Unicorn. Posted June 24, 2009 Share Posted June 24, 2009 How many stuffed animals does your dd (or dd's) have? I'm trying to clean and purge in my dd's room. There are 3 bins in the girl's closet w/ stuffed animals! :tongue_smilie: I want to give them a number and say "you can keep X number of these each, and the rest have to go!" So what's a good number??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highereducation Posted June 24, 2009 Share Posted June 24, 2009 I'm going to vote for however many can be kept neatly on top of a dresser or arranged on a shelf. But then, this hasn't worked for me. I'm pretty sure they replicate while we're sleeping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unicorn. Posted June 24, 2009 Author Share Posted June 24, 2009 I'm going to vote for however many can be kept neatly on top of a dresser or arranged on a shelf. But then, this hasn't worked for me. I'm pretty sure they replicate while we're sleeping. :lol: Replicating while sleeping, yep, that's how they ended up being in bins and not on the shelf anymore! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted June 24, 2009 Share Posted June 24, 2009 I would limit a space and not a number. That huge bunny is worth 20 Beany Babies :0). This is what we did: Have them line up their animals and don't tell them what you are doing. Then give them each one container or allocated space. Tell them that they are to pick their absolute favorite animal first and on down until they fill their space. Allow them a few trades if they want (dd has animals that must be kept in pairs :confused: ). Put the rest of the animals in plastic bags and put them in confinement for 6mths.Use these bags as your bank. I allowed 2 black garbage bags to go into the attic bank, the others went away that day. If they ask for a certain animal from the bank, they must surrender something of equal size (again 2 littles may equal 1 medium, etc.). Any time the kids want a new animal they must 'buy' the new animal with 2 equally sized animals. This way every time you get a new animal....you are actually gaining room in the bank. Now, since any new animal must live in the room, and that space is full, that means something must now go to the bank. I also spread the word with family members, that if they bought dd an animal, it will require her to get rid of old ones. They quickly learned to stop the insanity! I also put notes in party invites to please not buy stuffed animals (her friends knew she loved them and that was how a lot appeared). DD is now down from literally 200+ animals, to 20-30 Build-a-Bears and 1/2a black garbage bag full in the attic bank. With dd2, the bank will never get started and she will just start out with a measured space and a 1-to-1 buy out. I hope that since I stopped the habits of the family buying for dd10, that they won't start for dd2 :lol::lol: Yeah, I know...wishful thinking~! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kewb Posted June 24, 2009 Share Posted June 24, 2009 Stuffed animals are a hot button for me. As a kid I had a collection of 75 stuffed animals. I came home from school one day and my mom had thrown most of them out and would not let me retrieve them. I did not speak to her for 3 weeks. It would have gone on longer but my father made me talk to her again. I was close to 40 before I truly forgave her. I encourage my kids to donate the stuffed friends who they no longer play with. However, I have 2 bins in the basement and they each have a bin in their rooms. All relatives know not to buy my kids anything stuffed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erica in PA Posted June 24, 2009 Share Posted June 24, 2009 How many stuffed animals does your dd (or dd's) have? I'm trying to clean and purge in my dd's room. There are 3 bins in the girl's closet w/ stuffed animals! :tongue_smilie: I want to give them a number and say "you can keep X number of these each, and the rest have to go!" So what's a good number??? Depends what your dds do with them. If they play with them regularly, I would keep more of them. If they're just sort of taking up space, I would keep fewer. One of my dc actively plays with stuffed animals a lot, so he has more than his brother and sister do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
specialmama Posted June 24, 2009 Share Posted June 24, 2009 I usually tell my dd that for every 1 she keeps, 1 has to go. When the numbers get too high, we sort and she takes half and the other half take a trip. I have had to step in a few times and tell her not to get rid of xyz because it's either heirloom quality or sentimental, but she her choices are typically good ones. It's amazing to see how once she gets going she has a fairly easy time choosing which ones are important to her, so it's easier to let the others go when you compare them. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted June 24, 2009 Share Posted June 24, 2009 3 laundry baskets full, plus a pile on the bed. This is not one of my 'strict' areas, lol! When I endowed dh with all my worldly goods, it consisted mostly of stuffed animals, and no, I was not young when I got married! so, um, yeah, I don't ask my dds why they need 20 bunnies, 30 teddy bears, and fifty other assorted soft creatures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unicorn. Posted June 25, 2009 Author Share Posted June 25, 2009 Ok people, you are NOT helping! You're worse than me! :lol: I can't do the bank thing- I've got no place for the bank! and Katilac- I think you must be my sis-in-law. She brought the same thing when she married my brother! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caitilin Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 but some are "taken away" in bags in the attic. Every day or so there's a negotiation between me and DD5 and DS6 about getting a stuffed animal back. The problem here is that they love beanie babies or similarly sized critters, so the bag holds an unholy number of the things. :tongue_smilie: Sorry to be no help either!:lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeschooling6 Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 (edited) My kiddos have only a few. I don't like stuffed animals. They are cute but I feel like they have allergen germs:001_huh:. I'm sure they don't and it's just me. They also take too much space for us. My dd & one of my ds do have about 5 beany babies (that's all they own of stuffed animals) each but I throw those in the wash. Depending on the size of the stuffed animals I would say between 2-5 would be a good number. That's enough to play house or something;). Edited June 25, 2009 by Homeschooling6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unicorn. Posted June 25, 2009 Author Share Posted June 25, 2009 Ok, now see, I wasn't even counting the beanie babies! I was thinking of the big ones. Like the foot long, big guys that take up all the space. Soooo, same question, but don't count the babies! Does that help? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeschooling6 Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 Ok, now see, I wasn't even counting the beanie babies! I was thinking of the big ones. Like the foot long, big guys that take up all the space. Soooo, same question, but don't count the babies! Does that help? Between 2-5 would be a good number. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KidsHappen Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 This is a hill my children are prepared to die on and not a battle I am willing to engage in. Honestly, my 16 year old still as 50 stuffies in the top of her closet. I have spent way too much time and energy managing the stuffie problem. I have bunkbeds so that they stuffies can stay on one bunk and the kids sleep on the other. I have shelves, baskets, boxes and bins. I'll tell you what I don't have though is stuffies on the floor. The best stuffie management advice I have is get a dog who is also a big stuffie fan. Since we got the dog, the rules are if the dog eats the stuffie, oh well! Suddenly stuffies are secured safety, put away neatly and doors are kept closed. My house has never been so neat. However, I now have a killer dustbunny factory. Golden Retrievers shed tumbleweeds! I guess you have to pick your poisin. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 I'm going to vote for however many can be kept neatly on top of a dresser or arranged on a shelf. But then, this hasn't worked for me. I'm pretty sure they replicate while we're sleeping. LOL! Now I know why we have so many, that explains it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mazakaal Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 I do a similar thing to Tap, Tap, Tap's 'bank'. I go through dc's stuffed animals with them when the collection seems to be getting too big. I have them choose favorites and try to steer them toward giving away ones that I never see them playing with. The 'give away' ones go into a plastic bag in our storage area to wait for me to take them to the charity shop. It usually takes months before I manage a trip to the charity shop, so they have plenty of time to change their minds if there's one that they really miss and want back. I don't restrict their collections to a number, though. I just try to keep the collection to a level that it can be stored in one mid-sized box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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