Whenever I bring my kids to the playground, I have the same dilemma. Do I let them bring toys?
If you don’t have kids, you might be thinking, “Why wouldn’t you
bring toys if the kids want to?”
But if you have kids, you probably know the issues: An extra robot
is an extra thing to lose. If some other kid runs off with my daughter’s
shovel, I may end up with a huge tantrum on my hands (thanks, shovel thief!)
So now you might say, “Ok, leave the toys at home.”
But then we’re the ones always borrowing other people’s toys, and
in a community you want to be a good sport and be the sharer sometimes.
So I tell my kids, “If you’re not prepared to share something or
potentially lose it, keep it at home.”
General rules like that seem to work well in my house. It doesn’t
mean we don’t have the occasional scuffle over a toy car, but we’re doing okay.
Also, I used to constantly be taking stock of all our stuff when
we were at the playground. My little one would be ready to fall off a ladder
and I was busy hunting for the green bucket. It was exhausting. So I have a
general rule for myself too: We’ll do one big sweep when we’re leaving and
that’s it.
Better to keep taking stock of the people and hope for the
best with the plastic.
