Babes in Toyland 1-24-09

I saved a big project for Saturday. I cleaned out the children's toy closet. I felt it was time; my children are 27 and 22! This project caused me great pain. It was difficult to part with the games, toys, and puzzles I have such fond memories of playing with my children. But, really - what purpose was there in keeping Chutes and Ladders without the little plastic boy and girl playing pieces? I finally convinced myself to get rid of everything missing pieces or that was an unpopular toy with my children (A battery operated game called The Generals in the home of anti-war liberals? What was I thinking?)

Another dilemma to purging the toy closet: I've waited this long to clean it out isn't it stupid to get rid of all this fun stuff when I may be just a few years away from grandchildren? I finally realized, that with just a few exceptions, it would be way more fun to buy new stuff for any future grandchildren. So here's how it went down:

Toss or Donate

• Operation
• View Master 3-D Game
• Lite Brite (daughter #2 stole it from give-away pile before it made its way to Goodwill)
• Scrabble for Juniors
• Tinker Toys
• Lincoln Logs
• Chess
• Shuttlecocks (I don't recall ever playing badminton)
• Tri Ominos
• Multiplication Bingo
• A baseball glove (daughter #1's short lived attempt at t-ball when she was 4 years old)
• The Generals (warmongers that they are)
• Numerous jigsaw puzzles 500 count and under
• Paper dolls
• Nick at Nite Trivia
• Chutes and Ladders
• Candy Land
• Travel Monopoly

What I kept

• Trunk full of My Little Ponies
• Jigsaw puzzles over 500 pieces
• Clue
• Monopoly
• Scrabble
• Trivial Pursuit
• Wooden board puzzles
• Jenga
• Discovery Toys - Gears Go Round and Marble Magic
• Spirograph
• Dominoes
• Chinese Checkers (2 - one wooden board and one antique metal board)
• Memory
• Skip-Bo and Uno
• Scattergories
• Pogs (just because)

The closet, once bursting with toys on all five built-in shelves, is almost empty. The toys that survived the cut all fit nicely on one shelf. How naked it looks. The upside to this is I now have designated space for new toys when the time comes. In the meantime perhaps the dogs would like some new playthings.