OK, so I donate to charities when I can and offer my time when I'm able. I always make sure that my gently used items are donated to a worthy cause and go to people who are in need. I am ever thankful for what we have (though I do at times complain about the way it works ;) ). I try to teach my boys the same lessons. We always give to the food bank buckets and purchase a toy for "Toy for Tot's" every year. We always get an ornament from the giving tree at Christmas and I explain why and who it is going to. When we drop off items for the women's shelter or I take bags of their old clothes to school I explain why and encourage them to help me pick items out that we can take with us..and while they have objected to certain favorite t-shirts hitting the big black donation bag from time to time, nothing..and I mean NOTHING..brings out the pack rat in my kids like the sentence "Hey guys, lets see what we can find to donate from your toy boxes!"
I never expect them to get rid of too much at one time, I never ask them to give up a beloved object. When the time comes to thin the flock, generally speaking I do it while they aren't home so that they can't object when I toss the cardboard backing that came with the McDonald's toy that they "need" to make it work...(if I do it while they are out they never know it's gone!). I do however feel like there's a lesson to be learned here and I'm not sure I'm going about teaching it in the right way. The more I point out how long it's been since they've played with some of their toys the more it makes them want to keep them and hide them in a corner where I won't look...they might NEED it for something...they "used" to LOVE it.....Ava likes to play with it when she comes over.....Erik might ask where it is. Half of the stuff they have crammed in their toy bins we've had since Liam was age 2 (oversized "action figures" with large parts so no one chokes!!)
So in an effort to 'lay the law down' and 'teach them a lesson' and all of those other things that parents like to say (that I swore I would never do/say/think when I was a parent!) I delivered a proclamation: They cannot purchase or receive any new toys until 10 (5 each) old toys made it into my donation bin. They brought me 2 small McDonald's toys and are now trying to ignore me by 'drawing something important' and concentrating on their crayola technique.
Needless to say, on Friday when they get their allowance and we go shopping they are going to be seriously ticked off when I tell them no. No Gormitti, no "handful of heroes", no new action figures or Star Wars guys or even coloring books. The hard part is going to be standing my ground when they both have a meltdown but what else can I do? I'd much rather they listen now and help me make some space in their room but I'm thinking they are going to have to learn it all the hard way.....
Apart from doing the cleaning out while the kids are away or asleep....how do you keep the clutter to a minimum and teach them that sometimes it's better to give and help in small ways than horde it all??
