Our littlest is 3 years old and is constantly carrying around little toys. Her brother never did this, but from the time she could walk she’s been carrying toys with her everywhere she goes. Sometimes it’s little stuffed animals, sometimes Little People toys, sometimes action figures that actually belong to her big brother. Around here we call them her “accoutrements” and they shift and change every week so you never know which are her current favorites.
This habit could easily drive us crazy, but she’s pretty organized and responsible with her little habit…
- When we leave the house she always has to take something with her, but I can tell her how many she can take and she will immediately evaluate what she has and put toys away until she gets down to that exact number.
- When we’re going to someone’s house – especially Grandma and Grandpa – I let her take more than usual and she puts them in a bag or box to take with her.
- She’s really good at making sure she puts them in my purse rather than setting them down if we’re in a store or restaurant, so I don’t think we’ve ever lost one.
- She knows she can’t take any toys into school with her so she’ll take them with her in the car in the morning, but leave them behind in her car seat so they’re still there when I pick her up.
It’s gotten to the point where she wants to take them with her to bed every night and then back downstairs every morning, which might not be a problem if there weren’t SO many to carry up and down. So now we have a pink basket. Every night the basket goes up to bed with her and every morning they come down in the same pink basket.
Here’s the beauty of it… she leaves them in the basket sitting at the foot of her bed until morning. Then when she wakes up she has all of her favorite toys with her, so she sits up bed playing with her “accoutrements” until I come up and get her. It’s usually just long enough for me to take a shower in peace, which, as most moms know, is a pretty big deal.
