Like I said, as the years go by and my mommy wisdom continues to grow, I'm finding that life is better around here with fewer kids' extracurricular activities. If my experienced-mommy self could go back in time about a decade and give some advice to my rookie-mommy self, I would apply this same less-is-more advice to the acquisition of kids' STUFF.
"Stop the madness!" I would say to my old self, who was pretty mesmerized by all the cool educational toys, adorable kids' clothes and shoes, and endless parenting gear I encountered upon becoming a parent. There were--and are--so many irresistible gadgets and gizmos!
There's a good reason why first-time mommies carry huge diaper bags with a couple of changes of baby clothing, several toys and board books, a clean mommy shirt, a dozen or so diapers, a pack or two of wipes, sample size diaper rash lotion, scented diaper disposal bags, and a pack of disposable bibs, whereas experienced moms (notice I did not say "old") carry a small handbag containing lip gloss, a cell phone, and a credit card.
The new mommies--except for those of you much wiser than I was--haven't figured out that in a pinch, they can surely find a wrinkled-up diaper under a seat in the van, and McDonald's paper towels make adequate wipes (again, only in a pinch). And with all that stuff, you spend more time organizing and reorganizing it than actually using or enjoying it. (Or, if you're like me, the diaper bag just fills up and gets all junky, and the baby outgrows those outfits and diapers, so you...I shudder to admit this...just go buy a new diaper bag.)
I keep giving away more and more of our baby stuff. At one point we had three or four strollers--well, actually we still have three, so maybe that's not such a good example. :) If we have another child, s/he might just live happily without a Boppy pillow, infant swing, or exersaucer (if I don't get pregnant pretty soon, they're outta here!). In the new house, the poor babe might not even have a nursery of his/her own--I'll just stick her bed next to mine for, like, two years.
As for toys--just say NO, mom! I wish there were toy libraries, so I could check them out and return them, like books. When we moved here from the house with the bigger basement, we had so many toys that we literally could not unpack. I can hardly give them away faster than new ones come in for birthdays and Christmases! If I had it all to do over again, I'd go for three or four classic toys--right now I'm working on getting our stash down to Legos, a couple of other building sets, American Girl dolls, and a Thomas train set. (Still lots of games and puzzles, though.) I'm not there yet, but I am really trying to simplify our life as much as I can--fewer toys means fewer things to tidy up. Also, it is absolutely true that the fewer toys we have, the more my sweeties enjoy playing with the toys that remain.
I like Flylady's definition of "STUFF"--Something That Undermines Family Fun. So true...less is more!
