“I Don’t Buy My Kid Toys”: June 2019 Decluttering Update

“I don’t buy my kid toys.” I remember hearing that sentence like it was yesterday.

But it wasn’t.

It was 12 years ago, and it was at my parents’ house. My cousins were visiting for the holidays with their 1-year-old baby, and that comment was part of their very grateful acceptance of the gift we gave her.

Except it didn’t feel like an acceptance speech at the time.

To be honest, it hung in the air so dramatically, I half expected one of our other relatives to call DCFS. On a landline.

Fast forward to now, and my husband and I have all but adopted that sentence as our single child-rearing philosophy. Why? Because the toys are never-ending. How do I know?

I’ve been spending a lot of time decluttering, and I can’t seem to get rid of any of these toys fast enough.

What I Decluttered This Month

• 2 pairs of jeans & 2 sundresses – A church teamed up with a library near my parents’ cottage, and they’re collecting gently used juniors clothing for kids in foster care. Embarrassingly or proudly, I have more than a few items from that side of the department store, so I parted ways with a few things. 
• 17 men’s shirts – Mr. P put a nice dent in his closet when he saw me start to gather up my things. Because we tell each other everything here, I must confess that one of my husband’s workout shirts is now in my drawer. I decluttered one that was threadbare months ago, and I’ve been meaning to replace it. So I did. 
• 1 pair of Michael Kors shoes – I loved the idea of these shoes so much. My mom bought them for me as a Christmas gift a few weeks after my nana died. My nana and I drooled over the Michael Kors catalog together the last time I saw her, and these shoes were in it. They were red leather quilted flats with this fun and elegant gold chain detail. No matter how many times I tried to break them in or soften their blows with moleskin or other tricks, they took wicked bites out of my heels. One day, I even ended up walking around barefoot in my classroom because of them. Of course, I hung onto them for years longer than I should have, so I finally parted ways with them on OfferUp for $30.
• 17 bathroom toiletries – Some of these things were thrown out, but most of them were donated to my coworker who gives unopened items to a homeless shelter in her neighborhood. 
• 5 bottles of medicine – Our Walgreens takes old/expired/unneeded medicines, so I was happy to finally purge some of it. 

Items Decluttered: 42

Money Made: $30

RELATED POST: Frugally Awesome…or Awkward: The OfferUp Edition

What I Didn’t Declutter Yet

June was slow, mostly because I couldn’t get my act together until the last week or so of the month. Perhaps that’s what happens when you take an entire month away from the process. I haven’t technically parted ways with these items, but they’re listed on OfferUp and Freecycle, so I expect them to go shortly:

• Kitchen blinds – Our new sliding door has blinds built into the windowpanes. 
• A wicker linen tower from the powder room – Our powder room is almost totally back together after the leaking pipe/peeing floor fiasco months ago. I have the vanity of my dreams now, so I can ditch this little organizer that I used along with the (broken) pedestal sink.
• A glass shelf – It’s also from our bathroom. The new vanity does the work of the sink, the shelf, and the linen tower, so I’m happy to see it all go.
• A bunch of HP’s clothes and toys – We have duplicates and more than we will ever need. Plus, his birthday is right around the corner. So that means, you guessed it, more stuff.

RELATED POST: Why Freecycle is a Decluttering Dream Come True

How I Know I’m Not Done Decluttering

For starters, I can look around my desk as I type and see more mess than I like. So that’s evidence that I have work to do. But my husband and I have also caught ourselves saying and hearing some really funny things that underscore how much decluttering we still need to do.

1. “Your attic must be ready to cave in.” In true Dad fashion, my dad makes this joke whenever he comes over and sees me organizing HP’s toys. My husband continues to reassure me that everything is on the support beams and nothing will end up in our bedroom in the middle of the night.
2. “We’re not saying no gifts to be polite. We just really don’t have room.” I texted this to my younger cousin who wants to stop by HP’s birthday. I’m working different lines on different people: their presence is a gift, he’d really like a gift card for swim lessons, or feel free to make a donation in his honor somewhere. I know I’ll be ignored, but at least I’m trying. 
3. “Is that another keyboard?” We have a zebra keyboard and an alligator keyboard now thanks to a very generous friend who gifts us hand-me-downs is also decluttering his house. This might not seem totally excessive until I disclose the fact that we actually also own an upright piano. Oops.

So Tell Me…Did you do any decluttering? Are you donating or selling? A little of both? Any tips or tricks that I can steal?