the "outside" cart

Now for those of you who don't know my parents - they are what we lovingly refer to as pack rats. To add on to that, they are also pickers - you know, those people who pick things up off the side of the road. While begrudgingly I will admit that they often get some pretty neat finds, I somewhat groan when they tell me they found something just right for me. So when my mom called to tell me that she had found a toy kitchen, chairs, shopping cart and baskets for Gillian, I quickly reminded her that G already had a kitchen, one from Nana and Grumpa for Christmas. Thinking I had escaped anything else coming into my house, I was slightly shocked when at their next visit, in came the baskets and shopping cart. "But you don't have these" I was reminded. Well the shopping cart was pretty dirty, so I insisted it stay in the garage, until I had a chance to clean it off.

Then Gillian found it. We were getting ready to do some yard work and G just started pushing the cart down the sidewalk. Since our first stroll, it has become a daily exercise. We push that cart down to the end of the block at least once a day. She puts sticks, pinecones, and mulch in it. Currently it has 4 of her necklaces in it, which she stops to put on and then take off every 4 feet.

So, I have learned my lesson. No need to roll my eyes at things my parents pick out of the trash - they have good taste, and seem to know what my daughter likes. No other toy gets played with EVERY day, but that shopping cart does. Ugly, dirty, and old - Gillian loves it. Thanks Mom and Dad!