A Sense of Newness
When my eldest daughter was a toddler, a number of years ago, and I was mostly a stay at home mother I joined up with a playgroup that was like a preschool but where the parents stayed and were involved with the running of the place. It gave her the chance to play with other children her own age and paint and play on outside equipment and get messy. I met one of my now dearest friends the first day I arrived so all round we both benefited.
I made an interesting observation while we attended there which I had never considered before and that I still see all the time now. Because we as parents were running the place we had to tidy up at the end of the session so would start doing this while the children played. Every time I found an unused corner with no children to be seen I would choose that to tidy away and guaranteed every time I got it looking tidy several children would come and start playing again obviously excited because it looked like "new" again!
When my children were young we sold our first house to move into a rental while we built our new house. I sorted through the myriad of toys they had, cleaned and packed the good ones away in a box ready for the shift, leaving them a few to play with. That box was opened 6 months later and it was like Christmas for them! They were so excited to see toys they hadn't seen for ages and ones that they had been showing little interest in prior to me packing them away suddenly became exciting and new again. After seeing that I made a habit of cycling their toys into the cupboard every few months and bringing them out again and I could guarantee every time they had a renewed interest in those toys they hadn't seen for a while.
My son has Lego which I secretly love to build. It used to sit on a shelf in his bedroom and after the initial building of it when he got it given to him he did not really play with it much - except when I spent time occasionally rebuilding it to "check all of the pieces" (really as an excuse to enjoy putting it together as it is so precise and beautifully engineered!). Every time I got it all looking back together and the shelves dusted and tidy suddenly it was interesting again and he played with it for a bit, pulling some things apart and rearranging it (grrrr!).
I have learnt over the years from observing the children and this behaviour towards the "newness" of things that all humans are the same. As I discussed in a previous post we are always looking for new stimulation, and I think this ultimately drives the consumerist society we live in. The world economy has essentially been based around this I think. Marketing and advertising companies know we thrive on this and so pitch their advertisements at us so that we feel even more tempted. We become bored with the things we see everyday and seek out new items to fill our homes which then become cluttered and make it hard to enjoy these items. I am guilty of this and want to channel this energy in a different way to save money and stop more and more items coming into our house for me to clean, find homes for and justify their existence in my ownership!
I made an interesting observation while we attended there which I had never considered before and that I still see all the time now. Because we as parents were running the place we had to tidy up at the end of the session so would start doing this while the children played. Every time I found an unused corner with no children to be seen I would choose that to tidy away and guaranteed every time I got it looking tidy several children would come and start playing again obviously excited because it looked like "new" again!
My son has Lego which I secretly love to build. It used to sit on a shelf in his bedroom and after the initial building of it when he got it given to him he did not really play with it much - except when I spent time occasionally rebuilding it to "check all of the pieces" (really as an excuse to enjoy putting it together as it is so precise and beautifully engineered!). Every time I got it all looking back together and the shelves dusted and tidy suddenly it was interesting again and he played with it for a bit, pulling some things apart and rearranging it (grrrr!).
I have learnt over the years from observing the children and this behaviour towards the "newness" of things that all humans are the same. As I discussed in a previous post we are always looking for new stimulation, and I think this ultimately drives the consumerist society we live in. The world economy has essentially been based around this I think. Marketing and advertising companies know we thrive on this and so pitch their advertisements at us so that we feel even more tempted. We become bored with the things we see everyday and seek out new items to fill our homes which then become cluttered and make it hard to enjoy these items. I am guilty of this and want to channel this energy in a different way to save money and stop more and more items coming into our house for me to clean, find homes for and justify their existence in my ownership!
It is this fundamental desire for newness in my day that I am trying to utilise via this blog but in a way that gets that feeling of the "new" from things I already have (or from something pre-loved if I really have to buy something). I am enjoying the challenge so far - I can feel myself actively looking for things to get enjoyment from in my house. I hope it builds even more momentum in my life and I can maintain it long term.
Next week the children will be heading back to school and the routine of everyday life will kick back in so the challenge will be to avoid the inevitable "groundhog" feeling and keep something new in each day for us all for little or no cost. I am up for the challenge. How about you?
(The photo is of part of my garden in the rain today. After 2 days of very hot weather we have had a southerly change with a welcome cooling of the air and a good drink for the parched lawns! Enjoy the green!)
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