how many toys do you have?

the TODAY show is doing an upcoming piece on how to get organized so that your kids’ toys are no longer taking over your house. this should be great. (read: major sarcasm) i can’t wait to see what they have to say about it. probably, “Get a Toy Box”, “Teach your child to pick up their no longer used toys before they get another one out to play with”, and “Make straightening up a game!” they’re looking for families who are willing to go on camera so that they can re-do their family room on the show.

anyway, some time ago my father heard a radio show or something where they were discussing the materialism of children these days or something like that and he told us about an idea of letting your child only have something like ten toys at a time. (i may have the details mixed up but you get the idea.) anyway, the concept was that if the child only gets to keep ten toys then they will learn to work for what they get, value what they have, and become less selfish overall by giving their extra toys to those less fortunate.

if the child were to get a gift for their birthday then they could keep that toy for a week and then decide if they wanted to replace one of their old toys with the new toy or keep the old ones and give the new toy away. eventually there would be enough toys boxed and ready for a nice outing to the Goodwill or whatever other charity and (bonus) the child would get to participate in a giving activity.

while this whole idea poses lots of questions, i think we’re ready to give it a try with Julianna. but what constitutes a toy exactly? and at what age do you start? is it ever too early to teach your children to share and give? but when is she old enough to be able to choose which she wants?

this is something i’ve struggled with my entire life. i want to have what i want to have, but i also want to be selfless and certainly not greedy. i want my daughter to grow up with plenty to play with, but not be a spoiled brat either.

thank goodness i don't have to worry about it too much for now.

because like NikkiZ all jules is really interested in are the tags.