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Monday, February 25, 2013

My Daughter is a Hoarder

My 5 year old is a hoarder, or at least it appears that way.  She collects all kinds of little objects never mind their value.  She is as interested in the rocks from the backyard as she is in the dime she find on the street.  She collects ribbons, buttons, stickers and glittery bits of trash.

I catch her in my recycling bin all the time.  Seriously, all the time.  On Costco day the many boxes end up in all kinds of different places becoming helicopters, cars or puppet theaters.

Case in point.  Yesterday I looked over and saw this on the counter.  Ten minutes before I had put the empty tea box in the recycling.


She was making it into a treasure box.  A box that I am sure is in her bedroom now full of all kind of odds and ends.  

I was beginning to worry about this hoarding tendency until I compared notes with some other moms of 4-7 year old girls.  Turns out it is completely normal.  

Whew.  Close call.

Perhaps all of the emphasis on reduce-reuse-recycle is trickling down to our kids?

Do you have a recycling junkie/treasure hoarder too?

4 comments:

  1. She's thinking outside of the box of tea, and that's wonderful! Oh the creative mind of a 5 year old, and how fun to see the things they can imagine come to life! Attachment to these endless creations can become an issue, however, as I've found with my little artists. I recently heard a Mother telling how she solved that dilemma in her large family. She and her husband have 6 children and they own a 4 bedroom home. There's just not enough space or flat surfaces to keep and display 8 people's treasures in that house so she devised a plan. She had each of her children decorate a box that would be their very own. Every night at dinner, each child would have the opportunity to show off their one favorite creation to the family, and every night the creation would go back into their personal treasure box. If it was left out, it was thrown away and if the box became too full...well, the kiddo would have to thin the contents in order to fit the newest favored artwork. I wish I'd heard of this earlier, I love it! Kids get their work appreciated, they learn organization and how to be in control of what to keep and let go, and parent's have a less cluttered environment. Win-win :)

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    1. What a great idea! I keep some of her creations and others we take photos of. I like the idea of a treasure box!

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  2. This is hilarious. Kate has various "collections" strewn about the house.

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    1. We should have a trash-to-treasure play date. They could compare notes. I'm totally serious btw. I'll bring a bag of recycling and you bring a bag and let's see what they make. Then we can blog about it. ;)

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