What Would You Choose?

We live in a smallish house (by North American standards. I've lived in Russia; I know that there are millions of families who live with less space than we have. But that's a whole other conversation.) We love our little house. We love our street. Our neighbours are great. Dear Man's commute to work is mere minutes... But with three growing children, active boys, homeschooling and being in the home all the time, sometimes things feel cramped. So it seems that we are always trying to find ways to maximize the space we have.

Several months ago we had the children go through the playroom with us and each was allowed to choose three toys to keep. The rest were going to go to the local thrift store or, if not suitable for play anymore, to the dump. We guided them through the process carefully, making sure they knew that puzzles and books were not included in their limit, and that a 'toy' was being pretty broadly defined: dolls, for example, would include a couple of dolls, a selection of well-liked doll-clothes and bedding.

We went through the selection time slowly, having one child at a time choose an item (grouping) to keep.

What was the first thing that Little Man chose to set aside on the keep pile?

Not the Lego. Not the wooden train set. Not even his tool bench. No.

It was the homemade cardboard armour. Already a year old, well worn, and much repaired. Made from an empty diaper box, some duct tape, and spray paint. That was what he chose first.

What a precious thing that was to witness.