Why I'm drawing a hard line on gifts from grandparents for my toddler
My mother-in-law's weekly toy deliveries are cluttering our living room and contradicting our minimalist goals. I mean, it's frustrating because every plastic figurine feels like a step back from the intentional environment we're trying to create for our family. Does anyone else struggle with family members who just don't get why you'd want less stuff?
Weekly deliveries? That's excessive. It completely undermines your minimalist efforts when new plastic toys are arriving every seven days. The living room must feel like a toy store warehouse by now.
Seriously, my buddy Alex had his mom flooding their house with dollar store crap every Sunday. It reached a point where their kid was so overwhelmed by the mountain of toys that he'd just scream instead of playing. They finally told her straight up that the next toy that comes in the door goes right in the donation bin, no warning. It caused a huge fight, but the clutter stopped. Sometimes you gotta be that harsh to protect your own space.