Stop right there. I see your hand hovering above the trash can with what looks like a mangled clothes hanger. Before you throw out that modern artwork you found in your child's closet, ask yourself, "Do I feel lucky"?
Well, do ya, punk?
It's true that your house is cluttered with what one might refer to as "crapola." You may be tempted to discard some of these items. Items such as:
- Bark
- Old Band-Aids
- Crumpled Kleenex
- Paper scraps
- Holey socks
- String
- Scabs
- Gum wrappers
- Cardboard, mixed sources
- Lidless food storage containers
- Lidless lip balms
- Empty hand sanitizer bottles
- Packing peanuts
- Discarded, empty (you'd better hope) birth control blister packs
- Errant toothbrushes
- Dried lumps of Play Doh
- Headless Polly Pockets
- Foam disks from now lost shooting toys
- Plastic squares that once covered temporary tattoos
- Desiccated cheese sticks
- Dog hair tumbleweeds
- Drinking straws
- Barbie leg
- Popped balloons
- Apple cores
But stay your hand, friend. You need to consider the implications of tossing one mom's trash, a child's treasure. The result, should you wrongly toss a wad of dental floss you think is trash, is whining, tears, and tantrums.
Earlier this week . . .
Elsewhere on the internet . . .
- My favorite thing on the internet this week. Bethany at Bad Parenting Moments wrote a beautiful piece on the lovely ghosts of family members, alive and well in our keepsakes and traditions.
- Like a fun word game? Want to play along? And that's why you should read this from Wendi Aarons: They're Not All Gems.
- Three great pieces from NickMom this week, and only one is mine. That's humility, folks.
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| Kelley's Breakroom on NickMom. |
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| Suburban Snapshots on NickMom. |
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| Dog Resolutions: Ninja Mom on NickMom. |
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Haha.. I go through this every time I purge the kids' room LOL.. trash or treasure.. like the four hundred chopsticks (not used) gathered from tables of Japanese steakhouses. Chopsticks or pretend suspension bridges? pick up sticks? create-your-own frames? maze walls for hot wheels? Yeah.. can't toss the sticks..
ReplyDeleteHaha.. I go through this every time I purge the kids' room LOL.. trash or treasure.. like the four hundred chopsticks (not used) gathered from tables of Japanese steakhouses. Chopsticks or pretend suspension bridges? pick up sticks? create-your-own frames? maze walls for hot wheels? Yeah.. can't toss the sticks..
ReplyDeleteHaha.. I go through this every time I purge the kids' room LOL.. trash or treasure.. like the four hundred chopsticks (not used) gathered from tables of Japanese steakhouses. Chopsticks or pretend suspension bridges? pick up sticks? create-your-own frames? maze walls for hot wheels? Yeah.. can't toss the sticks..
ReplyDeleteHaha.. I go through this every time I purge the kids' room LOL.. trash or treasure.. like the four hundred chopsticks (not used) gathered from tables of Japanese steakhouses. Chopsticks or pretend suspension bridges? pick up sticks? create-your-own frames? maze walls for hot wheels? Yeah.. can't toss the sticks..
ReplyDeleteThey know. They know when these tiny trifles go missing. And your left trying to answer a sobbing child who's wailing, "You know, the ones with the dog hair covered tape on the end! Where are they!?"
DeleteMy four year old daughter got after me for throwing papers in the trash. Crumpled up papers! She may be the recycling queen, but I have to toss some of this stuff. I also get "in trouble" for attempting to throw out such treasures as cordial cherry trays, used popsicle sticks, and the clear containers that things come in. Those might come in handy for my daughter's next sculpture/zamboni/manger... Will I regret encouraging this a few years when she's a starving artist going through dumpsters for art parts? Perhaps...
ReplyDeleteI once accidentally threw out a school paper that was in the "keep at home, not important papers" pile. Now my 2nd grader hoards it all in the "important papers" pile.
DeleteZamboni! Snort.
So timely - today we had an actual quivery lip meltdown because my husband threw away a piece of dental floss with a wad of paper stuck to it. Oops, excuse me, I mean a "bracelet."
ReplyDeleteThat's perfect! A dental floss bracelet. Good for accessorizing a school-to-dentist's look.
DeleteI loved this post made me think of the wonderful times cleaning my daughters rooms...........lol
ReplyDeleteYou never know what you'll find, right?
DeleteUnder the cover of darkness I throw out all their crap. They are none the wiser in the morning (usually).
ReplyDeleteHere's to hoping they aren't secretly throwing out our crap in the middle of the night.
Delete