Feeling terrible about my ponies and don't know what to do

[InkyMilk]

So, over the weekend my dad built me 6 new shelves in my room. I share my room as a nursery for all my cousins that we babysit, so the only way for me to have any space for my own stuff is to build up. I love these shelves to death because they're all mine, I don't have to share them with the kids, and I got straight away organizing my collection and whatnot.

I don't know what it is, and maybe you guys know what I'm feeling here or what I should do. Now that I've set everything up, 5 of the shelves are now filled with pony toys. The 6th shelf is filled with Ninja Turtle toys. I have a 7th shelf covered in old magazines and books I was planning on clearing up down the road to make room for, you got it, more ponies and turtles.

I know that sounds like a lot , but to be honest, I DON'T have a lot of ponies. At least, I thought I didn't. I'm really pretty choosy when it comes to buying ponies, so I don't know why I'm sitting here and feeling like I'm surrounded by them. I can't see a single one I'd want to part with, yet I'm suddenly really embarrassed that I'm sitting here in a room that I don't like being half a nursery, and yet when I have space to fill it with my own things, I fill it with TOYS.  I even built all these stupid wood dollhouses to store the ponies in because I thought it would look more organized and prettier, but now I feel like all they do is take more space and if I just threw the darn things away (they didn't cost much, like $7-$11 each) then the ponies wouldn't take up so much space. Or maybe I should just stick all the toys in bins and shove them in my closet like a grown-up and use the shelves for books and to organize my jewelry or whatever.

Blah. I don't know why I suddenly feel so embarrassed. I just imagined my friends visiting and wondering about all the ponies and action figures and me having to confess they're actually mine. They'd just roll their eyes and wouldn't judge me for it, I know, but I seriously feel like I need to grow up. I move back in with my parents to do what? Play with ponies?

[Glitchie]

I know you said you don't want to part with them any of them really, but do you have a few that you like over the others? I'd say keep those ones and maybe part with the rest. Me, I'm having to do it for money and room. I had BOXES of ponies growing up, and only recently just found one box stuffed full of ponies - see my thread about who I found - and had found four play sets as well. I'm going to clean them up and sell them because I do need the money, but going through them brings back all the happy memories of my childhood, even if they're broken, like my flutter ponies that have no wings. Sometimes its fun to keep them around to remember the good times.

[lochnessmomster]

All I have to say is, I'm a 33-year-old married woman with three kids and despite my best efforts to be a grown up and store my ponies on my side of the closet, I still have them lining the shelves of the bookcase.  Partly it's because I have several extras I need to sell, but I definitely relate with feeling just a tad embarrassed.  At least you're only 23 and have proper pony shelves, lol.  On a more serious note, I wish I knew how to best advise you.  But wait, you know what?  I do have a suggestion.  Why not store most of your ponies and only have a select few out on display at a time.  Switch them out every month along with the pages on your calendar.  That way you'll get to enjoy all of your ponies, just not all at once and you won't feel so "surrounded" and/or embarrassed.  Best of luck. 
 

[Spike]

I wouldn't feel too embarrassed about it! Hey, it's your hobby and you enjoy it. You shouldn't let anyone make you feel like you should 'grow up'. You simply are grown up and a collector of something people judge you by! I get judged daily by my collection from my family. But I don't mind at all anymore. I'm 20 and still buying 3 ponies each time I get paid. I think you should leave them on the shelves for everyone to see.

[Sonata]

I used to be embarrassed by still owning my ponies when I was a teen, so I put them in a box and kept them there for quite a few years. Every time I thought about giving them away, I always got sad and never managed to get the courage to do it.

I'm glad I kept them.

Nowadays, I collect ponies (not all of them, but most of them and from all gens). I am a proud owner of a room in my parent's house where all the toys I own from childhood are on display - the ponies, my lovely Starcastle, my Sylvanian Families, my Sailor Jupiter doll, and it goes on and on. I love my room and you know what? My family and friends love it too ! They find it amazing that not only do I keep all the stuff that I love so much since a child, but I am not afraid to show it anymore. Of course, maybe there are people who find it weird and would just tell me to grow up, but the truth is that displaying the things you love doesn't make you less of an adult - it just makes you who you are and you should be proud of it.

But I still agree with what others have said: maybe sell some of them or keep only a few on display and change them occasionally But most of all, look at the shelves and feel happy about them

[Glitchie]

I haven't been to my aunt's house in AGES, so I don't know what her house looks like since she got married, but when she was single, being a HUGE Horse nut in general, she had horses of all kinds, including My Little Ponies all over her HOUSE! I loved going there to help my sister when she went to clean for her, to see all the horses. But, as I grew older, my sister went off to college, got married and moved away and after that, quit working for my aunt and it was too far for us to drive out all the time just for me to look at her horse collection. My aunt was in her was in her 30s then, being the baby of her family, and now is in her 40s-50s.

[cazz25]

I don't think there is any need to feel embarrassed about having toys as an adult. Why shouldn't you have toys? and if you like them then why not display them?

I'm 25 I have a four year old son, I'm getting married next month, full time job, pay bills blah blah blah but I still have about 200 ponies in my room. They are really pretty and I like to look at them. The way I see it is I have grown up and I act like an adult but there is no reason not to hang onto some childlike qualities. How boring would it be if we acted grown up all the time?

   

[Spike]

Yeah, being grown up is boring and oh how I wish I could of had a better childhood! I absolutely love looking at my ponies. I used to carry Fluttershy in my purse when she was my first pony I thought I had (turns out I had Mcdonalds ones lying around.) Never feel terrible! LOVE the ponies.

[Honeycomb]

To me it sounds like you are not really into ponies anymore/ at the moment. If you passionately loved your collection, you wouldn't feel embarrassed about it, IMHO.
I'm 31 and the thing I have been looking forward to for months now is going home to play with my Paradise Estate. I bought it in April and had it shipped to my parents. I'm excited as a little child to play with it, and I don't feel a bit embarrassed about it.
I'd suggest storing them out of sight and only keeping your favourite 1 or 2. Fill the shelves with "adult" stuff and see how you feel about it. Maybe you will miss them, and maybe you won't.

[Pony Adventures]

If they make you happy, there is absolutely nothing wrong with having ponies surrounding you. If people love you, they will understand. You might have to explain but you shouldn't be ashamed. 

[NovelNerd]

I am sorry to hear you feel this way. I agree with some of tje others about storing them for the most part. I store mine except for four girls because to me the toys everywhere is overwhelming.

I might be reading a lot into it, but you said you moved back in with your parents. Is it more being embarrassed over the toys or guilt for spending the money? I always feel bad spending the money more than anything.

[frizzycat]

 I hope this quote from C.S. Lewis helps. He's the guy who wrote the Chronicles of Narnia. I personally find it awesome.

“Critics who treat 'adult' as a term of approval, instead of as a merely descriptive term, cannot be adult themselves. To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence. And in childhood and adolescence they are, in moderation, healthy symptoms. Young things ought to want to grow. But to carry on into middle life or even into early manhood this concern about being adult is a mark of really arrested development. When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.”

― C.S. Lewis

[cobalte]

To me it sounds like you are not really into ponies anymore/ at the moment. If you passionately loved your collection, you wouldn't feel embarrassed about it, IMHO.

I don't think this is really true for all people. You can still be passionate about something but if it's a rather personal and/or private thing, it can be just natural to feel embarrassed about what other people may think. For example, I got really embarrassed about showing my boyfriend forums that I'm a part of and my YouTube channel, because though it was something I was passionate about, I was unsure as to what he thought and my own assumption was that it would be seen as stupid or lame.

[Whippycorn]

I hope it's not too personal a question, but has moving back in with your parents made you feel a bit too 'dependent' again, and this is made worse by having all your toys around? If that's the case, maybe just put some or all of them away for a bit and hopefully you'll have your own place in the not too distant future where you can surround yourself in whatever you want without feeling guilt or shame.

I'm 26 and I can enjoy my ponies and not feel ashamed about them partly because I have my own place where I feel independent and able to do whatever I want. Most of my friends that come round actually request to see my ponies and ask lots of questions about their origins and value- they are collectors items as well as toys, after all!

Also, if you really don't feel like you can part with any of them, for me that suggests you're not sick of them, so I personally wouldn't sell them just now.

[Vintergatan]

To be perfectly honest I'm starting to feel insulted by all these "I'm embarrassed that I collect ponies" threads which have been popping up a lot lately.
I'm a grown up, I collect ponies and I've never, ever seen anything wrong with that until I came here where the COLLECTORS  are making me feel as if there is something to be ashamed of.

I'm sorry that a lot of people here seem to have family and friends that make them feel that way but when you go out and say "I'm embarrassed for being just like you" you gotta understand that to some of us, that's pretty insulting, even if that was not your intention.

Is your pony collecting hurting anyone?
- No.
  - ok, so what's there to be embarrassed about?

-Yes.
   -in that case, maybe you shouldn't be collecting