Collecting

Both of my girls have a most favorite and treasured toy: a small tot-sized stroller. I originally only purchased one (oh horrors of horrors) and had to put it away until I could bring home another. (The tragedy and adversity of having one stroller and two girls who want it is something I choose not to experience ever again.) This toy is almost magical in the way it will keep them moving and happy. Sometimes they roll right next to each other, other times they roll in line, laughing gleefully either way. And even though the label clearly indicates not to, my children have, on occasion, sat in it while the other pushed them around the house. This little toy is well worth the $8.

An interesting behavior has also emerged with the strollers. As they wheel around the house, they pick up various objects and stash them in the stroller's seat. They collect. Sometimes their selections are obvious, like a baby doll, for example. Other times, their selections are more curious. Books have made it into the stroller, as have blocks, boxes and tractors. I realize that they are collecting objects that have meaning or are interesting. Because of their age, the choices as the simplistic and fleeting. Today the purple cube and the green frog might be preferred, but tomorrow's essentials could be Tupperware from the kitchen and a sock puppet.

I realized that someday what they value will be more permanent. And things that I say and do every day send them messages about what has value and what does not. I hope to raise loving, compassionate children who respect God, the earth, and all humanity. I want them to know deeply that things are replaceable and people are not. Watching them collect their little trinkets and toys has been an illuminating experience for me. I am struck by the awesome responsibility I have as their mother. In the future, I wonder, what will they be carrying in their hearts?