I’m a parent, too, and believe me, I have flinched when my household has had to absorb umpteen stuffed animals and hideous dolls, especially ones that loudly deliver cloying messages. Sure, I’d rather have the cost of those presents in my child’s savings account. But hey, the person wants to give my child a toy. It’s not my call.

One thing you can try: Put high shelves in your child’s closets. Keep a fixed number of toys on active duty, and rotate them. The others stay on those shelves.
Or: for every new toy that comes into the house, one toy goes out.

The basket comes from Amazon. I don’t know about white or pink, but the one in the photo can be found here.

I actually own this basket, and the comfort handles fell off of it within the first few months of me owning it. Just to let you know before you buy …

I’m planning on taking her to a christmas gift-giving spree this year so we give away some of her toys, and she can begin to learn to enjoy the feeling of helping other children to boot.

PS: My first comment on your site! I’ve been enjoying yours posts since I subscribed. Thanks a lot for all the useful information you share with us.

Here’s how we handle all the stuff our four-year-old has accumulated that doesn’t fit into our tiny New England living room.

We have four or five big rubbermaid bins in the basement full of toys. We have ONE bin in the living room. She can have any toys she wants in the one bin in the living room. When she’s tired of the toys she has we carry the living room bin to the basement and open up all the bins so she can peruse through them. She swaps toys back and forth until we have a new set of toys to bring back upstairs. Sometimes we just put a lid on the old bin and take a full one from the basement up to the living room.

Works great and keeps the living room (reasonably) clutter free.