I know reading this title you might think I’m crazy, or maybe that I’m a mean mom.  First let me say that I didn’t throw away or sell my kids toys, I put them in some plastic bins and placed them in a storage closet.

You see, it was more of an experiment.

I was fed up with the constant struggle sometimes multiple times a day, asking the kids to clean up their toys…which would eventually turn into yelling at them to clean up their toys. Then they’d start complaining about having to clean them up! There have been many times that I would just go into their room and start cleaning just to save my breath.

My 3 children all share a room right now, we only have 2 bedrooms, and their toys were taking over their room and the house. I felt like they didn’t have much space to play because there was too much stuff in such a small space!  I know how I feel when our house is cluttered, how could they relax and really enjoy being in their room with all of that clutter?!

Sometimes it would get so bad that I would start the threats…” OK guys, I’m getting a trash bag… if you don’t clean up your toys I will…” please tell me I’m not the only one who does this?  It was awful.

Every. Single. Day.

We would go through the struggle, complaining, stress, frustration, yelling…I just thought, I don’t need this.  No one does!

I finally snapped or got smart, one of the two.  I decided to perform an experiment and quietly eliminate a lot of their toys, into a couple storage bins and placed them lovingly…into the depths of the storage room, gone.

Fast forward 2 months….

Since I began this experiment I can tell you that there has been a lot less yelling, less tears, less stress, more calm, more space, more playing and more serenity!

And do my kids even notice there are less toys? NO!  They don’t realize I took away random trinkets, aka junk, the plethora of over sized plastic building blocks, a good amount of play kitchen utensils and foods, and extra books, among other things.

They don’t even notice folks! They don’t miss their toys.  It’s actually better with less toys!

My experiment has led me to a few conclusions:

1. Kids have way too many toys.

2. More toys doesn’t mean your kids are more occupied!

3. My kids play MORE with LESS toys.

4. Simple is better.

5. More space is better than more toys.

6. Kids clean up a whole lot easier when there’s less to pick up.

I could go on and on but I urge you to try it out.  You don’t have to toss everything…at first…just place them in storage for a while and see for yourself.

I’d love to hear how you tame the toys in your home.  If you liked this article share it on facebook, twitter or pinterest.  And if you’d love to hear more crazy things I’m planning on doing, subscribe below so you don’t miss a thing!