Playroom PURGE!

Okay, peeps.

We’ve been working on a MAJOR toy/stuff purge in our casa over the past week, and I could not love it more if I tried. 

Now.

If you know me, at all, you know I’m not really a hang-on-to-things kind of gal.

I get very twitchy with too much clutter in the casa.

My mood and mothering is strongly correlated to organization.

And I just believe very strongly in the practice of donation on a regular basis.

So, basically, light de-cluttering happens a few times and a year in our household and isn’t anything new.

That said.

We have not ever, like, in the four years since we’ve lived in San Antonio (!), gone through our entire playroom from top to bottom and culled items that the kiddos have outgrown or no longer use.

Essentially, the last major round happened when we were packing up and leaving McKinney. So…

It.

Was.

Time.

Like, beyond time.

I mean, when we moved here, Little Man was still in diapers with a pacifier! Needless to say, toy interests and usage in the house have changed by oodles and gobs since then.

Additionally, I knew the clutter was becoming a real problem when we just couldn’t keep the playroom clean or organized—ever—and it just felt claustrophobic, packed and unpleasant. Boooo.

The final bit of motivation that spurred me into action was an article I read on a mothering blog about de-cluttering in the new year, and the scientific link between clutter and anxiety for mothers. I was like: SOLD. It’s happening.

We had the perfect couple of days to tackle the worst of it last week, when the kiddos had two consecutive, half days of school. 

Now.

One bit of pixie dust good fortune that made this process SO MUCH EASIER than it could have been: the existence of my little two-year-old niece, and the possibility that she might enjoy some of these items. :)

The kiddos were PUMPED over the idea that some of their most loved, but no-longer-used toys would be going to their cousin, and it made the process—dare I say?—enjoyable???

Last Wednesday, we spent hours removing e-ver-y-thing from drawers and cabinets and buckets and nooks and crannies.

We organized each bit by brand or TV show or movie or type of toy, and sent pics of it all to little bro and his wife. They made executive decisions about what they wanted and what they didn’t, and things got packed up accordingly. Woohoo!

I. Kid. You. Not. There were boatloads full of items no longer used and ready to find a happy new home.



In the end, around dinnertime, we’d made it through the worst of it and had a trunk FULL of items for donation, and loads more packed up for my little niece.

I brought the kiddos with me to drop it all off, and the donation center employee was so impressed by the kiddos personally carrying their former toys in to be donated, without crying or carrying on about the loss of it all, ha.

So then I rewarded my crazies with a pre-dinner ice cream. :)



It was a GOOD day, and even Chica—my wariest-of-donating kiddo (she doesn’t like change, at all) admitted that the process made her feel good.

Victory!

We tackled a bit of closet work and more of the playroom odds and ends (and some bonus attic purging!) over the next couple of days, and ended up with a total of THREE trunkfulls of donation items, not to mention the items set aside for the cousin.



We have a bit more to tackle in terms of shifting things around and utilizing the newly-freed-up space to its best advantage, but already, I’m noticing the desire to spend more time in the playroom than we have in ages. 

I mean, the kiddos always hole up and play up there, but I, myself, have been gravitating toward that space a ton since we’ve begun the overhaul.

Like this afternoon, for an impromptu doodle with ALL THREE kiddos. :)











One other bit of playroom-related fun involves the proper utilization of these cabinets we’ve had for ages. They’ve been wasted, unused space, but…no more!

With proper shelving now, we’ve turned them into bookcases and it makes me sooooo happy to have another little spot for some of the kiddos’ favorite book series.

And picture frames!! Our beloved glitter frames we haven’t utilized since we moved here are finally back out. Crazy! Now with fresh new kiddo pictures. :)



The eventual goal is a bit of furniture shuffling and further organization so we can manage to have a ping-ping table in the playroom. All in the interest of toys/items our family will joyfully utilize the most.

So…woohoo for progress to support aging kiddos!

And woohoo for declutter (even when it gets a bit messier before it gets better, ha).

And here’s to the best (eventual) 2023 playroom we can manage!

More as things progress.

Happy Almost Friday, peeps!

Over and out.