I started listening to a podcast on my maternity leave and I love what these women have to say about many aspects of the “mom-life”. Here is a snip-it of their opinion on dealing with too many toys, which I totally agree with!
Toys can so easily take up more space than they’re worth (believe me, I get it). I think one of the main reasons it’s hard to say no to toys is because they’re not really ours – they’re for our kids.
We feel guilty getting rid of it because we remember the look on our kid’s face when they got it, and we worry we’re being intrusive or will make them upset if we get rid of it. Here’s the thing though – kids play so much better with less options. Really, they do! Science shows us that kids just feel better and have a greater imagination when they don’t have a ton of toys crowding their space.
One thing I hear a lot from other moms is, “You’re depriving your kids!” Am I? Because if you spend two minutes watching them, you’re gonna see a whole lot of playing, imagining, contentment, and strong sibling bonds. Doesn’t seem like depravity to me…
Here are just a few of the hundreds of reasons why “depriving” your kids of toys is such a great idea:
• It fosters gratitude
• Kids learn to take better care of what they have
• It teaches them to focus on the important things in life, versus materialism
• It fosters imagination and creative play
• Teaches kids that it’s okay for them not to be constantly entertained
• They learn to make their own fun, be self-starters, figure things out for themselves and not need Mommy for every little thing
Children are naturals at play. Giving them toys that do the imagining for them trains them to need to be entertained and actually kills their natural tendency to come up with things on their own. If you agree with these women and want to hear more from these awesome mama’s then you can listen to more of their podcasts @ The Purposeful Home Podcast.
-Sarah Caudle, PA-C
