Treasure, momentarily (no, no baby yet...

...Sam is just falling asleep next to me in our bed as I write this)

So I'm continuing to ruminate on the narrative that drives the tidepool phenomenon. The connection between the narrative and the "low tide" home decor is the way that Jonas' internal story connects to the objects around him. One of the things that is so excellent to watch is how unlike my experience of an object *his* approach can be. I don't think this is unique to our relationship. I have it on good authority that my own viewpoint was somewhat mystifying when I was at a more tender age.

Certain things are lasting treasures. Others are fleetingly treasured.

Lasting treasures: Jonas' Star Wars figures. My steam valve off of a radiator (yes, apparently that was all we had to play with before Star Wars merchandising took over the world). No, I'm not kidding. As a little tyke, Mom reports that one of my favorite toys was that hive-shaped valve off of a steam radiator. It has a little bit of a tube sticking out of it, we still have it around somewhere. Oh yes, I guess I was also very enamored of the springy doorstops with the rubber ends. For many children it might have been the birth of a career as a brilliant percussionist. For me it was the birth of a lifelong fascination with goofy noises.

Momentary treasures: Jonas' aforementioned hose wand. The sticks you will find scattered around our property and house. The chicken feather that Jonas demanded he bring home from Mana and Zaidie's house the other day. Mana got out an envelope just for the purpose. Oh, and how could I forget the massive BarBQue spatula that spent at least one day as a landscaping power tool.

Now this is a complicated dynamic, because it is only fleeting on Jonas' terms. In particular, he is often relying on these objects to help him bridge a narrative from one setting to another. Hence the time the spatula spent riding around in my car ("no, Jonas, you may not take that to your Preschool Class Picnic at the playground.") This is also the source of several observations made by others before me:

• Children are just as likely to find the box fascinating as they are to find the toy fascinating. Perhaps we should all be dumpster diving instead of toy shopping.
• A correlary principle is that there is no great correlation between the cost of the toy and it's perceived value. I.e. the nasty plastic trumpet which was used until the silver paint was flaking off. Next time we went to a fair Jonas unwittingly picked up on Sam's perjorative description and threw a tantrum demanding a "cheesey trumpet".
  
• If you want to throw away a "toy" ( trumpet formerly known as silver, chicken feather, rock, shell, buckeye, stick, dissected winged maple seed) make damn sure it goes into a trash can with solid walls and a lid. Then throw something really boring away directly after it. And no, there is no way to be sure that you can predict what will be boring. Hell, Jonas exhibits the seemingly universal fascination with old cigarrette butts.
  

So, if PBS wants a real winner, they need to produce an "Antiques Road Show" for the under-five set:

"Well, if you hadn't dissected this Maple seed with such skill, it wouldn't be worth much at all. However, since you've done such an excellent job on it, I'm pretty sure there's a kid on Middle Street that will find it's worth at least 5, maybe 10 minutes worth of complete meltdown. I would recommend you offer it between 4:45 and 5:30 to achieve maximum value. A very nice piece, thanks for bringing it in today."