There is a now-infamous story in our family that involves my oldest daughter and her 5 year love affair with scissors. She decided one day that her clothing was far too long sleeved for her taste. So she locked herself in the closet with a pair of scissors and proceeded to remove the sleeves from almost every article of clothing that she owned. Most of her pants were de-leeged in this tragic incident as well. I found her later that day sitting on the floor of her room surrounded by piles of shirts and mangled, hacked off sleeves. It was one of those moments as a parent when you unexpectedly happen upon something your child has done and you are completely dumbfounded by what has happened. You don't know whether to laugh or cry or take a picture or some combination of all three. In the end I think I excused myself from the room and I'm pretty sure a prayer for her life was involved. Money was very tight and I had no idea how I was going to replace all of those clothes. In fact, I know for certain that prayer was involved because there is no way that I am clever enough on my own to come up with what happened next.
I calmly went back into my daughter's room, sat on the bed, and explained that clothing was expensive, and that we needed to take care of our belongings and that she was banned from using any kind of sharp implements ever again. I then gathered up every peice of clothing that she owned. There were only a few outfits left that had not been sliced and diced. I then explained that in order for her to understand the value of what she had just destroyed, she would have to do jobs to earn money that she could then use to buy back the remaining unscathed clothes. Each job would earn her 50 cents, and each outfit could be purchased for $1.00.
At first she refused, and pouted, and fussed, and wore the same stinky clothes for about 3 days. Then she finally relented and began the long slow process of earning back her clothes. She was only 7, so many of the finer points were lost on her I'm sure. But I find myself thinking of this lesson a lot in relation to other things.
Recently we took a family trip to the beach. The sand was covered with seaweed that was about a foot deep and you had to cross a 15 feet swath of the stuff before you could even get to the water. Clearly we came at the wrong time of year. But even more troubling was that the seaweed was imbedded with all kinds of junk. Shoes, cans, bed frames (yep), plastic bags, sunglasses, reading glasses, bottles, and all kinds of other junk that had been carelessly tossed in to the ocean.
One of the first commandments given was for Adam and Eve to take care of the garden. I believe that commandment is still in effect. It troubles me to see kids tossing wrappers on the ground and their parents standing idly by. Or to see random objects fly out of the back of pick up beds as they speed down the highway.
We live in a throw away society. One in which products are actually manufactured with the intention to break in about 6 months so that they will have to be replaced. I hope that I am teaching my kids to take care of the stuff they do have, and not to want a bunch of stuff in the first place.
A favorite saying of mine is "Use it up, wear it out. Make it do, or do without." I know it doesn't come from the Bible, but as a parent, it has helped me to guide my kids to have respect for the things we have and to make them last as long as we can. Of course, kidmentia sets in pretty often and we have to remind them over and over and over and over.... but I think it's worth it.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go clean 10 tons of trash out of the sofa cushions.
