Recovering from the Holidays

The holidays are over, the new year rung in.

The guests have gone home. You’ve cleaned up the den.

What is to be done with all the new toys?

The clutter?

The gifts that don’t quite bring joy?

If you don’t quite know,

If you are confused,

Then this post might just be for you.

What to do with the Sweet Treats you can’t eat?

Listen, we all overindulge during the holidays. There are cookies, pies, decident dinners, fudge, and edible family traditions. It can be enough to throw anyone off their game. But the derailment doesn’t have to spill into the new year.

There are a few strategies for dealing with the treats you have leftover.

Pawn them off onto friends

A decorative tin or wrapped Tupperware of holiday goodies is a great generic gift to give to people in your life.

Forgot to get a close coworker something? Cookies. Going to a friends house for new years? Perfect hostess gift. Visiting the uncle you haven’t seen in years, add some cookies.

You could also take them into work and leave them on the break table. They will get eaten.

Freeze them for later

Over the course of the year, chances are you are going to want cookies (or fudge, or whatever else you have leftover). You can divide the leftovers into single serving sizes and throw them in the freezer. Then defrost and eat them when you feel the need for a treat.

This, of course, only works if your self control isn’t shot. So only go for this option if you can forget the treats are in there.

How to cut the clutter and get organized

No matter what we do, the holidays produce crazy amount of clutter. Empty boxes and used wrapping paper can be thrown away, but the gifts they brought remain.

As much as I hate to admit it, most gifts are just kinda “meh”. And gifts for babies and children can be the worst offenders. I mean, do we really need more toys? Especially in that volume?

So what is to be done?

Archive or sell old toys

The holiday season is a perfect time to go through old toys and remove the ones theat are no longer loved. Small children outgrow toys fairly rapidly.

If you are planning on having more children, just clean and move the old toys you enjoyed into a box to keep at the top of the closet. Don’t bother keeping anything that annoyed you, were difficult to play with, or your current baby didnt love. If it didn’t get used with the first, it won’t be used for future children either.

Before you sell anything, keep it in a box in the closet for a few months so you know it is not going to be missed. Then quietly discard it.

Sell or donate anything you don’t enjoy or need. In many areas there are swap meets where parents can trade clothes and toys their child has outgrown for new ones. You could also donate to a women’s shelter. And apps like letgo and craigslist make selling unneeded items easy. Pick your favorite method and go with it.

Consider toy rotation

It is entierly possible that your child loves almost all their toys and they are still developmentally appropriate. What to do then?

Start toy rotation.

All you need is a couple of bins (or baskets, or boxes). Put different toys in each one, and then rotate the baskets of toys at regular intervals. I like to rotate toys weekly, but there are others who rotate every day.

I read about a toy rotation strategy that rotates to different types of toys each day. For example, Monday they would play with dolls, Tuesday would be kitchen toys, Wednesday could be building toys, etc.

Pick a method that works for your family and go with it.

Do a spring declutter

Most people go through and spring clean and declutter when the weather starts to get warm. Why not do that in the winter instead? It is cold and nasty outside, and you can start the new year without all the baggage and clutter.

Then, once you are decluttered, you will have space for all the new items that share your home.

Putting it all together

Getting back into the routine can be difficult when the house still feels like the holidays. Before going back to work, give your home some love to keep it running smoothly.

And have a delightful new year.