"Trash or Treasure"

Okay, so I completely understand that toys are pretty much the unspoken treasure for kids. No matter how big or small, if it is a toy...they love it. I mean, even if it is not a toy at all but something someone gives them to play with, it's treasure. I will give you the perfect example...in a doctor's office one time when Olivia was almost two years old. The doctor gave here this crazy looking glasses. They had clear lenses and thick black rims. They were something they used and were disposable so they had no problem giving them to her. Fast forward about two years later...Olivia still "plays' with those glasses.

Now you may be wondering about the whole point of this post and now I am going to tell you. While toys are treasure for kids, for some moms like me they can become trash. For some reason my daughter has inherited the need to keep everything. And no, she does not get that from me or Anthony. It's the strangest thing but this girl will play with a toy that she has from birth. I mean, the toy that is really just a rubber ring for her to chew on. She turns it into a bracelet!

So I am assuming many of you are probably thinking that it is a good thing that she plays with all of her toys still. Well let me tell you, it is not. Because she likes to play with everything, everything stays all over the place. Her floor, the living room floor, the dining room floor, our bedroom floor, our bed. You name it and there is more than likely a toy there. Olivia loves playing with her toys but just like any other kid, she does not like cleaning them up.

Now, I warn you that if there are any children present you may want to have them stop reading at this time...

Today was the day that I had enough. No more tripping over the purse straps and dress up accessories. No more getting stabbed in the toe by pencils, pens and markers. So over stepping on and then screaming at the top of my lungs, the four identical toys she got in a McDonald's happy meal. And who wouldn't love rolling over (in their own bed mind you) onto a naked Barbie. That's right...I put my foot down (in a safe spot mind you) and grabbed a trash bag.

I went into Olivia's room and threw out every happy meal and/or combo meal toy. Trashed the books that were missing pages. Naked Barbies with hair so tangled that you need scissors to fix...gone. I went in with one of those giant black lawn trash bags and left with every piece of "trash/treasure" in it. Oh, and those dear sweet glasses from the doctors office...well, all I have to say about them is R.I.P.