In our house most of the box of tricks we use involve ways to entertain small ones. I remember reading; early on in our parenting adventure, that it was wise to divide toys into boxes and keep some out for a while, then replace them with a new box so that the toys each get a turn being loved on. Eventually for us we started sorting toys by type and age group in order to decide what would stay in circulation and what would move up to our attic. Even with a plethora of toys removed from our daily lives we find that it is hard to manage keeping all the small bits associated with their original homes.

Fortunately half of the fun in our little girls lives involves packing and unpacking every type of container at eye level. Both girls love nothing more than to grab a backpack, bucket, box, basket or even market bag and load it up with what they deem “necessary” for the next hour. It started around the time when Zuzu was 2 and her favorite game was to pack a backpack, sling it over her shoulder, ask for monies for the taxi, announce she was off to work and leave the room with a cheery, “Bye, See you later!” Later you’d find that bag stashed under a chair or table and another one half-packed with talk of a grand adventure and all the things she will need. 

I will say it’s fairly convenient to have your children enjoying the packing up of their own box of tricks as a favorite pasttime . I like to think their need to ferrett away any and all pretties and what-nots is probably what keeps us from ending up on the show Hoarders since it’s less amazing to display a child’s room full of duck bags and Dora packs then it would be to have all of the contents littering the floor with a foot wide path leading the way out.

Corner view is a weekly Wednesday date hosted originally hosted by Jane, currently by Francesca. A topic is given and you can see impressions; be it in photographic or poetic in form from around the world:  Jane, Dana, Bonny, Joyce, Ian, Francesca, Theresa, Cate, Kasia, Otli, Trinsch, Isabelle, Janis, Kari, jgy, Lise, Dorte, McGillicutty, Sunnymama, Ibb, Kelleyn, Ninja, Sky, RosaMaria, Juniper, Valerie, Sammi, Cole, Don, WanderChow, FlowTops, Tania, Tzivia, Kristin, Laura, Guusje, Susanna, Juana, Elsa, Nadine