House Full o' Toys

[creidylad]

I have a house full of crap.

To be fair, most of it is great crap.

Toys, mostly. We have a lot of toys. More than I know what to do with. Seriously. We are getting new shelves in hopes that we will find places to put all the toys (and books). We are putting some toys in storage and hoping to rotate them on a month-to-month basis.

And yet Gwen's birthday is coming up.

My instinct is to ask people not to give her gifts. Make a donation in her name and give her a lovely card or some crap.

But realistically I know she's really looking forward to unwrapping things.

But how does one tactfully tell people not to give large presents? I think all we can handle are perhaps a few more pieces of dress-up clothes (but NO SHOES) and maybe some doll clothing.

Do I print out a card explaining my plight and include it in the invitation?

Do I just suck it up and figure I'll have to rotate MORE toys?

I can't wait until it is time to give half of them away. They are great, GREAT fabulous toys and both of my girls will love them -- but there are probably inner city blocks with fewer total toys than are crammed into my small living quarters.

*Sigh*

Comments

[woldkill.livejournal.com]

By all means, include a wish list. Donations are fine but may not go over well for the little gift receiver or gift giver. I second to include requests for consumable gifts like art suppliers. Also, once pared down, determine if there are items that you wish to expand (ie we will always gratefully accept matchbox cars and tree house items b/c we have a storage system and they are well used). I encourage homemade gifts from the little gift givers. And music/books are encouraged here. IF they do not make our cut they are less space-consuming and easy to donate or toss.

IF YOU CAN, if a present comes in that you know you do not want to keep, set it aside to re-gift or freecycle or donate. Even if they open it it still can be donated or freecycled.

I think most of us with the kids would encourage a wish list.

On the otherhand, you still have your mother's buying to deal with...