Member-only story
Minimalism And Children’s “Stuff”
Navigating the “stuff”
My oldest daughter has become a hoarder with a touch of obsessiveness. Her bunk has soft toys and cushions lining the sides so there is only just enough room for her body to lie down the middle. My mother told her that grandpa’s cousins had no toys when they were growing up, not a single one because they were very poor. Confused, my six-year-old frowned. I think of what I know about post WW2 northern England and I can believe it. My daughter has grown up a world away from such a life and cannot comprehend it.
In the West, we live lives of excess and abundance. You have to make a conscious effort to resist the Kmart-ification effect. You don’t need to have lots of money to fill your home with cheaply made homewares, clothing or toys. Someone in a poor country very far away, so far away that we cannot see them, has worked hard for very little remuneration to produce endless cheap goods. Toys that are so cheap you can’t not buy them. Toys that break after a few plays.
When my first daughter was a baby and young toddler, I used to periodically sort and donate her things. Young children grow so quickly and go through many phases. What is popular one week is forgotten the next, though the simplest things tend to be the most loved. My children love playing with cardboard tubes; they provide endless…
