I've been cleaning out ruthlessly. Clothes I don't like that much - gone. Christmas decorations that haven't been out of storage for years - gone. Sewing patterns I will never, ever use again - gone, gone, gone. A deeper cleaning than I've done in years. Storage areas that have been unexplored for some time, organized and neat. It feels good. But I realized there is one category of items that I can't part with easily.
And that is toys.
I have some of my toys (Barbie dolls, a bride doll, toy dishes), and I miss some of the toys I didn't keep (my stuffed white cat, Frosty, and my Nancy Drew books). I have some of my mother's toys. I have my dad's all-time favorite toy, his sled. I have some of my grandmother's toys. I think I even have some of my great-grandmother's toys.
And, of course, I have toys that once belonged to people I'll never know. Apparently I collect doll-size roller skates (all of these from just the past few months ... isn't it amazing what you can accomplish even when you aren't trying?)
(Black velveteen cat, original owner unknown.) I went to a friend's yard sale this summer, and she was selling her son's Lego collection. I was amazed. You can do that kind of thing? Sell toys your children have outgrown? It was a foreign concept to me. And when it came time this week to decide - do I want storage space, or my children's toys? - I couldn't do it. I could not give away those toys. And boy, are they taking up space - storage tubs of wooden trains, Lego blocks, Playmobil figures, American Girl dolls. I would bet that two-thirds of the storage area in my attic is home to toys. They're all neat and organized and out of sight, but still - this is a small house. I could use that space.
But at least most of the toys that somehow come into my possession now are tiny.
Easily confined to a single drawer.
It's hard to imagine a kid being excited about getting a tiny paint roller and tray, but I think it's great.
This, however, might be my favorite toy of all: a tiny wall pocket, shaped like a cup. It's about the size of a half-dollar. I think it wants to be in a kitchen with red-checked wallpaper and a farmhouse sink.
This box of ice cream cones is maybe 2 inches long.
The cones inside are even smaller.
And if you think the ice cream cones are small ...
you should see the emery boards, which might be an inch.
Reading glasses?
Just the thing for perusing the latest issue of "Weekly News."
Having confessed my inability to turn my back on any toy, I have to ask ... is there anything you just can't part with?
There are QUITE A FEW things I can't part with. I purge often, but some things will never go ...Ben's lego collection and Kates 800 or so Archie comics will be here for awhile. (grandkids someday will enjoy them) I could not part with half of those little treasures you have either. Really, if they are tiny, how much room do they take up? A tiny box of chalk, c'mon...if you smile when you look at it...KEEP IT! Totally understand where you are coming from....
Posted by: laurie magpie ethel | January 06, 2012 at 10:43 PM
OMG - she was selling the Legos??? My sons are both in their 30s and THEY store them now and transfer them back and forth between their homes and, every now and then, bring them back to MY house and play with them on the livingroom floor. Sell the Legos - never!!!
Posted by: Kathy | January 07, 2012 at 12:25 AM
Vintage sewing notions. I can't leave them behind. If I listen closely I can hear their story, what they have sewn, factories they have been in. I just can't leave the history behind. My kids play with my husbands legos and all his toys are in our basement. Your miniatures are simply amazing. Thanks for the memories...smiles...Renee
Posted by: Renee | January 07, 2012 at 10:21 AM
I seem to have trouble parting with lots of vintage stuff: cards, magazines, kitchenware, cookbooks (really have an issue with that), old baby planters. I readily get rid of new(er) items if I can replace them with great vintage counterparts!! The Tupperware cabinet? Yeah, out with the crappy Gladware disposable and in with the vintage minty green Tupperware! Flatware from 2002? Gone! Replaced with the Oneida Twin Star pattern from 50 or 60 years ago.
Posted by: Lori | January 07, 2012 at 12:08 PM
It's insane -- my children's toys, books and artwork are taking up huge amounts of space in their former rooms. Some of it (the toys) they really want to keep, but mostly it's me who can't let it go.
Also, I cannot bring myself to throw away the tiniest bit of vintage fabric -- no matter how small.
Oh, and I love those little skates.
Posted by: Martha | January 07, 2012 at 12:57 PM
I thought I was the only one who felt this way. My boys are tweens, but I have trouble parting with some of their baby/toddler toys and clothes. My husband thinks I'm strange because I want to keep some of their Fisher Price Little People sets (like an adorable Noah's Ark). Yes, I have given a lot of stuff away to friends and family, but I still have a ton more just taken up space in my finished basement. My parents gave away all my playthings so I am very nostalgic about keeping stuff I probably shouldn't. Def. keeping the Legos, Hot Wheel cars and wooden Thomas trains. Have to keep the classics at least.
Posted by: Joy | January 08, 2012 at 11:10 PM
There are bits & pieces that were my parent's -- vintage Christmas ornaments, a sugar bowl, Grandma's china -- all things I continue to use which seems to have become my unofficial criteria for what I keep.
I did give away ALL of my Nancy Drew books at one time to a co-worker with two young daughter, hoping they would love them as much as I did. Recently, vintage copies have been creeping back in. I even reread one recently. The Haunted Houseboat!
Posted by: Into Vintage | January 09, 2012 at 02:05 AM
I still have my son's Masters of the Universe (yes, ALL of them and ALL the riding toys and of course Castle Greyskull) and his Thundercats collection. Him and my sister say "sell them!" but NO WAY! My son is 30 and I'll probably keep these forever.
Posted by: Glenda Campbell | January 10, 2012 at 05:30 PM
My boys are 16,19, and 22 and I have kept a lot of stuff from their childhood(legos, pokemon cards, their first blankets etc) but they still complain of the things I have gotten rid of. I tell them, you can't keep everything! Plus if I keep all of their stuff that is less room for my stuff :) My daughter on the other hand is always telling me to get rid of her stuff and I refuse. I tell that someday her daughter will want to play with her old build-a-bear, american girl doll, or hand built doll rocker! I wish my mom had kept more of my stuff, she kept NOTHING! Probably why I tend to hold on to so much. But, like I tell my daughter, it's not hoarding if it is clean, neat and organized right? Right??
Posted by: Marci | January 11, 2012 at 08:40 PM
First I have to say those mini roller skates brought an immediate smile to my face! The things I can't part with are vintage materials I plan to craft with. This encompasses such a wide range of things that my house is stuffed to the gills!
Posted by: Mitzi Curi | January 12, 2012 at 05:38 AM
Doll sized roller skates? So adorable! I have a weakness for miniature things as well...
Posted by: Rebecca | January 15, 2012 at 10:17 AM
For me it varies. Little cute things are the hardest. Love all the toys you have there. I can see why it is hard to part wtih them.
Posted by: Karen G @ It's Still Life | January 19, 2012 at 11:39 AM
It's like the old adage: "If your house was on fire, what would you grab?" Well, the kids, of course and the pets. And the photographs. And my entire Jadite Fire King collection. And the vintage holiday stuff. And my 1950's British polka dot dishware. And the vintage wrapping paper, because that would burn for sure. And....
I think I'm in trouble.
xo
Pam
Posted by: One Gal's Trash | January 20, 2012 at 10:43 AM