Growing up, I had a lot of stuffed animals. Actually, I was an only child for quite a long time and I would teach my teddies about what I learned in class. It helped me retain a lot of the information (like my ABCs and spelling). Then, there comes a time in your life when you have to say good-bye to your toys, I could just hear them calling my name! They all had a special place in my heart (especially my Barney plushie). Aside from my sap story, how did you feel when you gave away your precious toys when you had to give them up?
My experience was actually a really sad one. I went home from school one day and found that some of my toys were gone! I cried for hours and then my Mom came to my room and explained where my toys went. When I found out they were given to a children's shelter in the province, I stopped crying and actually felt happy that my toys could bring joy to a lot of kids. That experience made me want to help others so much. Last Christmas, my friends and I organized a simple program for kids in the local orphanage. We held games and intermission numbers and you could really see how happy the kids were. Experiences like this give me genuine happiness. I hope a lot of people could try this! A lot of kids need our attention and we should give it to them. We not only make them happy, they make us happy too!
I could totally understand! I have lots of stuffed animals that are now placed in a cabinet. There a few that didn't fit anymore so were placed in display. There were a lot and they are still with me until now that I'm already 19. My mom kept on convincing me to give it all away but I just can't have the heart to do so. I spent my childhood playing with them since I had no girl playmates then. I don't think I'm ready to let go of them just yet. Maybe I could preserve them and let my future kids play with them.
I had a dysfunctional childhood, so I never got that attached to my toys. When I left for college, I felt nothing about giving away teddy bears that were given to me by counselors, family therapists and foster homes.
I don't remember having toys as a child. My daughter's had toys that I would give to the thrift store or the church as they out grew them. They each had a few that they never out grew and still have put away some place. My youngest daughter liked to read books, she has a storage trunk full of books that she has had since she was about 10.
Most of my old teddy bears were sacrificed to our new puppy years ago. At first I would get very upset any time he got a hold of one and tore it up, but then I realized he was having way more fun with them then I was. After that I willingly gave him one a week until they were all gone.
I never felt sad about giving away my toys, because it only happened when I no longer played with them anymore. I have kept one or two things from my childhood that were my favourite toys because I knew that there was no way that I was ever going to be able to part with them, and I am glad in hindsight that I was able to make that decision, as it was quite clearly the right one for me at the time. So, all in all, I am more than happy with the decision that I made.
When I was much younger I had a much harder time giving away my toys because I knew I could still play with them later on even if they were old and busted, but my parents would actually sneak some here and there to remove just to decrease the clutter and I kind of hated that, but even then I kind of understood that it needed to be done. Nowadays I'm a lot more accepting that physical items have to go sometimes and I'm actually a lot less attached to material things now thankfully but still there are some toys or items I would be bummed if I didn't have them anymore.
