Thanks, now what?

I think I'll start a support group for Parents with Playmobil Hangups. It's nice to know I'm not alone. My sistahs in struggle are everywhere. It's funny how we identify ourselves to each other, in confiding whispers, at the edges of otherwise respectable playdates & preschools. Props to my friend Alice for sending me this item, about a German priest who uses Playmobil items for rather graphic portrayals of Biblical scenes. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/04/02/international/i091354D87.DTL&tsp=1

Apparently the Playmobil folks are not amused - because of the mutilations involved to bring Bible stories to life. Let the record show I did, in fact, purchase one Playmobil nativity set last Christmas. It was the best $17 I've spent in some time, at least in the category of Whimsical But Useless Plastic Crap. It beat out several hundred entrants in the category. And although we are church-goin' folk, it was not without a healthy sense of irony.

Which raises the question, once it's yours, can't you do what you want with it???

Okay, I get that mutilating trademarked items and posting them online might bother the sensibilities, but what about when gifts are given and you feel ... obligated to the item, if only because of who gave it to you. As in - "Where's the lovely collectible _________ we gave you for your third anniversary?" So a generous, thoughtful gift becomes an intractable obligation. And I'm not just talking about the bane of thank you notes. Which I should be writing instead of this. Anyways -

This is where sentimental and sensible start a bar brawl. The stakes: the available space of every horizontal surface in your home.

We have wonderful relatives who get to travel to fabulous parts of the globe and pick up various and sundry cool items from all over the globe, which are then gifted to those less fortunate who don't get anywhere. Witness my buffet, which is crammed full, and is spilling out into the windowsills. I have started an informal rotation of items, as displaying them simultaneously makes my head hurt.

Now it's more difficult, because of the kids. Not only do they like to make precious art projects of their own, they have developed object constancy. So when objects go missing (even temporarily) moments after entering the room, out ring the calls of "Where's the dragon Grampa brought me from Honk Honk?" Apparently, we use our incredible memories to connect with stuff, and early. Challenge any 4 year old to the card game of Memory or Concentration. You will lose.

I apparently reached some sort of breaking point the other day, and hit upon the idea of displaying glassy things in a dust-free environment, still in view.

Namely, the fishtank.

It's been a conversation piece, and so far the fish don't mind.