Toys, toys everywhere....

As I crossed the room to flick the lamp tonight, I finally noticed just how much floor space is devoted to BB's "property" (what Phoenix lovingly calls the general space filled by BB's treehouse, barn, stables and vehicles.) Its uncanny, really, especially in a little New York flat. Then I glanced around, thinking about how much of the space E and I typically occupy (the mat in front of the kitchen sink and perhaps a small spot on the couch). When we moved in, before The Little Man was yet two, his belongings fit into a tidy metal tub. The apartment was wide open, I'd daringly even say... spacious. Since that day, the child has collected every item he could get his hands on. The wood crate on the stoop next door? The perfect center island for his kitchen. The plastic pizza-box-lid-holder-upper-thingy noticed on the sidewalk? The ideal deck table for BB. The bandaid wrapper bound for the trashcan? A little velcro and they'll be perfect skis for little BB. The child keeps everything. Then, of course, there are the toys.

Despite my cynicism and role as chief picker-upper, I don't begrudge him his love of toys. Or strange baubles of junk. Really. He's a kid and he learns through manipulation, play, experimentation. (And he has the most beautiful trust in the universe that it will provide, always, it provides. I try to rectify this with the status of the world, without any luck whatsoever. But, quite seriously, if the kid is hoping for something, it always manifests.) I may occasionally swoon unstably at the thought of finding a spot for yet another treasure, but I secretly love a challenge, so....

And then I see how his play evolves and it is so exciting and fun. His sweet Uncles gave him this magnetic marble set a couple of years ago. In the beginning, he was merely experiencing how magnets work, how to line them up, how to pile them up, how to stick them all over the house. Then he really liked watching us build with them. Then he really liked building the same shape over and over. Then he pulled them out the other day and made a boat for BB (of course.) With a captain's wheel, a glass bottom area with fishing holes, a watch deck, upper and lower lights and a lookout spot on the back. Open-ended toys and bandaid wrappers rock. Really.