The Sustainability of Magic

We experienced a miracle the other day. It had to do with toys.

As is the case with so many miracles, there was at first a low point, a motivating event that preceded the improbable outcome.

As background, it’s important to understand that my youngest has never met a toy he didn’t like. Well, except for boring wooden ones, the kind that might actually look attractive lying around in a room. Those are useless. Give him plastic! The brighter, the better! In the mold of all his favorite cartoon franchises! And let him blanket the carpets in every room with them! See: doesn’t that look nice?

As further background, it’s even more important to understand that, to date, my son hasn’t permanently lost interest in any one toy grouping. He just cycles through them, on an endless loop. It’s Mario for a while, and then Cars, and then Blaze, then the perennially infernal Paw Patrol. And then repeat.

So now and again, without natural attrition built into the system, we create it. We send toys to limbo. We pack a bin and put it in the basement, with hopes it will be semi-forgotten or at least not too terribly missed. And then, after a proper cooling-off period, we donate the toys to other kids deranged by Paw Patrol. Our own kind of defunding.