December 18, 2012
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Toys in the Attic
Last week, I blazed through our son’s room armed with 2 plastic bags. The big one was for trash and the small one was for items to donate. I rummaged through every drawer, cabinet, and bin in his room. As you can tell from the size of the bags chosen, I wasn’t expecting to find much in the way of treasure. He is a funny kid – he gets so excited over every little trinket from the dollar store, school prize box, birthday party goody bags, etc., but after the initial excitement, he just squirrels them away and forgets about them. There are very few things he saves for sentimental reasons, as opposed to reasons of laziness — the trash is apparently more effort than throwing broken, cheap, old things in a drawer.
I emptied so much stuff out of his room, and he never even noticed. I purposely didn’t set up any new “organization” systems (HA!), because then he would know I had been in there. Pretty sneaky, Ma.
Yesterday, I started going through our daughters bedside table. She is different — she has many sentimental things and lots of dolls, toys, etc., that she actually cares for and plays with on a regular basis. I was sensitive to that, and really just sought out trash – as in old erasers, crayon wrappers, price tags from clothes. Scarily enough, I needed a pretty big bag for that stuff alone.
Today, I started in her closet. A much bigger task, and one I didn’t have enough time to complete before she got home. This turned out to be a good thing, because she got involved and was ready to part with a lot of stuff. More than I was, actually!
Right up until this summer, our daughter was spending her savings on American Girl accessories. She has 3 of the dolls, and only one was a gift. I know American Girls are highly commercialized and considered a “designer brand,” sometimes with negative connotations. But our daughter has just loved those dolls, and learned a lot about saving and budgeting her money to get her doll fix.
When she told me that she wanted to put all the AG dolls and things in the attic, I was at a loss for words. I really didn’t expect that yet, although I did know that she has been playing with them less. My stomach got a bit of a knot in it, but I recognized that it was time. I suggested that she keep one special doll – the one that kind of looks like her – on a shelf in her closet so that we can still look at her and remember. She liked that idea. (Thank goodness or I would have put her on my own shelf!) (Ugh, and now I’m thinking about the Elf on the Freakin’ Shelf, because apparently Hallmark now owns the corner of my mind dedicated to shelving.)
We packed away all the other dolls and accessories, AG and baby doll. And the dress up, much of which was mine when I was a little girl. GULP.
Sure, it’s hard to see your baby grow up. But as we’ve all been reminded this week – it’s a gift to be able to experience it at all.
Comments (5)
Awwww. My daughter is just starting to love her Julie doll. She got it last year and wasn’t quite old enough for it. It’s funny what a small window AG occupies in the developmental trajectory of girls.
Well said. Two months ago my daughter was obsessed with One Direction. Well, good thing I didn’t go out & do my Christmas shopping early because now she tells me she HATES them. Anyway, not your point, just fickle children. I’m actually quite GLAD to have her “outgrow” One Direction (if that is indeed what has happened… there may be some less palatable evil replacement lurking on the horizon, haha).
In other ways, she’s still a “young” 11. She is still excited about Playmobil and stuffed animals, though some girls never really outgrow the latter, do they?? ;)
A benchmark in the maturing process. You are so lucky that she was willing to have that conversation with you. Just think of the fun the grandkids will have with that dressup stuff!
Ah, the American Girl on the Freaking Shelf.
My daughter is finally outgrowing Thomas the Tank Engine enough that we can get rid of the freaking train table that takes up half of her room. I’m not looking forward to seeing what’s under there, though.
@ordinarybutloud - Yes, it took her a few years to fully ramp into it, but then she was quite smitten. I played with dolls a lot as a kid, too, so I loved flipping through that crazy catalog as much as she did!
@DrTiff - It is an age where they are truly transitioning, with no rhyme or reason. Our daughter is very into One Direction, too, and although she put the AGs away, her Barbie house is still used daily, and her stuffed animals are still loved.
@murisopsis - Gulp. Grandkids!!
@madhousewife - Do you think Train Table on the Freakin’ Shelf would be too much?