Saving Toys (Or Not)

     My kids were blessed with many new toys for Christmas.  However, I’m not sure anything gave them more of a thrill than Grandma taking them out to a storage unit and digging around and finding daddy’s old He-Man toys.  They were delighted and wanted to know each and every character.  I was quite happy for them until I had a moment of panic.

     I thought of how I haven’t saved many of my children’s toys.  In fact, as they sat there playing with toys of the eighties, I remembered that I have a collection of their Little People toys waiting to be given to a friend or donated to charity.  I’m more than happy to move things out of my house once my children are finished with them.   

     Each of my children has a very small box with the outfits they wore home from the hospital as well as a few more outfits that were special when they were babies.  That’s it.  I haven’t saved many baby toys other than a few things to offer the little ones of friends who come to visit. 

     Now, I can’t help but wonder if I’m obligated to save the He-man toys long after my children have lost interest in them.  After all, my mother-in-law saved them for over 20 years.  Do I save them for another generation?

     As I’ve helped my children sort out their new toys, I’ve wondered what would be worth saving.  LEGOS?  Maybe.  Littlest Pet Shop?  Probably not.  Wooden doll house, castle, and pirate ship?  Definitely.  Plastic dinosaurs?  No.

     I tend to think that, in most cases, passing toys on is better than letting them sit on a shelf for years and years.  (Toy Story 3 comes to mind.) 

     What do you think?  Do you save most of your children’s toys or do you send them on their way once your children have lost interest?  Have you ever regretted giving something away?  I’d love to know I’m not the only one who isn’t a toy saver.

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