Thoughts...

... about all things disposable.

I've had this conversation with myself before... I think this could officially be classified as Blog Babble. Nonetheless...this little sailor got me thinking. Miles was playing with this toy, once mine, at the cabin this weekend. My mom has kept him around as well as the tug boat in which he rides. In fact, she's kept a fair-sized box of my old toys. Watching him play I wistfully thought to myself : "I wonder which toys of Miles' his children will play with?".

Likely, none. Unless I can break the cycle (when did it start?) wherein everything is disposable. Everything has an expiry date. And at a certain point, things aren't worth keeping & certainly not worth fixing. When I sit down with a bag & clean out the toy box, I assume that the toys I am getting rid of will find themselves in a new, good home. And I might be right. But for how long will they remain in this home? And will they make it to the next? With the quality of toys these days, not likely. So do I stop giving toys away? Heck no. We'd be over-run! But what I will do, is buy a better quality toy. And for that matter, a better quality spatula, lunch-kit, dress and pair of socks. Is it possible I might even learn to darn socks? Why not? I know how to sew & stitch. When did it become acceptable to throw away a pair of socks with a single hole in the toe? And because something is plentiful, cheap & easy to replace, should we? Darning socks takes time (I'd imagine) but isn't the negative impact we make by throwing socks away worth that time? I know one thing, when I think of the toys Miles has now, that he might pass onto his children (and that they would actually use) I can only think of a handful. Wooden Thomas Trains, puzzles and toy cars. Wouldn't it be worth it for me to buy a better quality toy, pay a little more, take care of it (Fix it!) and have his children play happily on the beach all day long with it? My mom thought so... maybe I should be giving this a second thought too.