Thinking ahead when giving gifts

We have been so very blessed by the generosity of others.  They see our large family and know that their forgotten toys and bikes with be used and used for many years to come.

Two Christmases ago, someone from my husband's workplace approached him about some porcelain dolls she had.  They were in wonderful condition and just needed a loving home.  We thought it was the perfect Christmas gift for our girls, then 8 and 10.

We gave the 8 of these beautiful dolls.  They have played with them - maybe 6 times in 2 years.

However, the dolls take up so much space!  They have to be on a horizontal surface and they have to be up away from little sisters. I've moved them from place to place, but honestly I'm just tired of moving them and looking at them.  Add to that our dust allergy, and I think it is time for these girls to go!

However, in my zeal to declutter, I do not want to emotionally scar my girls. I don't want them to be afraid that I will steal their favorite Christmas presents, and I don't want them to be afraid to leave me at home with their stuff.  After all, I would be seriously miffed if my husband threw away my stuff.

So, I took the dolls down and put them in a tub.  I'm guessing the girls won't even notice they are gone.  If they haven't mentioned them by Thanksgiving, I'll talk to them about passing them on to another loving family.

Item #6: Porcelain Dolls (about 12 inches tall)

But what this has taught me is that I need to think about the gifts we give to our children (or ourselves). Do we actually have a good place to keep the gift?  Is there a smaller version that would be just as fun or useful?

What gifts do you give that take up little space?
Do you have any gifts in your house that are taking up too much space?

Toys they'll never miss

Item #2: Bin of Toys

We have 6 children currently.  Toys are everywhere.  I justify keeping them because they really do play with them (I know this because they go from neatly in bins to scattered around the house in the blink of an eye)

This is a tub of toys I gathered up about a month ago, not intending to get rid of it, just trying to make the boys' room easier to clean.  It's been a month and they haven't even noticed the toys are gone!!

In lieu of my friend's comment about cleaning out the toys every other week, I'm taking these toys to Goodwill.