I have tall chairs on which I painted their names and numerous Thomas trains. Cannot bear to get rid of them.
I still have the child-sized rocking chairs ( no names). I pull them out every Christmas and sit big rag-doll Santa and Mrs Santa in them.
Keep the Thomas trains and Legos. Matchbox cars also. Grandkids love this stuff.
I am slowly giving pieces to GāS. I rarely buy toys for him --I just give away a few pieces eat a time.
alh, just curious, do you have dolls that originally belonged to your mother or grandmother? I have a few, which I am keeping.
I have a different doll problem. Part of how my dad became successful had to do with Cabbage Patch dolls (loooong story) so I have some of the originals and have a hard time parting with them for sentimental reasons. (No, heās not the guy who invented them!)
I also made porcelain dolls as a hobby when my kids were little, and dressed them in their (too adorable for words) twin outfits. I worked so hard on them I canāt get rid of them, though my D stopped displaying them in her room years ago.
^The dolls sound like something you might save for future grandchildren.
FIL made a beautiful dollhouse for D when she was three and as much as I like to get rid of stuff, itās a keeper.
I still have my Barbie , lots of her clothes , a case. Of, course , I had boys. Have kept all their Legos, Thomas the Tank stuff, some Brio, wooden puzzles.
Legos are worth a lot of money. If I were allowed to sell ours, Iād do it on Ebay. I have to keep them and the Hotwheels, though. I have them tidily packed away for somebodyās kids, someday. (I have girls, btw.)
The giant tub of naked Barbies was just donated, though. Not worth selling on ebay.
Iāve seen dollhouses repurposed into wine bottle holders. Pretty funny!
I have tons of Thomas track, bridges, etc. I also have Legos, and KāNex that Iām saving. Plus a big bin of beanie babies. I think at some point the beanies will go, but I will likely keep the other things until I (hopefully) have grandkids.
QM: I donāt have my motherās or grandmotherās dolls, but one of my sisters does. My dolls were given to me when I was a little girl and those are the ones my grandmothers sewed wardrobes for matching my dresses at the time. All these dolls show evidence they were extremely well loved, though the clothes are still perfect.
What I have is all the letters. My grandfather put the first box in my lap when I was in my mid teens and my grandmother passed away and told me he thought I was the one to take care of them. They were all the letters they had exchanged while separated during their courtship and letters she and her sisters had exchanged. After that, all the older relatives kept giving me the letters to keep.
I also have stored toys, including what may well be the largest collection of legos in private hands in the universe. And all the playmobile. And the trains. And the British Museum and Smithsonian dinosaur collections. And some amazing items handmade for our individual kids based on their interests.
I asked my kids which toys they wanted us to save. D chose her American Girl dolls as well as her other baby dolls. S wanted to keep his wooden train tracks as well as his matchbox cars and tracks. Pretty much everything else has been donated.
We donated: matchbox cars, Fisher Price play sets (farm, etc) complete collections of action figures, complete collections of Happy Meal toys, a library of childrenās books (after choosing some hard to find books and some favorites) all store bought costumes, a bunch of Tonka trucks (keeping one huge one each) sports equipment, and on and on and on
Recently a three year old was at my house and she asked me where my toys were. Since all are packed away in the attics, I told her I had none. She looked at me in disbelief and asked, āAre you a mama?ā I was able to find her a couple of picture books. I hadnāt expected her visit.
In kidsā minds, youāre either a kid or a mama. When I was in my 20s, I dated a guy who had an older sister and a niece who was around 6. She had a hard time understanding that I wasnāt a kid, nor did I have children of my own. She had never met my species before.
Although my parents kept a vast amount of old (and mainly useless) stuff, for some reason they jettisoned almost all evidence of my childhood. Iāve even spent hours searching eBay for a replica of my very first doll.
Thus, Iām having a very hard time parting with much of my daughterās childhood stuff, and she couldnāt care less about any of it.
Bumping up.
S has been selling lots of stuff (clothes and old video games, etc) on eBay. He tells me what doesnāt sell by the time he has to return to school can be donated.
Oh my, thatās depressing!! ^^^
But hilarious. If youāve never read Roz Chastās āCanāt we talk about something more pleasant?ā itās a worthwhile journey through dealing with the hoarding of elderly parents. Best phrase was viewing her own stuff āpost-mortemistically.ā
I loved that book. I finished it, and immediately started reading it again.