I dream of one day redoing my office with short bookshelves all the way around the room, just to display all my toys – they won’t be clutter, they’ll be décor. Until then, though, I use a rotation system.

Some of my toys are favorites, and they stay all the time – like Daniel the penguin on his skateboard in-between my monitors, my little blue duck, and the lobster that lives in my inbox.

Then there are the toys of the moment – whatever are the newest things I’ve bought. I have a toybox – my toybox – here in the office, and as I buy new things, I move the older ones to the toybox. They don’t go anywhere – they’re always here for me to play with (and I do, especially if I’m stressed – also when I’m on the phone) just not out on the desk. I’ve set aside a certain amount of space for them, and when it’s full, it’s full.

Maybe something similar would work for you. Get yourself a toybox – Mommy’s special toybox – and maybe let them decorate it for you. Decide how much space you’ll dedicate to gifts, and divide it between your “permanent” items (whether they’re permanent because you want them to be, or because someone else insists that they be) and to the transient ones.

If you’re anything like my mom, when you get a new gift from one of the kids, there is an obligatory “Oh my, I just love it!” dance. You know what kind of psychology works on your kids. If “Oh, I have to have it on my desk, but what will I move to the toybox? What do you think?” would work, go that route – if not, just move whatever the oldest item is to the toybox and replace it with the new. (Whether that happens dramatically in front of them as the new item takes its place of honor, or quietly when they’ve gone.)

A nice touch, if it would work, might be to let them “catch” you “enjoying” one of the old gifts from the toybox every so often – put a reminder on your Google Calendar or something. That way, they’re reassured you really do appreciate their gifts, and aren’t just tossing them in a box in the corner.

Whatever it turns out to be, I hope you find something that works for you.