TheRealMarge Writes
Dear Declutter Nut,
My oldest son is off in his first year of college and since we are a little short on space in the house, I’d like to reclaim his room. He’s got a lot of old toys and books in there from when he was a kid. Specifically he has NERF Guns and LEGO all over the room in various spots taking up most of the room. His brother is going to soon be old enough to play with these things, but I’m not sure if I want to keep these for his brother or if I should just get rid of it all. What should I do?
Dear TheRealMarge,
This is a tough one. The first thing I’d ask is, does your son know you are planning on cleaning out his room? If not, the first thing you should do is talk to him and let him know.
Going off to college, you have to be picky about what you take with you and if you weren’t up front with him that you wanted to reclaim his room, then he probably only took the stuff he really needed for college and left everything else behind with the theory that it was safe and he could deal with it later.
Don’t get rid of other people’s stuff without telling them first! Especially your kids, this is sure to backfire on you and cause some kind of drama later down the road. You may want to wait till he comes back on a break and declutter it with him. And keep in mind that since he’s in college, he’s probably going to need a room to come back to for the summer.
Now if he’s OK with it, then go ahead and declutter away. I can make the following recommendations:
Toys:
If he’s got general toys that are just sticking around for whatever reason, old broken board games, defunct puzzles, etc. Unless they are items that have specific sentimental value, feel free to get rid of them. Don’t for example, get rid of his favorite stuffed animal that he had as a child, but that Batman action figure that is missing an arm, that can go in the trash. Your younger child probably has enough toys that he doesn’t need old broken ones from his brother.
NERF Guns:
If he doesn’t want them (and he might being in college. NERF guns are very popular in dorms), then decide if this is something you want your younger child to have access to. I think they are a lot of fun and if you are willing to get into NERF battles with your kids, then this can be a fun activity for you and your younger one that burns off a lot of energy and doesn’t really damage the house.
If there are a ton, look at the features of them and look at their condition. You may want to keep the fancy ones and just get rid of the really basic ones to save space. Nobody needs 2 dozen NERF guns, but 3-5 can be a fun afternoon with friends.
LEGO:
I’m a bit biased here, but I love LEGO. If my parents had gotten rid of my LEGO when I moved out, I would have been devastated. Keep these. LEGO is a great creative toy and yes, they do hurt when you step on them but they provide hours and hours of fun. Plus LEGO is incredibly expensive. If your youngest one suddenly gets into LEGO, you will save a small fortune by just giving him his brother’s old ones rather than buying new.
Personally I still have all my old LEGO from the 90’s and they are put away safely so that I can play with them with my kids when they get older. Or I can sell them in a pinch. LEGO holds its value very well if you’ve got complete or mostly complete sets, even without the boxes.
Books
Unless there is good reason, donate the books. Books are bulky and you can’t be guaranteed that the books your oldest son are into are what his brother will be into, especially with what sounds like at least a decade age gap. Growing up, my siblings were over a decade older than me and the books they enjoyed didn’t resonate with me at all. Libraries are easy to come by and much better option than keeping a bunch of books around.
If there special books, keep those. For example, I’ve got a copy of Lord of the Rings that has been floating around for at least 50 years. My parents owned it, it got passed down to my siblings and then to me. Or books that are timeless like Harry Potter are good candidates to keep. Otherwise, most of them can probably be donated.
The important thing is to check with your older son first before doing anything. Happy decluttering!