Collecting

"Covet and cherish things small and faded, carry them in your pocket until they wear a hole. It is good to do this all of your life." - K. Cotterman 

We have a little friend who collects every day. His mum has to check his pockets for old batteries, half (eaten?!) dog biscuits, acorns. stones or bits of stick before his clothes go into the washing machine. Our boy likes to collect to, often from nature, not so much in his pockets- more so in his hands and then plonked in a place where he can check over his 'spoils'.

As a kid I collected erasers, stamps and stickers. My brother collected rugby league magazines, coins and paper notes. As an adult I had collected balls or spheres but I lost 80 % of them in the quakes as most were glass or ceramic.

I don't know exactly what it is about collecting that has led me to encourage the children to. Maybe it's because you have to stop, look closely and notice things, sometimes they're small things that other people may have overlooked. It could also be the satisfaction of finding a rare, unusual or sort after piece. Maybe its because collecting is a visual and tactile thing which is the sort of person I am. I'm also very sentimental and objects often hold memories for me.

While I don't expect our kids to collect anything or to get the same pleasure as I did from it, I've put up printer's trays in their bedrooms. They're great for displaying special things that I've put in there or the 'treasures' they find on holidays, walks, day trips or inside their Kinder surprise! It's also a handy place to put pieces of jigsaw puzzle or the like that have just had a narrow escape from the vacuum cleaner : )

As time goes on I'll take away the things I've added to give them more spaces to fill. I like looking at them and talking about their finds. That's what I love most about collecting- for me it's mostly about making connections with people through things.

these were my great grandmother's