Decluttering: My Mind and His Toys

Before William was born, we were absolutely adamant about a few things, one of them being toys. We wanted quality, wooden toys, not plastic, and handmade if possible. And not too many of them. Charles was good at telling people fairly bluntly about our desires. And grandparents have been very good at taking it on board, I have to say.

But somehow, when we looked around our house, our standards had slipped. There were plastic toys given as gifts from workplaces and relatives, and even one or two that I had picked up myself. And so many toys. Probably not that many by today's standards really, but more than a little baby needs. And we noticed a behaviour in our son - pull out a toy, look at it for a minute or two, then discard it. Pull out another toy, look at it for a minute or two, and discard it. And so on. 

I guess the concerning thing for us out of this, apart from the plastic, is the effect of too many toys. Fostering a lack of focus on any one toy, always moving on to the next one. Getting bored with something very quickly, and looking for the next 'exciting thing' to entertain. When what we actually want to foster in our son, is the ability to play with his imagination. Anything can be a toy or a prop when you use imagination. That is what we want to encourage in him.

So we've been doing a big cull. Some of the toys have gone to the op shop bag, and some have been put away for use in a rotation system, of sorts. There are still what we think is too many toys around, so we'll have to do another round of decluttering. Already our home feels lighter. There is less choice for William, and he's been making better use of the fewer toys he has. And there is less clutter and less mess scattered around the house. I actually don't mind the mess he creates, as long as he's having fun. But I do mind if we're encouraging him to use and discard things very quickly. 

And then I turn my attention to myself. I find myself frustrated because I'm not 'getting anywhere' with all the things I want to do right now. Honestly, I have about 10 creative projects on the go or in my head. Crochet a new blanket. Do a blogging course. Update pretty much all of my blog. Write a book? Learn how to use photoshop. Taking more photos daily. Do a parenting course. Read a book. Document my recipes. Be creative in my cooking. Write blog posts. Edit photos. Take photos. After my priorities as a mother and a wife, and looking after the vegie garden and the cats and dogs and chooks and washing and feeding us and keeping the house in order. And I think, what am I modelling for my child? Too many activities on the go, no time to focus on any one, being scattered and 'not getting anywhere' on any of them. 

I think his toys are not the only thing that need to be decluttered. I need to remember that this is 'peak hour' in my life, and probably will be for a few more years. And some of the 'me' projects might just have to wait a while. The solution for now might just be to write them all in a big journal and get to them one day in the future, when I am less in demand. But oh, how to choose what to let go of. Such a tough decision!

I've read some interesting articles on children and toys lately, this one in particular provided some food for thought: Why I took my kids' toys away {& why they won't get them back}.

What do you think, do too many toys make for kids with a short attention span? Do you have any tips for how to focus on one creative outlet at a time, rather than ten?