Feb 28, 2009

Children Who Gather


I think my son was a raccoon in a previous life. The way he gathers and collects things throughout his day, is like a raccoon who steals shiny objects and hoards them in his den.
At some point, he decides he has enough items and then spends a fair amount of time placing them in a specific arrangement.

Sometimes I will walk into his play room after he has left and there on the rug arranged in a precise pattern, I will find assorted wooden food items, shapes, cars, parts of Mr. Potato head, plastic eggs, a few animals and maybe some furniture pieces. It reminds me of the scene from the movie Poltergeist, when the kitchen chairs re-arrange themselves if no one is looking.

I could understand if perhaps the things he gathers were related, but to my adult brain, they appear random. They are definitely not because if I move one, he promptly tells me I‘ve ruined it! Ruined what, I don’t know.

I have asked him a few times what he is doing and he says he is making a maze or a map. Other times he says he is having a scavenger hunt. I think it looks like he’s making a game board, maybe something he saw on a computer game. Once he said “ It’s a pattern, silly”. That part I get.

I’ve watched him run suddenly into a room, open a draw, grab something and say “ Ah ha, perfect”, then run off to add it to his collection.
He does the same thing when it’s time for bed. He can’t get tucked in without a collection of objects (maybe 10 or 15) arranged on the bed with him. I always have to go in and clear them away after he falls asleep.

So far he has only gathered up things that belong to him, but I’m putting a lock on my jewelry box just in case.

9 comments:

SleightGirl said...

Ha! My brother used to do this too!

Jessica Cauthon said...

This reminds me of my niece and her urge to take all 48 of her puzzles out at once, dump all the pieces in one big pile, line the wooden frames up in a row from the kitchen to the den, then systematically put all the puzzles together at once. Blows my mind...

DJ said...

SleightGirl: Good to know he's not alone!
Jessica: That is wild. I bet they will both be good at math, pattern/sequence skills and all!

Parallax said...

I see a future as a museum curator (or something equally interesting and exacting)...

Anonymous said...

Lol! I guess you made the right decision in securing your jewelry in a locked box. We will never know when they become perfect objects for your son's creations.

Haasiegirl said...

oh man, that is so funny!

trisha
momdot

elf said...

LOL, We call my son rat baby because he likes to take catalogs and other mail and shred it. He's only 19 months and has already started to making associations between his small toys so I'm sure I have this to look forward to, too!(Maybe I should start locking down now!:o)

DJ said...

Parallax: Oh I could see that, museum curator!
BloggingMom: I also hide my craft supplies.
Haasiegirl: He is an amusing boy :)
Elf: Too funny, he's making a nest for his future den!

Lisa said...

What an adorable post! My girls are collectors too! :)

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