The other day we were at Target (our home away from home) and V-Man saw one of those robotic picker-upper claw thingies and might as well have bowed prostrate before the aisle cap where it was displayed."Mommy," he breathed in that tone usually reserved for cupcakes with three inches of chocolate frosting, "do you know what that is?"
"Yeah," I said. "It's one of those robotic picker-upper claw thingies."
He gave me a look I get a lot lately, that are-you-really-that-dumb? look. "No," he corrected me. "It's what astronauts use to pick up garbage on the moon."
Oh. We bought it, of course, and a few hours later set out for a long run in the triple stroller. V-Man insisted on bringing his One block into the run: "Mommy -- stop! I saw TRASH." From then on I stopped the stroller about every ten feet so V-Man could use his claw to pick up Styrofoam packing peanuts, crumpled receipts, plastic bags and an assortment of other gross stuff. All of it went in the bottom of the stroller. He found a lot, and with great enthusiasm hopped out of the stroller to pick up the slightest bit of trash with his claw.
It was a good exercise in keeping the earth clean, but also a good exercise for me in following the kids' lead. If I had said NO to buying the toy, NO to taking it in the stroller, NO to letting him get out and pick the stuff up, we would all have missed out on a good learning experience -- and a good time.
And it didn't hurt that we left our 6.3-mile route around the lake a little nicer than we found it.
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