Trash or Treasure

There's nothing like cleaning out a toy chest that will make a child decide that a long-forgotton, dirty, broken toy that they haven't touched in months (or even years) is the absolute BEST TOY EVER.

Or so I learned yesterday when I decided to undertake that particular project in anticipation of a slew of new toys arriving in the form of birthday presents.

The ratty old pink stuffed poodle with the missing eyes and the nose mangled worse than Michael Jackson's thanks to a certain dog named Pokey? Trash, I thought. But no. Lily spotted it and immediately caressed and cooed over it like it was her first-born child.

The lopsided, 10 cent, orange plastic sunglasses that were so scratched you couldn't see two feet in front of you if you wore them? Trash again, me thinks. But Lily promptly dons them where they sit askew on their nose and struts about like a Beverly Hills diva. Marc Jacobs sunglasses, these are not.

Then there was the non-functioning, uncapped pen from the bottom of the toy bin. Me: Doesn't work, toss it out. Lily: Said pen was topped by a blooming fake flower and of course is destined for a second life. I'm not sure, but I think she may have tried to plant it.

But along with each of these less delightful moments was a truly delightful moment where Lily re-discovered some long lost toy treasure. Like the bead your own necklace kit that led to some creative mom/daughter bonding time, the magnetic fish puzzle that lets her work her hands and her mind, and a host of other toys that kept her PLAYING all day. Not watching TV, not sitting at her computer, not pummeling Pete and Mom with endless questions. Just playing.

Now that was a true treasure.