Reduce. Reuse. Recycle

I have noticed a growing trend around the house lately. Both of my boys have started a new habit of organizing things by group and finding a special place to store the items. Asher seems to concentrate on food items. During meal times, he groups like food together and puts them in certain sections of his tray. If he doesn't want to eat something, he (very sneakily) leans forward and drops the item behind his back and then proceeds to finish the rest of the food. By the time, I go to clean him up, I am so proud at how much food he has eaten and then I take him out only to find that 98% of the food has been stored on his back and not only is his high chair a mess, but his clothes have food smashed into them. Note: It is never fun to start the day with a very clean and newly dressed baby, just to have to completely change and re-bathe said baby because he stores food like a squirrel. The other odd thing about this is, he doesn't like when you get rid of the food. He really is storing it for a later date. I have found random snacks placed in secret hiding spots around the house. When he gets hungry, he goes to his secret food stash and returns with a giant smile and the random food such as an animal cracker. I am constantly taking his stored food away from him. I have never heard of a baby doing this before.

Then there is Izzy. He is all about re-purposing items. This week, he found a large empty almond container and asked if I could wash it so he could have it. I did and within a few minutes he returned with a container full of hot wheels. He was so proud that he had recycled the container. The next day, we got a couple of packages in the mail. He was playing quietly in his room and when I checked on him I couldn't believe my eyes. He had filled the large empty box with literally every toy in his bedroom. He filled it and was dragging the what had to be 20 lb box around behind him. I am not really sure why he does this, but he likes boxes, bags, containers and he likes to fill them with specific items that for that day are special to him.

Here is the other thing about Izzy. When he learns something new, he becomes a little obsessed about it. Take hand washing and germs. I am surprised he even has skin left on his poor little hands. He has becoming relentless about hand washing since his school promoted it and taught about the dangers of flu and germs. Well, it shouldn't surprise me, but I guess the newest discussions have been about recycling. He has informed me I am not allowed to throw trash on the ground outside because it hurts the earth and kills animals. As much as I appreciate the enthusiasm, I do not want to have to keep every empty Velveeta container so that he can fill it with pencils or army men!

I think I am going to have to nip this new hobby in the bud. I don't want to be the next family on that show Hoarders.