not make original cut, but since P said, "oh, I like Chicken Little," L decided to keep him after all.

4.  Put the remaining stuffed animals out for the girls to pick their top 5 and 2 baby dolls each.

5. I selected some learning toys/baby toys for Q and C, since they weren't going to be picked otherwise.

6. J picked her favorites.

7. The gross ones got trashed, including the white and pink lion because his hair was previously singed in the dryer.

8. C picked her favorites.

9. Our top picks found their less crowded home back in the box.

10. Our rejects were shoved in 2 garbage bags for donation.

I must admit.  This was easier than I thought it would be because I finally came to the realization that my kids are not babies anymore, and as a result, there is no need to save the gifts they received as newborns and with which they never played.  I even got rid of my teddy bear from 4th grade, my collection of pandas, and a Gund bear that I received in college as a gift from my big sis.  

Then, on to L's room for some much needed TLC. Here's what I had to start with, along with 2 bags of hand-me-downs, and the clean laundry I needed to put away:

This was such a pain in the derrière.  I thought that I had previously organized the clothes, but when I got into it, I realized that my organization turned into clutter when I started to add the clothes that were now too small for my big boy to the mix.  There were also Christmas lights in L's closet, toys and shoes.  Goodness.  This took me 3 hours between moving things, sorting and refereeing the kids.

Step 1. Sort into size piles.  All of the clothes from the closet and dressers got invited to this party.

Just a sample

Step 2.  Had L try on some socks and clothes who's sizes were a mystery to me.

Step 3.  Put all the clothes away.

The future clothes are out of reach in size piles and his spring/summer line is in easy reach.  Very happy.

Step 4. Bag the clothes we are handing down to friends.

Notice the additional stuffed animals which joined their friends in the garbage bags downstairs.

I could not believe the shear amount of clothing I was hoarding that didn't even fit L anymore, including the tuxedo he wore to my brother's wedding and for Christmas last year.  If I had known, I would've gotten rid of it sooner. Actually, now that I've typed that, I realize that I was hesitant to do anything until I knew if we were having a baby boy or girl.  So, goodbye to you, small clothes.  Now, I'll just need to go buy L some new undies since I noticed that most of the ones he was wearing were 1 to 2 sizes too small.  Oops!  Sorry, dude!

Then, I simply repeated the process in the girls' room.  This time, it was quicker, easier, and involved putting the small items in the attic.  All pictured out by that time ~ lucky dogs, you.

Sense of accomplishment!  WooHoo!  

All of that work made us hungry, and what better than to fight Mother Nature and have a spring time dessert: lemon bars.  Yummy, especially when you pair that with veggie burgers, sauteed spinach, and fresh veggies. It makes for a fantastic end to a less than beautiful Spring day.