The other day, I was answering email at home, when I heard my son rummaging around in the next room. I joined him and found him searching for something. I asked him what he was looking for, and he said he was trying to find a flyer for some random local service that we had idly picked up once while we were out of doors.
I told him that I had tossed it into the recycling bin, not realizing that he wanted to keep it. He got very upset and cried in my arms that he was still using it. No matter how I tried to explain that we can’t keep everything we bring home — especially one-use advertising! — he still felt the loss.
This is a great example of what can sometimes feel like a vast gulf in perception between you and your child. What was a matter of almost no consideration to me was a significant play thing to my son. He quickly got over it, of course, but the issue was brought to light: children often place more emphasis on things than we’d expect.
There really isn’t any kind of appeal to rationality to make; kids, with their vast and blooming imaginations, can make a castle out of a cardboard box, a sword out of a stick, and a telescope out of a paper towel tube. When disposing of what we perceive as household litter, we need to make sure that it’s okay with our kids; talk it over with them and explain why some things are trash, and some things are keepers. It’s a good way for them to get to learn the nebulous concept of value, and another way to help them negotiate the often confusing world. In the future, a good rule of thumb is: Always give your child the benefit of the doubt and ask them first.
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