Enough

My son is three and three quarter years old. A few months ago he started collecting sticks. This is different to finding and playing with sticks, he’s been finding and playing with sticks for years, sticks are great. 

Now he searches for sticks in all green spaces he moves into with the direct intent of gathering and possessing them. The boot of our car is beginning to fill up. It isn’t a problem, but it is a very emotional aspect of our life. He often collects more sticks than he is able to carry. Three year olds have small hands. 

I’ve recently decided that I won’t carry his stick acquisitions for him. As a result there have been times when he’s been brought to tears by the effort of carrying an armload of sticks, bark, pinecones and splinters up a footpath to the car. It never seems to be enough. Sometimes I say to him that a particularly lanky stick won’t fit in the back of the car. They always do though and he says to me, “Look, it fits! You were wrong Dad.”

Significantly, once the precious items enter the back of the car they exit his consciousness and are never mentioned again. 

I don’t think he is alone. I feel the urge to collect as well, to go out and possess items and experiences and store them in my boot. There are probably a few there I haven’t thought about for a while too. 

Today I showed my son the collection in the back of the car. He said “wow, that’s a lot of sticks” and walked away.