Try This Tuesday #32: What Should I Try?

If you'd like to join in but aren't sure what to write about, try the topic suggestion for this week: What Should I Try? Share something that has you currently looking for answers or ideas and we can all help each other brainstorm.

My planned guest post did not come about this week, so I am going to take this opportunity to ask all of you for some advice. This is by no means an earth-shattering problem to have, but for some reason I seem to be stuck on it. My dilemma centers around the large quantity of toys slowly taking over our home.

Okay, I know this sounds like an odd problem to have, but let me explain. During our son's toddler years, we acquired the typical toys and then spent hours and hours trying to interest him in them—to no avail. He primarily liked to turn his trucks and cars upside down and go around spinning their wheels.

As his interests expanded and he learned to communicate what toys he wanted, we ended up getting whatever he would play with, while still keeping the other items for the day when he would (hopefully) move into pretend play.

So now here we are with the toddler toys he is still drawn to and doesn't want to give up, the preschool toys he is now playing with appropriately (although he could work on those skills with other playthings), and the newer toys that he wants to get into now that he is a bit older (action figures, Legos, etc).

We really need to weed out some of these toys, simply because there is only so much room in our house, but I feel guilty when I think about taking away something that he still gets enjoyment out of or that does fit where he is developmentally in some ways.

So, as minor as this is compared to all the serious issues going on in many of our lives, I would love to hear what you think about this situation. Should I take the stealth approach and just have things disappear slowly? Should I say he can only keep a certain percentage of what he has? Should I just say something has to go before another toy can come in? What would you do?

Please join in and share the creative solutions YOU have found to your own challenges, or feel free to post your own challenge for input from others. For more details on how to participate, read the welcome post.

Topic Suggestion for Next Week: Communicating with Non-Verbal Children. What has worked, or not worked, for you and your child/sibling/student? What tips or suggestions would you give parents who are trying to increase effective communication with their non-verbal child?

As the host of Try This Tuesday, Trish shares some of the solutions she has found to make life easier and invites you to do the same. You can also find her blogging at Another Piece of the Puzzle and Autism Interrupted.