Kids and their things...

For those of you that full time with kids what do you do about all their toys?  I realize that we won't be keeping the train table...but when I looked at all the toys my kids have and their favorites, I don't know how we can keep it and I am feeling horrible to make them get rid of their favorites.  I hope that once we start this new life they will get over it but I don't know...my son was in tears when I told him we can't keep all his stuffed animals. 

That's a tough one! How do you explain to young ones that their adventures will be greater fun than the items they have become familiar with. I know as an adult forcing myself to get rid of a few items this past month that I really didn't want to was tough.

Not to distract you from this site but have you checked out any forums pertaining to fulltiming families to see if they have any suggestions? I found this one with a quick search, sure there are many others. I would presume some FT parents would have some suggestions, maybe even a section for children to converse with other children?

Hang in there, I wish you the best and envy what you are doing. I wish I would have known more about this lifestyle when my son was young. I have met some FT families on our journies and the kids always seem so happy and well rounded, always amazes me.

This is the only forum that I have found.  I will check out that link, thanks!

They sell some very cute stuffed animals and birds at most national park gift stores. Perhaps you could promise the kids a new stuffed animal at the first park you visit? And get them an NPS Passport. It's a book that you take with you to the parks you visit and they have dated cancellation stamps that you stamp in your book. Kids find it a lot of fun gathering the cancellation stamps. And sign them up for the Junior Ranger program wherever you go. That's a lot of fun for kids (for adults, too).

A thought for the current animals and toys, have them pick out some to take along "on the adventure" and pack up the other ones and put them in storage. Tell the kids that the next time you're where they're stored, they can swap toys and take new ones out "on the next adventure."

Wendy

I dont see how it is possible to convince a child (or even some adults) that future memories are going to be more cherished that current objects.  My son would FLIP OUT if I told him he was moving in to Charlie (Our RV) and he had would loose anything that did not fit in a (very small) predesignated space.  My son has 450 books and he's not even 4 years old yet, sure we could get them on kindle or nook but he it's not the same for him.  He is so object oriented sometime taking his objects away is the only way we can truly get to him. 

For us there is no way we could not make moving into an RV not seem like a horrible punishment for some terrible crime against humanity to our child. 
I would assume that involving the child in the decision making process from the beginning, and letting them, through videos and photos help choose the destinations, routes and things they want to see along the way would certainly help make the conversation easier.  The other suggestion would be to gradually have the child choose things to get rid of.  My son couldn't get rid of all of his things at once, but if we had several weeks he could get rid of a couple of items per day much easier. 

Many, Many people are much less "Stuff" oriented than the members of my family (all 3 of us are guilty) and that is a wonderful thing.  I like the idea of having a storage facility that has some of their things, but what might also work is that in my family there are family members in several states and it might be neat to let the kid pick what things were going to be sent to what relative and they could swap out things when we got to each respective place.  Personally I'm not a fan of storage but I know my family would be okay with putting 1 box in the attic for my kid when we visit.

Good luck, I know other people can make it work.

Jeff

jdavis3152003 said:

For those of you that full time with kids what do you do about all their toys?

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Can sure identify with that problem . . . 

When I became a fulltimer I realized I would not be able to bring all my toys with me. So some of them had to either go into storage, given away, or trashed.

To avoid too much trauma, the decision was made to bring along one of my stuffed animals. 

I am not "stuff" oriented at all.  I tend to throw things out without thinking much about it.  I can't wait to sell everything!  The only thing I can seem to let go is our kid's clothes that they have outgrown because we are not done having kids and I see that as throwing away money.  But my husband still can't let go of his army memories or even high school memories.  I have nothing from high school, except my favorite sweatshirt that I wear regularly.  So it is hard for to sympathize with my kids.  We just moved to a new house (rental) and it took two large truck loads and I still have about 8 large boxes of toys I haven't unpacked.  I am secretly hoping the kids will forget what is in those boxes and I can secretly sell them at the next kids consignment sale.  Heck I could even find new homes for the dogs if the family would let me.  I know brutal. 

One option is to sit down and talk to your kids as a family and discuss the plans. Have them help down size the whole household. Let them be a part of you getting rid of your stuff so they can see that it's not just their stuff.

Also , explain to them about donating things to people less fortunate. Knowing the favorite toy is going to another child that has little or nothing might spark an interest in your child.

Steve

Or, the other option. If I ever get to fulltime, I will have to get a 40' cargo trailer just for DW's closet!!!  ;D ;D ;D ;D

familiesontheroad.com - that isn't a very active forum, but there is a group with the same name on Facebook that is.  Road Rebelles, Fulltime families and Nomadic Mama are also on Facebook.  There are lots of others, too, more than I can actually keep up with!

We planned our move to OTR over 3 years, during which we systematically got rid of as much stuff as humanly possible.  We sold big things, but gave away TONS of other things.  I lost count of how many books we donated to the library.  We moved from a 2400 sf house to our 350 sf RV.  Big change. 

And yet, we STILL KEPT more than I wish we had.  My kids watched ME give away MY stuff, including most of my clothes, books, knick knacks, craft supplies, fabric, etc.  I gave antiques to other family members and I recycled so much paper-memorabilia.  In the end, they gave away a lot of their own things without too much struggle.  Each child brought a handful of stuffed animals, and we didn't even try to downsize the rest.  I simply put them all in storage.  I decided it was not worth the trauma.  Of course, each year, we routinely downsize their stuffed animal collection, so it is not too far out of hand.

One thing that we said routinely over the past 6 months is that we were only keeping things that make us happy or were really "needed",  and it is ok to want to keep something for that reason.  Even though I may never want to live in a house again, I can not make that choice for my children, and to be honest, they aren't very happy with our choice right now!  It isn't fair to deny them the right to keep "stuff" just because MY dream is different than theirs.  last summer, I opened several boxes that I had packed up 20 years ago, during college when my parents moved.  I really, really enjoyed going through those memories.  I repacked about half the stuff, and I fully expect to have as much fun looking at them again in another 10 years.  I think my kids deserve that opportunity, too.

They heard us, and when the time came to pack up their rooms, I was very impressed with the things they decided not to keep.  I think that we will. continue to downsize the amount of stuff we stored, but we just needed to give ourselves permission to keep the "stuff" until we are ready to part with them.  If we didn't have our own storage needs, I would have had no qualms asking a friend or relative to keep a box or two for each child.

It will work out, but my best most heartfelt recommendation is to not push the child to get rid of "everything" and not to wait til the last minute.

--janis

Thank you for the advice!  We are having a phase one garage sale soon and then next spring if all goes as planned we will have a phase two "everything goes" sale.  I  am thinking of who I might know that has some space for each kid to store a tote of things they don't need but aren't ready to part with.