Its my daughter’s ninth birthday today, and she received one huge and expensive present from me. It is a playmobile set with over 200 small plastic parts. Before opening the box, Rada and I decided that this time we’d keep the set sequestered in a corner of her room, so that the parts wouldn’t end up all over the apartment, like the rest of her playmobile sets.
Once we agreed on this strategy, it became immediately apparent that there was no place in her room suitable for something like this, being as it was packed with plastic bits and a stuffed animal population that had exploded exponentially. So we realized we’d have to do some serious cleaning up… and we set right to it. There’s nothing like an unopened playmobile set to motivate a nine-year old person to tidy up.
The girl and I filled two bags with her junk, which I swiftly brought out to the trash, lest there be any second thoughts. Then we swept and mopped the uncovered area, which had not seen the light of day since the extravagant gift-giving binge of Christmas 2008.
And then she happily set up her playmobile set in the corner, with room to spare.
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