July 30, 2003 - 3:52 p.m.

Greedy Little Consumers

I have discovered, through my years of experience with kids that your typical American consumerist tendencies start early... very early. The young buds of full blown consumerism manifest themselves in a couple different ways among wee folk.

First of all, kids like stuff. Their acquistive instincts are so unsophisticated that they hardly care what kind of stuff it is. All you have to do to figure this out is spend a day or two with a child and then check the contents of his or her pockets. In our house you can be certain to find a few rocks, some wood chips, and a leaf or acorn or twelve. Occasionally you'll find bugs (dead or alive), candy wrappers, stray beads, buttons, wax for braces, smushed flowers, and half eaten pretzels. You and I might think these items are trash, but not so! Should I be caught attempting to dispose of such treasures, I am emphatically informed that they are "special". So special, in fact, that they are left in drawers, cubbies, and closets and never looked at again. I confess I am guilty of depositing many of the detritus found in pockets, around carseats, and on counters in the garbage while no one is looking. Hidden underneath some newspaper or apple peelings, of course, lest I be discovered. H even has a whole collection of paper towels soiled by using them to wipe her brush while painting that she insists on keeping because they are "pretty".

Which brings me to the other manifestation of the precursors of consumerism: the desire to make stuff. Kids love to create things (messes most particularly, of course). If kids like stuff, as mentioned above, then kids must love to create "stuff". And indeed they do! For the past two afternoons all three children in my care have been obsessed with a certain activity. Did you ever make those designs on pegboards with little beads that melt together when you iron them when you were a kid? Well that has been what the munchkins have wanted to do lately. Fine with me; it keeps them happily occupied with minimal help from me. Once their creations were finished the other day, I suggested we use them as magnets or coasters. Foolish woman! Have I not learned anything over the years? No, the children would much prefer to have useless "stuff" rather than "stuff" they can use or display on the fridge. It brings to mind a catchphrase I learned while teaching preschool: "process over product." Basically what it means is that you are supposed to let the child enjoy the process of being creative - learning how much glue to use, mixing paint colors, experimenting with using the side of the crayon to color - instead of what the project looks like when it is done. For instance, one should refrain from telling Joey that his self-portrait mor closely resembles Dumbo after a close encounter with a staple gun, or one ought to comment on how hard Susie worked on her paper bag puppet without mentioning that dogs don't have seven tails or fuschia goiters. The plastic melting bead fun is all about process. The kids are very proud of the product, of course, but couldn't care less that it has no function and precious little form.

I thought I was a bad packrat, but these kids make me look like a monk in comparison. I dread the day their parents decide it is time to clean out the closets and toyboxes. The kids will insist that every stone, which looks just like seventeen others in the "collection" to me, is precious, that every drawing and painting is an important part of her portfolio, that they will play with all the puzzles with missing pieces and toy cars with no wheels. Where does one draw the line on how many collages the child can keep or how many leaves should be allowed to crumble into an growing pile of compost in a corner of a drawer? Since it isn't my house, I usually leave such decisions up to the parents. Alas, that means I have consigned myself to a life of tripping over buckets of seashells and items forever lost under sheaves of artwork and handwritten stories.

today's project: a trip to the library for a special program on penguins.

musing about: how to teach children the importance of winnowing

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