I went to an awesome homeschooling conference this past weekend and picked up a few tips. I'll let you in on a little secret I learned about how to get rid of TOYS in your house!
In the past, before birthdays, I've always asked the girls to go through their toys and pick out some things they'd like to give away to other children who don't have many toys. They pick out a few small things, but it has never amounted to much. I've been disappointed. Then I realized, my kids don't know other kids who don't have toys. They don't know what a third world country is like. They don't get it--regardless of how much we talk about it.
Anyway, moving on . . . here is the secret I learned from a mom/speaker with 7 kids. She said they don't have a ton of toys. The less toys they have, the less time the kids spend cleaning up and the more time they have to do fun things as a family--like playing games, bike riding--memory making activities. I shared this concept with my girls and they GOT IT!!! Between the toy bins downstairs and their room they filled 5 trash bags full. A few of the things I said, "Really, you want to get rid of that?" And they said, "We don't ever play with it." I let them be in charge. We saved a few things for Seth, but he will have plenty of birthdays ahead in which I know he will get more toys. Heck, back in the olden days, kids had one rag doll to play with and they were happy!
This is why you haven't seen me all week, I've been decluttering my house . . . it feels so good!
And now for you moms with boys or even girls you have a hard time doing homework with . . . and you don't have to homeschool to appreciate this next topic. "How to Teach Boys and Other Children Who Would Rather Build Forts All Day." Andrew Pudewa taught this seminar and he is HILARIOUS! I was laughing through the entire talk and yet I learned a ton. There are so many differences between boys and girls and how they learn. I learned some things about my marriage too. You can download the audio here for $3 or for my local friends, I bought the CD and you can borrow it from me. It's about an hour long and so worth the listen!
Sorry for the heavy writing, I just had so much to share! Have a great day! More crafty stuff to come . . .
2 comments:
Wow! You have inspired me to keep trying. I feel like I attempt to declutter their toys every month. And I tend to get a bag of stuff. But FIVE?! Wow. I tend to think I need to keep stuff for Emilee too which doesn't help in the decluttering. :) This last go around Erin, too, gave me stuff that I was surprised she was willing to give up. Shows you that they are moving on and growing up!
So looking forward to hearing about the conference! Sounds great. The IA one was this weekend, but it was VBS week so we decided not to go.
See you soon!
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