Children and Minimalism

I thought there would be a fight.  I was prepared for the worst. I entered my son's room with a paper bag and he knows what that means. I even had a speech prepared to explain why I wanted him to give away some of his toys.  Alas, to my surprise, there was no fight, no argument.  So away we went going through his mounds of toys. He didn't even hesitate to throw things into the donate bag. We dwindled his three bins of toys down to one. Granted he is a pre-teen who doesn't spend much time playing except for a few choice toys, but I was amazed! 

One child down, two more to go. 

I again prepped myself for the worst. My youngest two share a room and the toys abound! So again I took them into their room with a bag and they were ready to go. THREE BAGS full of toys in less than an hour.  Choices were made so quickly and no fighting.  I really was feeling blessed.  Granted they still have more toys then I think is necessary it was our first step in the right direction. Now all of their toys fit into their toy box and two bins!

My oldest has commented on how much easier it is for him to clean up his room because there is less that gets pulled out when he is looking for something specific. SCORE! And no one has complained about missing something that I have given away. Two points for mom! 

The biggest 1up for our karma was that I posted the toys on my local freecycle yahoo group. A woman was the first to ask for the toys.  When she came to pick them up she was teared up and so grateful. She explained that she recently had left her abusive husband and had to leave everything behind.  Her son had not had many toys for the past two weeks and would be so happy to finally have something to play with. It made me feel good that no only were the toys not going to the landfill but were going to a child who needed them. 

Now if I can only get them to stop wanting to consume in mass quantities things will be great. Want versus Need!