Word Choice

I realized this morning that choosing words is important, even to a 3- and 4-year-old. Our realtor called late last night and asked if he could show our house at 9:00 this morning. So in the midst of the already-hectic morning routine, we had to throw in an extra cleaning and straightening. While I was in the girls' room surveying the havoc, I saw a pile of 'junk' at the foot of each bed:

Aly's

Caroline's

I said (quite carelessly in hindsight), "Girls, you need to come in your room and find a place for this JUNK." Catching me off-guard were wails of, "Mama, it's NOT JUNK!" But yes it was! (to me, that is.) To me, they were two piles of old party-favors and Happy Meal Toys. Even a broken camera. In a hurry, I re-phased: "Ok. It's not junk, but I want it put away before the people come to look at our house!" But to the girls, these piles were carefully-selected treasures. They said, "But Mama, last night we made a pile of the things we're going to put in our suitcases to take to Nana and Papa's house!" Though the trip isn't scheduled until late summer and these piles will have to find another home until then, I couldn't help but realize that one man's trash truly is another man's (or child's!) treasure!