I have been trying to sort out the toys slowly for the past 1.5 weeks. Little by little.  (Had the 4 day break in the middle 😁) I still have P’s books to sort. There are story books and colouring books( many of which she hasn’t finished)and  activity books and knowledge books. The list is endless. And so is her stock. The shelves are so stuffed now that any new book has to be kept on top, not inside!

The toys are sorted…. and man were there a little too many. I think we just overindulge our kids now a days. Multiple boxes full of crayons. 3 boxes of colour pencils. 3 sets of sketch pens. My God! I was amazed at the amount of stuff I got out of there. So I just followed one strategy. Anything she hasn’t touched for more than 6 months is out. Whether it’s a game or stationery or activity books. My poor A has no space! 80% of the space is taken up by P’s stuff. And for A’s stuff I have had to buy those huge bins. Every time I give my maid something to keep in their room she is like “bhabhi mein kahan rakhoon?” I just give her a glance and say “jahan jagah mile wahan rakh de” I had been avoiding this for a long time but now I think we had reached the limit. Every single shelf was overflowing and even above the shelves whatever space was there was filled. So I pledged to myself that once I’m done with the cleaning this time, I won’t leave a single thing on top of the shelves and I will leave some empty spaces on the shelves.

We live in the age of bounty. You name it and our kids have it. Why do they need so much stuff? They don’t even touch it after playing once or twice. What about all those kids out there who don’t even get a single square meal forget a decent toy? It makes you think…. why am I wasting so much money. Mine and others’. A big reason for so much stuff is the amount of gifts our kids get now a days. I remember we always got cash or chocolates as gifts (not that chocolates are a favoured gift for me). The cash was deposited in the bank and that generated more cash. Isn’t that more helpful than giving stuff which the child doesn’t even need?

For the past 2 birthdays (my daughters have their birthdays just one day apart so it’s been celebrated together) I have made it a point to make it clear to people that I will not be accepting gifts. I accept donations for the NGO I am associated with. At least P understands now that instead of receiving stuff we really don’t need, we can give food and nutrition to poor children who are fighting the deadly cancer.

There is another reason too…. trust me it reduces so much trash in your house. I have realised that half the things people give are not usable. Some are duplicate. Clothes don’t fit. And what we do use only adds to the STUFF. So by doing this I am actually doing ek teer se do nishane 😁

There is also an amazing way to give away the stuff that our kids are not using. There is an NGO called Aasman foundation. They have this annual event where they take donations of toys and other stuff and create a market for children from the slums. They give them fake money and let them shop what they like. I like to donate my stuff there. Sharing a flyer if anyone would be interested too