The Boy, The Peanuts and Toxic Waste

My son loves toxic waste!

What the hell am I teaching him…

We got two packages delivered by UPS yesterday, big boxes filled with little items and topped off with a veritable bounty of foam peanuts to which James Arthur exclaimed:  Whoooooaaaaaaaaahhh  Yuk at da, yuk at da, yuk… (which is toddler speak for WOW I’ve never seen anything like this but I love it but I don’t know what to call it but WOW).

My thoughts were already tainted by the fact that the packages were 10% item and 90% peanuts so when he went to dive in I got upset and told him no.  I didn’t understand why I was telling him no I just didn’t want him to play with the very playable peanuts.  I mean there are some practical applications to the nuts and it’s easy to see why a child would want to play all day with these things, just not my child!

So what’s the story?  What’s the problem?  Sally and I discussed our opinions on it ( I should mention that the opinions were discussed while he was neck deep in a box of peanuts) and we differ on our beliefs.  She says if she had to think about what was wrong with a box of foam peanuts she’d have to think about what’s wrong with everything and she asked if I could just be present with him in his joy of playing.  I asked her if she thought there was anything wrong with teaching him that these peanuts are ok to have in the world and that I could see how simply being present with would allow me to view the peanuts and the boy in a different light.

She took some pictures.  It was super cute.  But I can’t get over the thought that my boy is playing in toxic waste…I guess it’s ok though – as long as he’s having fun!