My mom actually said for Christmas, "all I see on Nora's amazon list is books and toys and the kids have plenty of both. What do you actually need?" She ended up getting us a new car seat so the 10 month old could move out of the infant carrier, which was so helpful. I felt so grateful for all of our gifts but after dumping out all of the Christmas toys in the playroom, I felt so overwhelmed! I just found your channel and now I'm so inspired to start chipping away at the clutter!

I love your videos! Everything I’ve watched so far has resonated so well. I’ve had that sense of wanting to live minimally for ages but, as you’ve said, sometimes we just don’t know how to get there. Thanks for sharing your ideas and methods. I just wanted to add an idea here. When my son was born, my mom started bringing him all kinds of things from garage sales and thrift stores because it was “a good price” and “he’ll use it some day.” It didn’t take long before I had to tell her she could buy him all the toys she wanted as “Grandma’s house” toys! It was actually a very practical idea since it meant he (& and his cousin that soon followed) would have things to play with at family gatherings without us parents packing things back and forth. Plus, the toys would have a renewable novelty since they only play with them at Grandma’s. It worked like a charm. She gets the joy of “spoiling” him, I get a less cluttered house, and my son gets fun things to play with when we visit. Truth be told though, I think she slowed down on the purchases when she was the one who had to store them!

Two birthdays my kids have been invited to recently blew my mind! The first was a donation party. Their friend had games and cake & ice cream, but instead of presents he asked that everyone bring old towels or blankets. He then donated them to our local SPCA. He made the paper! The second party was a "Tenner Party". Instead of gifts, each guest was asked to bring $10 or a universal gift card for at least that amount. The family then used it to fund a trip to a local wildlife park where their son could interact with the animals.

I’m so glad you talk about having a grateful heart. A few years ago I was going to “try out” minimalism. I got in a group on Facebook and I was ready to simplify. But then all the people in the group had horrible attitudes. They hated everything, and made it a competition to see who could have less stuff. They would brag about being down right rude to family members for giving them gifts. It was horrible. I left the group and said I would never try minimalism because I didn’t want to be so rude and ungrateful. It wasn’t till I started watching your videos that I realized you can simplify your home and still be kind and grateful. ❤️❤️❤️

Family gives our son WAYYYYY too many toys/junk, for EVERY holiday 😱 They associate gifts with love and I very much do not. We live full time in an RV...... There is zero room for "extra" things. So this video was much needed for me, thank you!!!

The hard part about minimalism I feel that no one expects to encounter are the emotional connection that we have to our stuff. Or that we have to gift-giving. When I first started our minimalism Journey I didn't fully understand how therapeutic it was going to be to go through our stuff. Or the emotional ties that other people had in gifting us things. I have loved these videos and I have loved your honesty. Because I think it is easy to read a blog post or watch another video and all we see is this picture of perfection and we don't really ever see the process and the natural ebb and flow of stuff coming in and going out. I love your content! Thanks for reading, Carrie Spencer

What a wonderful take on the mentality behind receiving (unwanted) gifts. Appreciating the gesture and not casting blame on anyone else for whatever is out of control in our homes. How easy it is to get grumpy and point fingers when, ultimately, WE are the homemakers. Thank you!

Gift giving has always been a way of displaying wealth, and I think most people do so unconsciously nowadays. I know some family members believe that the number of gifts they give is a display of their love, but when I note that my kid doesn't need that many, they act like I am shaming their financial success... Not to mention that several other relatives end up buying a large quantity of throwaway gifts just to make it seem like they are giving a lot, instead of ultimately spending less and just getting one quality present. We've even turned to making and asking for homemade gifts. A homemade blanket, or wooden sword, or pillow are so much more useful than other "stuff", and they have a purpose and live a useful life out in the house instead of hiding in a closet or drawer.

This was helpful mainly to confirm that I've been, mostly, doing the best I can with this problem. My parents listen to us and plan with us what to get our kids, including contributing to larger purchases like new bikes or a new tablet. My partner's parents... are another story. I think they are finally, FINALLY, after 8 years, getting the message that they can't buy the kids love and that the gift giving overload when they visit, or sending random things throughout the year not even linked to an event, has to stop because it's overwhelming. Also I straight up told my MIL to take back the literal laundry baskets full of toys because it was too much and I didn't want it cluttering our house. So there's the offending bit lol! It was truly beyond the pale the amount of crap they dumped on us over the years just for that kid-excitement-moment. They're the kind of people who would spend hundreds of dollars in toys but would get uppity if asked to contribute that to school supplies instead, selfish. I have a system now which involves telling my partner what we will accept as gifts and then refusing to let anything else from them enter the house - if we didn't ask for it, it goes to charity, end of story. That will break the habit of them thinking they can violate our rules just to get their "hit" of kid excitement from gift giving. Note that this only applies to my in-laws because everyone else in our lives gives one thing, not fifty. I've also been able to regift unopened stuff the kids didn't even want, which saves money i guess. Storing that stuff is a hassle though, inventory to manage and all that. Thanks Dawn. I'm less gracious than you are in this, but I was glad to discover that I'm not alone in facing a tsunami of unasked for toys despite clearly stating a boundary!

My grandmother used to love to give my sister and I toys and games with lots of small pieces and it totally overwhelmed my mom. My mom's solution was to start leaving them at my grandmother's house so we would have something to play with there. In hindsight, I think that is what my grandmother really wanted. Now, I will say, we were at my grandmother's house all the time.

Goodness, Dawn, love this so much!!! I wish I knew you in real life. Your positive attitude is so helpful in sorting through topics like this! Thanks for helping me keep a balanced mindset!

Omgosh, my generous inlaw family! Every time we leave their visit we end up with a trunk full of food, and gifts and leftovers. And yes, the overwhelm sets in. It takes multiple trips back and forth from the van to the house to bring everything in lol. We've been way more strict over the last year about not accepting things when we leave...

Thank you, Dawn! You sharing how you've thought about these things, processed, and followed through with a plan has given me really concrete steps for doing this in my life. I think I'm probably struggling with just being ok to let people in my family be who they are and accept that gifts is a love language for them, but I'm getting there. I really liked your idea about taking photos and sending to the givers (something we definitely did this Christmas with covid as we were not able to gather with any family), but then having a plan to walk your kids through what they will keep.

I've been listening to your videos multiple times in the last month while I do laundry, other house work, or make dinner. I feel overwhelmed right now and I feel like I need to get our home under control. I'm so glad I found your channel!!! Tomorrow I have off from work, my children will be home from school, and I need to grocery shop. I think tomorrow is the day that I need to go through my boys' bedroom. It's chaos in there! I've been slowly explaining minimalism to my boys (11&12), I've already gone through my dresser and closet, and most of the kitchen. I'm hoping and praying that tomorrow goes well.

I have always struggled with the influx of cheap plastic toys by the carload each time we return from visiting family. Your kind but honest tips are very encouraging! Thank you

As I'm sitting in my boys room clearing it out of toys I didn't buy them, boxed up 67 books, keeping 50 for this round. I made a decision this year when giving gifts I gave board games . Board games last for years where toys last a few months at best. Thank you for the motivation and ideas.

These videos could not be more helpful for my husband and I! We have 3 little girls and my life is spent managing ALLLLLLLL the stuff! My girls are packers; if a thing can hold other things we'll jam pack it full of little things and then hang it on something else! I've made the bins, labeled even with pictures and nothing finds it's way back until I either end up yelling or doing it myself. There's arguing, fighting, "I'm bored, there's nothing to play with", whining, complaining, it's endless! So sitting next to my hubs, giving him the cliff notes version of your videos, we're just going to start this journey! Your tips have been simply amazing, thank you! Now I can't wait to get started!!!

This so helpful! I needed encouragement after living as a minimalist for years. With 3 under 3, we got sooooo many toys this Christmas from loving relatives. Very sweet but very overwhelming. Last Christmas, relatives limited gifts but this year they did not and I really felt the difference!

I'm with you 100 percent on all these topics you've been covering! Completely agree. The toys we do have were bought by someone else. And it's stressful around xmas time. Everyone knows and has caught on now after 2 yrs. So we usually get things other than toys and it's great to see people start to appreciate how we raise our children.

I put all the little gifts given to our kids through out the year a barrel...then when one of the has a party we use them in the 'Lolly Bags' (Australia ) and regift them as Party Favours (USA). It saves me money and saves on lots of little annoying toys decluttering the house!

I don't have any children but I really struggle with gifts from my MIL. She gives me beautiful, thoughtful gifts for my birthday and Christmas... but it's all so much! And 80% of the time, it is a larger piece of home decor of some kind. My house is small and I specifically like keeping my decor items to a minimum... meaning that I am extremely picky with what I choose to display and I don't like storing things. As a result, I have stored several gifts from her and she has asked me where I put this or that when she comes over. It stresses me out!!! I finally decluttered a few gifts and I am hoping I can just skirt the issue (nervous emoji face!). I have tried casually explaining minimalism but it doesn't resonate with her, and that's fine. Like you said, I do not want to offend her or hurt her feelings. Her gifts are things that I genuinely like, but aren't exactly my style or I don't have a place for them to live. It's also difficult for my husband because he isn't fully minimalist, and I don't want him to think I am disrespecting his mother. He is very understanding, but it is so ingrained in our culture to hold on to gifts! I feel like I can let go of my personal sentimental items more easily than gifts that I don't even really want to keep, but would feel guilty to donate/throw away.

Thank you for mentioning that the overwhelming clutter was from stuff we as parents buy our kids and when other relatives toys come in I got overwhelmed but it’s from all the excess toys I constantly bought my daughter and not the one or two toys she received from that relative on birthday or Christmas

I suffer from anxiety and what makes me most anxious is all the "things" around the house..always a do to list in my head. Also, in refards to kids.toys.. My mother always ask what the kids want, i told her specifically and shared her links as she asked and still bought just what she wanted. Some things worked out, some (most) did not. Motherinlaw too, she is very sentimental so she is one to ask about what she gave them. I make a point to thank her and send video of kids playing with it (that maybe one time they did) then we remove it from our home. Such as the big rocking/jumping horse. Omg! Im excited to do this. I wamted to organize things this weekend, but this is a much better idea or atleast first step. I feel guilty when I have the kids donate toys. We did for Christmas and all worth it when grandma asked where such and such toy was, my 4yrold told her another kid has a toy now..i had so many. He needs it.. My heart became very heavy and same as I type this. I was proud of him, but also, proud of myself that what i thought difficult thing to do was the best thing and most rewarding thing ive done for our family. Thank you

I love Darci Isabella too, but you are quickly becoming one of my faves too. Thanks so much for sharing all your videos! Binge watching them all

Great content, toys are the biggest burden in going minimal with a family. I have really enjoyed the series. As far as relatives, don't forget that for close family members you can also suggest that they keep this "cool new toy" at their house, and enjoy it when they go there! (Especially with Grandparents!)... as far as other gift givers, it can be such a burden sometimes, especially when you know your kid will open the gift and play 5 minutes, and move on, when you could have regifted it or exchanged it for something they truly will love! On occasions like this, I let them open the one gift I know we WILL KEEP, and they can have the novelty and fun of opening the gift, and we say that we will open and play with them slowly throughout the days, and eventually she'll forget all the other gifts she received. Sometimes this is all that needs to be done. MAJOR TIP: talk through with your child casually, how you go about making the decisions with toys and other things when you are decluttering, that way you plant a seed and don't have to explain it EVERY TIME you are going to get rid of something. And for generous gift givers, thank them honestly and appreciate that they love your child so much! Then let the child play with the toy. I see it as a huge blessing that people love our kids so much that they were willing to think of them and get them something special though it might not align with our principles (NO BRATZ DOLLS PLEASE) or "toy philosophy" (open ended toys), and don't feel guilty about donating them. The way I explain it to our kids, is that we are so BLESSED to have all of these things, and we can't truly enjoy them all... and since God has given so much to us, its our responsibility to share our blessings with others (by donating) so they can feel the love we do! Super simple, yes it may be a tactic, but if you truly feel that way (the gratitude) its easier to let go.

Great video! We have a young family and I feel frustrated with a certain relative who frequently comments on how much stuff we have for our kids (toys and clothes), yet whenever they come to visit, they bring an abundance of stuff to add to what we already have. I’m trying to get a handle on this, so I found this post very practical!

My daughter is now 11, I have always had her declutter her toys with me, and by doing so when those Easter and Christmas etc gifts come in she is pretty good at deciding what we are doing with that item. Great tips!

I really needed this. The way you put it was well balanced and helped me see gift giving from relatives in a more positive light again. I also loved how you reminded us that we cannot change people, because it’s so true! If someone were to try to force me to change I wouldn’t like it, so it really helped put me in my place. Thank you. 💖

My favorite is when I’ve told family to not buy toys for Christmas or Birthdays after they ask what we want.. 🤦🏻‍♀️ They always say they feel incredibly guilty and add in a toy along with clothes or educational toys we recommend lol .. I get it but it’s very overwhelming with four kids.. every one has their favorite toys and parts get lost so you set it aside hoping to eventually find them lol it’s hard to not feel like the toys are taking over the house! I will use your tips TY 🙂❤️

I LOVE Darci! She is so genuine.

My family gets my twins so much stuff and it’s very overwhelming. I love seeing how happy the girls are opening these gifts. What helps me is to declutter before every birthday and Christmas but I only get rid of things that they grew out of, they haven’t played with for months or is broken.

In our country people give kids alot, I mean ALOT of candys and sweets and bad snacks! I am trying to learn my kids that those are not good for their health so we by only "good ones" (apple chips, popcorn, fruit, dryfruit etc.) So after, lets say birthday, I pack them all in one box. Igive to kids same treat which they want the most, and the others are waiting for someoneelses birthay (I kow It's not nice of me, but as I sad it's expected in our country). I quit trying ask not to buy candys... And I quit giving healthy snacks because I wasnt understud. (Excuse my mistakes - being from Balkanian Europe)

I am the grandma of one child. I am guilty of over-gifting. My daughter stresses about the clutter, and I tell her, "It's your house. Don't worry about me if you want to get rid of something.!" It is still hard for her to donate stuff that cost anyone money. She lets me know what are okay gifts for my precious grandson, and what he really needs. I am making an effort to stop buying so much for him. Truly, spending time with him, coloring and reading and walking and finding bugs, etc., is the BEST thing I can give him to help him know how much he is loved.

This is sooooo helpful!! My MIL is guilty of giving way to many gifts even though we have asked her to only give 1 or 2 and then expects see them being played with when she visits and gets upset if we give things away or they break. I finally just started returning toys to her that my kids have had for a while that she bought and told her that we don’t have room for them but she’s more than welcome to keep it at her house for them to play with there. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Love your channel. So many great ideas. Just starting to learn about minimalism and how freeing it is.

We are about one month into our minimalism journey and making good progress. A lot of what you have said in your videos just "clicked" for us and we have been full speed ahead ever since. With Christmas around the corner, I must be honest there is a certain level of dred associated with all the stuff that will come into the house. Thanks for the perspective, ideas, and mindshift. :)

Oh my goodness, SUCH good advice on the 'experience' mindset. This makes so much more sense than asking for fancy experiences.

Love all of your minimalist tips on toys!! So helpful for helping me declutter our home! We just got back from the lake where we had a small cube of toys and agree, kids play way better with less toys!

I needed this so much today!! I was a bit frightened by thinking about relatives Christmas gifts for my children🙈 Your video helped me a lot!! Thank you very much!!❤️

I love your videos so much. They're so helpful for me! Especially this one - turning heart back to gratitude, that I can't change my relatives. THANK YOU for helping me to "reframe" my thinking, too. When it comes to gifts I'm overwhelmed so often. Having a plan to deal with the gifts is one big key for me to relax regarding gifts. THANK YOU so much! 🥰

LOVE your honesty!

The best advice ever! The honesty is the best and I am here for it.

Great tips! If asked what people can give to the kids I often say clothes (sometimes specific like trousers etc.) or if it's to be a toy based present I'll suggest puzzles like jigsaws, things that we can do together. Thankfully our family are very good with this and the kids tend to get a good range of practical to fun things. We do not do presents for nieces or nephews at Christmas either, the focus is on birthdays because they get enough from us and grandparents and others at Christmas 😉 Thank you, this series has been so helpful 😊 x x x

We kept having family buying plastic noise making things for our children...we have six...and we set the boundary that they were only allowed to buy experience gifts like museum passes, or they could buy off of a pre-approved Amazon wishlist. They eventually gave up and don't buy for the kids at all anymore, and that is just fine by me.

So helpful! We definitely deal with this, and I am such a people pleaser that it stops me from getting rid of the items that clutter our home. Awesome suggestions!

We have a new baby and are super thankful for everything our loved ones have given us or handed down. I've been saying yes to taking clothes but now have to store some of them for years till my daughter will be big enough to wear them. We received a big box of books too so I kept the ones we'll use in the next few years and passed the older kid ones to my nieces. So they can enjoy them in the meantime and then pass them back to us (or not) later.

I'm so glad I found this today, with Christmas/birthdays coming for our family. I've been really struggling with figuring out how to/if to say anything to well-meaning relatives about the quantity of gifts given. Thank you!

Going back and watching your older videos and I love this one! It is hard getting family to just do experiences gifts , I've asked my mom just pickup the kids and take them for icecream. And she totally didn't think that was a good enough gift . We always think bigger is better. And it's hard to break from that mold.

Such a helpful perspectives! It’s October and I’m already thinking about how Christmas gifts are going to be brought into our house. I appreciate all the different ways of looking at it

One of my relatives just stopped by and brought my boys those three pack of kinder eggs and a bag for me with my name on it.. for no reason. So kind. But its hard to feel appreciative of gifts that i know will just turn into clutter or go in the garbage or donation. More things for me to deal with later. Not really a gift. I had to come back and watch this video again to help gain a better perspective bc you have such a sweet perspective about it. I’m still at the ahhhh stage. Lol Thanks for this!

I sometimes feel overwhelmed by how many toys my children have despite decluttering regularly, and how they still wish to keep them all. But I remind myself to feel grateful that they still enjoy playing with toys. You know - haven't yet outgrown the excitement of TOYS. I have a nearly-eight-year-old and I see some of his friends moving on to mobile phones, laptops and X-boxes. So I'm glad he still loves his big tub of Lego, pretend plays with dinosaurs and would happily walk around dressed as Spiderman. Plus we home educate, so I acknowledge that they get to spend more time in their playroom than the average child and therefore have more time to make use of the variety we have. ❤️

Love you!! Your ideas are practical and do-able. Can't wait toe start!

I got busted recently too! We are scaling down on toys and my boys, 8 &11, are on board. My 8 yr old sold on a FB BST site an expensive gift that he just got this past Christmas from my in laws. Well Grandma saw the post and commented on it! I replied back that this was part of us moving to experience gifts and he chose to sell it because he doesnt play with it and that he is keeping the profit. ......I haven't heard about it since, and haven't really heard from her at all. 🤷‍♀️

I loved your honesty and refreshing self assessment! It was really good and convicting too!

Even a year or so later, this is helpful!! I found your channel recently and have gleaned so much so far! Thank you!

I really appreciate this. I have a relative who just gave each of my children 15 Christmas gifts...i have 5 children. To say that I was overwhelmed with 75 toys is an understatement. I have been feeling angry, annoyed and cynical about it. But your words remind me that this person loves my kids, wants to feel important, and has no I'll intentions. Thank you! (But I am still getting rid of 90% if the stuff this week 😝)

Super helpful!

I love your channel! When you said there are those who want the reaction of giving the gift! All my aunts 🤦🏽‍♀️ but like you said to give them the picture and praise, that big thank you, as well as grace, because I’d normally say something maybe offensive to them… trying to minimize but finding it difficult, watching your channel definitely helps!

Love your ideas! One thing we have started doing is sending out an Amazon list or wish list to grandparents and telling them that these are things we would be happy to receive, if you would like to buy something that we have not suggested, you are welcome to, but it may stay at your house instead of ours. My mom has been especially great about this and has used it as a way to buy a few bigger outdoor ride on items for her own house for when the kids are there.

Yes your information is soooo helpful!!!!

I love how now you're friends and you've gone on tour with Darci!!! How neat. I think this is the 3rd time I've listened to this video. So good!! Thank you for all your encouragement!!!

Thank you for this video. It is very helpful. Giving people the tools and suggesting a mindset to feel like you are in control of your own house is a great thing!

Great points!!! Change your mindset first! 😍 I'm here from Marriage and Motherhood by Jia!! 👋🏾👋🏾

Great video!

Oh man, I needed to hear the things you said in this video. “You can’t change people and make them do things.” I say this to my kids, too. Thanks for the reminder that I need to be a good model of that so my kids can see it

Dear Dawn, thank you soo much for bringing out wonderful meaningful videos .it has helped me so much in organizing my life with my 3 kids .

Really useful vidéo!!

Super helpful! I can relate to all of these things. Thank you!

The gift of events or spending time was great, as a grandma I spend a lot of time with my grandchildren and gave them a membership to a local Zoo 2 years in a row, it was great and my oldest talks about that more than anything because it’s a memory

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this video and the unique approach to your mindset ideas!!! THANK YOU I needed to hear this!!!

It's more often not that the adult wanting recognition and for the adult to feel special. Gift givers love watching the excitement because it warms their heart to bring joy to the person receiving. Often gift givers put a lot of thought and consideration that is specific to the receiving person as well. Some people might come from a selfish place but not most.

My children have birthdays closer to Christmas so my situation is a little bit different. When it comes to purging because I ask them to get rid of toys after Christmas and birthdays, they would quite possibly be getting rid of toys they just received. I’ve been kind of setting twice a year dates to purge instead. Since their birthdays are in the fall, I go for Feb/March and August. This also coincides with the dates for our major local consignment sales. Just a thought! I love your channel so much!

A couple of years ago I offended my mom (who likes to over splurge on Christmas gifts for the kids) by complaining. We worked it out and made some swaps. Now, she can splurge on random toys but there is a box for each grandchild at their house to keep those items in. We also swapped in an "adventure day" gift- a note or calendar card can still be wrapped and opened for the fun of being a kid but the gift it's self is a predetermined, scheduled quality time. Just those couple of simple discussions and swaps have really improved the holiday stress of stuff struggles and family time is truly enjoyable. Thank you again for your sharing and great ideas of family practices!

This is the best video on how to deal with unwanted gifts!!! Thank you!

I have 15 grandkids ages 12 down to three months (7 boys). My playroom is absolutely overflowing! I just re-listened to this series. I think I have a plan now. Thank you!!!

Since I'm going more minimalist. So are my gifts. I will give my time. It was my little sister in law bday and for bday I gave her day off. It was the following weekend and she was able to go out. I wrangled her two preschoolers and took them to eat and a kids movie. She loved it! Can totally do this with kids. My favorite to give are gift card for kids. Like a Chuckie cheese card so they can have fun or a movie card for older preteen nephews or a Xbox card. Nothing that gives clutter but gives them entertainment 🙂

Some people are givers. It blesses them to give. And some people just love to shop! To keep from offending anyone, I graciously accept their gift then donate or re-gift it later. As for relatives giving gifts to your kids, it might help to say "when the kids tire of it, it will go into our donation box". Giving toys to needy children teaches kids to be givers and it blesses them, too. TYFS.

This was helpful, I think I watched this last Christmas or birthday. I only have one and she is also the only grandchild on my husband’s side and I am overwhelmed with everything she was given.

❤️ all your videos but this might be my favorite. Such wisdom! I'm going to have to write these tips down. 🙂

I agree about the Easter thing. It seems like every year, people get more and more ridiculous with “gift basket giving” at every holiday. My kids got a bucket of summer toys at a 4th of July. It was a bunch of really cool stuff but also stuff they totally forgot about a week later. Why can’t we just have a party without getting party favors or throw a birthday party without that expectation as well…thanks for letting me rant on here 😅

Your video inspired me to get rid of my daughters play kitchen. She never uses it, so I’ve kept the contents & put the kitchen in the loft to see if she misses it. 👍🏻

Needed to hear this!!

Omg I get this. When my oldest was 3 or 4, she has a bunch of big toys like a play kitchen, bbq, crib etc. Like the cheap $25 toys from walmart that my mom got her. After awhile, she stopped using them to I gave them away. My mom was sooo upset, she actually cried. Abd she still brings it up 5 or 6 yrs later.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing! I'm guilty of overestimating how much family gifts clutter my house.

So funny your mom called! I used to feel bad when my daughter donated my grandkids’ toys . Now I understand and support it !

My parents go all out for EVERY holiday. I have 3 kids, and it all adds up. This past year we moved into a house, so the gifts shifted to more outside toys (thankfully), but the toy room floor is 100% covered, and never clean. I would clean it in the morning while my girls were at school and by bed it was trashed again. We went through and got read of 3 huge boxes of toys, and it hardly made a dent in the mess. I am definitely going to be going through the toys again, and probably get read of many more huge boxes of toys. Maybe one day we will be able to eliminate the toy room. 🤣

That is SO helpful !! Thank you ❤

Thank you. I never realized this is so me... I've done well but struggle in this area the most. I believe this will help me.

I love that you mentioned Darci right off the bat. Nice.

One of the best gifts to kids while young and promote less attachment to toys would be to expose them to non toy gifts, maybe things such as educational books or custom versions of it *personalised childrens books* or other educational tools that are fun

Haha! I have to admit when I film a decluttering video, I edit out any gifts I’ve been given in case a family or friend watch it 🙈😂

Thank you for your wonderful videos! I am sincerely grateful for every gift I receive. But one thing that helped me have less guilt with gifts is the mindset that if a gift is truly given to me (or my children) then it is ours to do with as we please. If it is given with a set of rules about how to use it or when or how long, then it is an obligation and burden instead. I have found those things to truly be gifts to the giver and the way I can contribute is to accept it with gratitude and appreciation. But also, just as I have no right to dictate what a giver chooses to give, once it is given they have no right to dictate how it is used. Just because I do not use it as shown on a commercial, doesn't mean we are not using it. I may be teaching my children how to share, be generous, learn some business skills by selling it, how to save for a long term goal, the value of having less stuff, or how to make their own decisions about their possessions and environment. Thank you for reminding me I am not alone in this struggle!

My mother in law has a shopping addiction. I had to stop her from bringing all that stuff to our house. I also saw how she was passing on that to my daughter. She would jump on her amazon shopping page with my daughter and they would just go on a spree!!! I talked to my daughter about finding happiness in gratitude rather than things. Hard...

Geeze, mom snuck into that one. Take it as a sign mom! Stop with all the material gifts! Pleassssssse!

Yes!!

Funnies thing happened while I was watching these toys videos and thinking about how to get less of them...my husband and daughters come home from garage sale with more toys 😀..

Thank you so much for this video! It has really helped me cause I did feel like the only one who asked my mother in law to get my approval before getting any gifts now. I did not have to do that for my mom cause she (for the most part) already would ask permission before she gave. I was wondering if I had gone to far in asking my mother in law that, but she said she would honor my wishes. ❤️😅

Dealing with family is so hard! My family goes way overboard at Christmas!

I totally follow her.

I love the idea of “spend time with my kids” for friends and family that want to give gifts.