A Manageable Amount of Stuff

As a professional organizer, I have come face to face with the state of our culture and the ill effects it has had on so many mothers in the area of managing our households. We are bombarded with so much variety for our kids in regards to toys and then there are the amazing deals we find at Target that even if we have plenty of cute clothes already for our kids, we buy more just to boast of the deals we scored! I ask you though, what is a manageable amount of stuff? Think back to the "olden days" as AJ calls them...really do we think they had toy rooms piled with 8 years of toys and stockpiles of garments that could clothe an army of children? Really, I don't believe it is God's desire that moms have this much stuff to manage, do you? I can't say that I don't enjoy the convenience of modern times, but even though we don't have money to buy our kids every toy their little heart desires, I still say there is no way that I would want to have as much as some mommas house in their kids playrooms, bedrooms, and garages. So what is manageable for me, you ask? A few boxes of cars for Keenan, some flashlights, some dress up clothes, two small bins of Legos, some ride-on toys, an organized shelf of books, a trunk neatly packed with games, crayons and coloring books, and a cabinet that neatly houses two very small shelves with less than a dozen toys for the littlest one. AJ has a dress up bin that she is ready to get rid of but I think the classic Disney dresses in there are something we will save for her children, along with a few special dolls, baby blankets, baby outfits and stuffed loveys. Other than that she has some clothes and some jewelry. She loves to write and swim. I am thankful that Barbies really never caught on with all that much enthusiam and the craft hobby is limited to what I can handle...simple oil pastels that she loves to create magnificient and no mess masterpieces! Maybe other moms are not bothered by the plethura of things out there to amuse a child, but I can tell you as a mom of three, what my kids love... attention from me, going to the park and swimming endless hours at the pool without tons of excessively useless pool toys! I guess you could say, I really do like to travel light and can't wait to get to Heaven where nothing has to come with me,