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Full Moons and Safety Glass
Balancing money, time, self, and family
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Let Me Count the Ways
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The Things They Carry
Tim O’Brien wrote a compelling and evocative book depicting the intense experience of marine soldiers fighting in the jungles of Vietnam called The Things They Carried. The book tells the stories of these men by describing the items that they, well…carried. The items range from the sentimental to the gruesome. But, in the end, the picture it paints is both emotional and telling about how the impact of their daily environment had a profound impact on them.
I must need sleep, because the other day, I thought about this book (a book I haven’t read in almost 15 years) while watching my two-year-old walk around the house. Recently, she has taken to carrying an inordinate amount of stuff around with her. This morning, for example, before being lifted out of her crib she insisted on taking with her ALL of the following:
Of course, she has tiny little hands and so she can’t actually carry all of that. And, of course, because she is two if I try to oh…help her…in about 2.1 seconds flying at my head will be:
Now Carmen is different than Ava was at the same age. Carmen carries all of this crap around, but she is indiscriminate from carrying incident to carrying incident about what she carries around. It changes each time, but what doesn’t change is the fact that she carries way too much around. She is constantly dropping it all over the place while moving from room to room. Or, more inconveniently, when we are moving from the front door to the car in the morning when I am trying to scoot them out of the house and get to day care. Sigh. Ava, my four-year-old used to get inexplicably obsessed with carrying particular things around. Usually, long skinny things (no obvious jokes, please). For example, for weeks she insisted on carrying around a small plastic purple spoon. After a while, the spoon was replaced by a small purple plastic flag. Several weeks went by and she replaced the flag with…I’m serious here…a small pretend pancake flipper. Whoa be to us if we misplaced any of these things when they were in their peak. Boy, would the howling start. You probably heard her…Where’s my fllllllllippppppppper?? The flipper situation got so out of hand that our day care provider had to “lose” it. One thing the girls did have in common, was during their respective binkie years, each of them would have a binkie in their mouth and then would hold another two in their hands. So, as I watch Carmen carry her stuff around, I reflect on Ava’s carrying habits and I think about what it all means. Security? Comfort? Control? Predictability? Jeez…who knows? Just don’t look in my purse and analyze the contents. 4 comments from 4 users
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posted by
ktja
on Aug 15, 2008 at 12:11 AM
posted by
creatress
on Aug 15, 2008 at 07:01 AM
I think it's for all three of those things you mentioned. And yes, look at all the silly stuff we cart around in our cars, purses (or men in their wallet). I think it's just human nature to hoard and carry crap and yell "MINE!" I've heard of that book, but never read it. Sounds facinating.
posted by
hmoeckli
on Aug 15, 2008 at 10:12 AM
I've also heard of that book, and I have meant to read it. But somehow I never got around to it.Kids are so funny (or odd, depending on your perspective.) Emy does the same exact thing with her binky; well, she would if we let her. We're now at the point where binky "sleeps" during the day. Emy is not as concern about holding all her special objects, but she is very concerned with some of her animals, not all, but some wearing capes. She then calls them "Super Bear", "Super Elmo", etc. And woe to the person who takes off the cape or forgets which animal wears it. YIKES. posted by
kellimwheeler
on Aug 18, 2008 at 02:49 PM
At least their tastes are cheap right now. Hopefully you're years from them needing to carry around Coach or Louis Vuitton...
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Your post made me laugh. It reminds me of my car , which at times, resembles a junk drawer on wheels. Random stuff, or more accurately, crap, ends up in the backseat because my kids are always carrying something. A random sample of what can be found in my car...empty fruit chew wrappers, art projects, misc toys, clothes, unidentifiable somethings, etc. I never really notice how or when things get there, they just do.