I Get My Kids to Declutter Their Toys Before Gifting Season

I Get My Kids to Declutter Their Toys Before Gifting Season

It’s the holiday season, and if you’re a parent like me, you’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about and shopping for gifts for your kids. Along with buying new items, now is a great time to get rid of old toys they already have. So in preparation for the influx of gifts, spend some time decluttering your kids’ toys.

For more content like this follow

Decluttering based on age

When my children were babies and toddlers, it was pretty easy for me to move toys out as I saw fit. I would go through all the toys at naptime or bedtime and get rid of anything that was broken, not my favorite, and ones that I never saw them playing with. However, older kids put more value on their toys, therefore I recommend going through the process together. It will take practice and patience, but should get easier over time. 

Decluttering with older kids

The first step in decluttering is to pull everything out into one open space. Gather all the toys from bins, closets, and playrooms, and make one big pile so that you can see how much there is. Next, designate the space or spaces where what they keep will go, and help them understand that they can only keep what fits in these spaces. Now with a few trash bags or big boxes on hand, go through each item with your child, asking if they want to keep or donate (or possibly trash). Place keep items back into designated spaces and donate items into your bags. A lot of times kids have a hard time letting go, because these are their possessions, even if it’s items they don’t play with. So don’t be discouraged, but be encouraging.

Ways to encourage kids to declutter

If you come across items that they are unsure of, or if they seem to keep many items you know they no longer play with, here are a few questions I like to ask to help them decide. The first question I ask is if they love the item and take care of it or can someone else take care of it now? This teaches them that everything we keep we should love and take good care of or else give to someone else who will. Another question I ask that helps them let go is, is there anything that they want to sell? We can list these items on Facebook Marketplace and they will get the money from the sale. Lastly, I like to ask them if they have anything to donate to kids that might be in need. Sometimes knowing that they are helping someone else helps them let go more easily.

There are a few specific places I try to donate that are local to me before running to the big box donation centers. One place is our local thrift shop that is run by the animal shelter, in which all proceeds from sales go back to taking care of the animals. Another great one is local church preschools; they tend to need new toys frequently since they don’t have big budgets to go out and purchase them new. And lastly, our foster care organization will take certain donations to provide to foster families in the area. Try searching your area for similar type places, and if all else fails, your local Buy Nothing group is always a great resource.

With all this, remember that how much that’s kept and let go will look different for every family. Your family’s size, the space you have to work with, as well as many other factors determine this. In the end, you want to feel good about the process and that everyone is learning and growing from it.

This Mindset Shift Around Alone Time Has Made Me a Better Mom and Partner

This Mindset Shift Around Alone Time Has Made Me a Better Mom and Partner

With five children, Shifrah is learning a thing or two about how to keep a fairly organized and pretty clean house with a grateful heart in a way that leaves plenty of time for the people who matter most. Shifrah grew up in San Francisco, but has come to appreciate smaller town life in Tallahassee, Florida, which she now calls home. She’s been writing professionally for twenty years and she loves lifestyle photography, memory keeping, gardening, reading, and going to the beach with her husband and children.

This Sweet, Silly Term Has Gotten My Kids Excited to Clean

This Sweet, Silly Term Has Gotten My Kids Excited to Clean

Alexandra Frost is a Cincinnati-based freelance journalist, content marketing writer, copywriter, and editor focusing on health and wellness, parenting, real estate, business, education, and lifestyle. Away from the keyboard, Alex is also mom to her four sons under age 7, who keep things chaotic, fun, and interesting. For over a decade she has been helping publications and companies connect with readers and bring high-quality information and research to them in a relatable voice. She has been published in the Washington Post,
Huffington Post, Glamour, Shape, Today’s Parent, Reader’s Digest, Parents, Women’s Health, and Insider. Alex has a Master of Arts in Teaching, and a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications/Journalism, both from
Miami University. She has also taught high school for 10 years, specializing in media education.

6 Parents and Caretakers Share How They Squeeze Rest Into Busy Days

6 Parents and Caretakers Share How They Squeeze Rest Into Busy Days

For parents, rest is often a tricky, slippery thing. There’s the age-old adage, “sleep when the baby sleeps,” which sounds great in theory, but not so much in practice when there are emails to answer, laundry to put away, and a million other things that are only possible to achieve during those precious, quiet stretches of naptime. And when children are older, houses are very rarely quiet at all. But rest goes beyond napping or closing your eyes, and the definition of rest will always be different for everyone.

Apartment Therapy turned to some busy parents and caretakers to find out how they prioritize their own rest in the midst of their busy schedules, along with how they encourage their equally busy children to slow down and rest too. Ahead, check out some of their tips — and remember, rest is just as crucial for your mind as it is for your body.

What constitutes rest, anyway?

Like anything else, rest looks and feels different for everyone because everyone has different needs. But for the most part, it’s common to view rest as any activity that leads to feeling recharged. As Kate, a mother of two and yoga instructor explains, “Rest, to me, is something that feels restorative, rejuvenating, or nourishing in some physical, mental, or emotional way.”

For Kara Nesvig, a freelance writer and mother who lives in Minnesota, there’s an important ingredient for her rest: having alone time. “Being a parent is a lot of being touched, needed, and wanted — and while I love that, I also like to be by myself,” she says, adding that her restful activities are always changing, and might include taking a bath, reading a book on her patio, or even working out. “Over the past five months, I’ve also gotten really into exercise and have found that I feel so much more alive and recharged after a challenging spin class or weights workout, which was a big surprise to me,” she says. “So sometimes rest is exercise!”

A key component of rest is removing external stressful stimuli, while also trying to shut out any thoughts that might create anxiety or worry. Taylor Grothe describes rest as the ability to “unhook her brain” and take some time for herself. Grothe, who lives in Connecticut with her partner and two daughters, pointed out that the job of being a parent never stops. “Anytime I can just sit and not worry about the state of my small humans… is restful.” 

Similarly, Nesvig shares that she opts to unplug during restful activities to minimize distractions. “Rest is taking the dog for a long walk without Slack notifications or checking my email,” she saya. “Rest is making dinner or doing 15-20 minutes of stretching at the end of the day. It’s also going to bed, turning off phone alerts, and reading a book until I fall asleep.”

Why advocating for rest matters

Sneaking in chunks of rest can be difficult for anyone, and for parents or caretakers with nonstop schedules, it can sometimes feel nearly impossible. Jennifer Camiccia, a mother of four and grandmother, tells Apartment Therapy that it’s important to learn how to accept help. “If someone offered to take my kids, I would gladly say yes,” she reflects. 

Camiccia, who lives in California and is also a caretaker for her elderly in-laws, pointed out that it’s also crucial to schedule relaxing activities into your day. “If rest isn’t built into that plan in advance, you might find yourself depleted and exhausted,” she says. “I’ve felt this way too many times to count, so I learned to listen to my body and my emotions.”

For Dan, a father of two from North Carolina, advocating for that alone time is key. “The best thing my wife and I do is try to be honest when we need to take time for ourselves, even if it’s just 10 or 15 minutes, and the other one is with the kids,” he says. “Obviously it’s not always possible to do this, but we try to give each other little breaks whenever we can.”

But it’s important to bear in mind that rest doesn’t have to be a big event — nor does it need to take a long time at all. And with busy schedules, sometimes little chunks of rest can also be valuable, as Kate has learned. “I try not to wait for big windows of rest,” she says. “Instead, I try to incorporate small pockets of rest into my day. I’ll flip through a magazine or do some gentle yoga stretches while my kids are playing next to me.”

It’s time to banish rest-associated guilt once and for all 

If you’ve ever felt guilty for resting, you’re definitely not alone. A “hustle”-obsessed culture (not to mention a capitalist society) can trick people into thinking that rest is unproductive — but that’s actually not the case at all. Rest helps keep your body healthy and ready to tackle whatever busy schedule tomorrow might bring. 

As MK Pagano, an author and mother from New Jersey puts it, “I’m of no use to anyone, least of all myself, if I don’t get enough sleep.” Pagano, who is expecting another child next month, pointed out that lack of sleep and rest has negatively affected her health in the past, so it’s rare that she’ll prioritize work over taking care of her body. “I’ve learned to set firm boundaries when it comes to work,” she says, adding, “Protecting my time and my health is more important to me. ”

Similarly, Camiccia says that she’s “learned the hard way” what happens to her body when she doesn’t prioritize rest. “I’ve suffered with migraines since I was ten, and a huge trigger for me is stress,” she says, explaining that she builds time into her day to either read or go outside and enjoy nature to keep her stress levels low.

But it can be challenging to put one’s well-being first. Grothe admitted that prioritizing her rest is something that she struggles with, describing it as “a balancing act.” However, she knows that rest is valuable, and she uses a variety of self-talk to encourage herself to recharge without worrying about other things that need to get done. “The house will eventually be clean, and doesn’t need to be right now,” she explains. “Sitting outside [or reading a book] helps me broker inner peace, so that I can be a better mom.”

The busiest members of any packed household might be the children themselves. Daily schedules can be filled with school or daycare, activities like ballet lessons or sports, camp, vacations — the list goes on. Rest, then, can and should be a family affair, one that’s modeled and encouraged for all ages. 

Just as she builds rest into her own day, Pagano makes sure it’s part of her three-and-a-half year old daughter’s as well. “I implemented a schedule and a routine for bedtime, naptime, and sleep, and used things like white noise and blackout curtains,” she says. “It seemed to work; my daughter has always been a good sleeper.”

For older children, rest can be more activity-based — and away from the distractions of screens. “All my kids love nature,” Camiccia reflects of her now-grown children. “Going on hikes, watching the sunset, going to the beach are all ways they relax. I was always a big believer in having quiet time to read without phones or the television constantly on and I think that helped as well.”

Like most learned behaviors, rest can be habit-building, and parents have the opportunity to mold the way children view and prioritize the concept. Grothe hopes her daughters will understand that rest is something people choose, plan for, and prioritize. 

“Rest is an active thing,” she says. “It’s a real part of the day.”

De Elizabeth

Contributor

De is a writer/editor specializing in mental health, motherhood, lifestyle, and pop culture. She’s obsessed with all things ’90s and ’00s nostalgia (and even has a newsletter named after the best sound on AIM).

Responsibly Dispose Of Toys With Mattel’s Toy Takeback Initiative

Responsibly Dispose Of Toys With Mattel’s Toy Takeback Initiative

Arielle Tschinkel

Contributor

Arielle Tschinkel is a freelance pop culture and lifestyle writer whose work has appeared on Shape.com, WomansWorld.com, FirstforWomen.com, Insider, HelloGiggles, and more. She loves all things Disney and is making her way to every park around the world, and is a die-hard Britney Spears fan for life. She’s also obsessed with her Bernedoodle, Bruce Wayne.

Follow Arielle