Collecting Kids
by Connie Whiting

It's become a passion, something she loves and a hobby that she greatly enjoys. One that has caused her to want to learn more, has helped her find out more about who she is as a person.

What? Collecting kids? About now you may be wondering about the crazy lady that is writing about her collection of kids! I assure you though, other than my own two semi sweet daughters and their assorted army of friends, I don't collect kids. What I do have, however, is a "collecting kid", that is, a kid who follows in my footsteps about collecting things. She gives merit to the line of thought that suggests collectors are born and not made. 

Her first collection started at age four when I found all my jewelry missing from my dresser top. I followed the clues. One, a dropped earring in the hallway and two a closed door to her room. The final clue came when I asked what she was doing. "Nuffin" which we all know roughly translates into "Oh No Mom caught me!" After a little gentle persuasion and producing the evidence she admitted borrowing the jewelry for her collection of "gold." We compromised, I got back my jewelry and after a discussion about taking things without permission we headed to the local store to purchase a plastic "treasure chest" and more "gold." 

Her Gold collection of old jewelry, beads and sparkling things lasted until age 6 , when attention was taken by other things. Namely...rocks. Lots of them. After that it was bugs...then Barbies...and the latest has been stickers. They come and go with the exception of the rocks. (thank goodness it wasn't the bugs )! The rocks have graduated from the driveway variety to specific kinds bought from venders and from educational stores and have become a passion with my daughter. 

Let me say that again because it's very important. It's become a passion, something she loves and a hobby that she greatly enjoys. One that has caused her to want to learn more, has helped her find out more about who she is as a person. It gives her something to use her mind on so that as she grows older maybe the things that seem so exciting to some kids won't attract her. It's also given her a vision for what she wants to do with her adult life. Also a great benefit to having a collecting kid is that it makes for great one on one time. My daughter and I often go on rock hunts together. you can easily plan activities with your child that revolve around his interest and what he wants to collect. But how do you get a kid to collect things? Where do you start? Simple just observe your child. What does she like to do? What makes his eyes light up when he sees it, does it etc.? Find out what that is and start a collection based on the child's interests. Kids are pretty flexible too when it comes to collecting because when you are a kid there are so many new things to discover. Be prepared to possibly see several collections started and then abandoned on their road to discovering self. When you think about it, that's what collecting is all about...discovering who you are, what you like. It's taking a part of yourself and setting it out to say "this is me and part of who I am". That's a wonderful gift to give your child. The gift of self expression.

E-mail: InvsAssist@aol.com
Author's URL: hrrp://members.aol.com/Invsassist/Index.html 

Connie Whiting is the 39 year old mother of two children and published freelance writer. She owns and operates "Your Invisible Assistant" ,a virtual assisting company. She is a Ohio leader for Mom's Network Exchange and is also active in helping abused women and children.

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