If you know anything about little boys, you know they love their pockets. Pockets are for hands. Pockets are for Lego pieces. Pockets are for spy wallets and keys and coins and marbles and strings. Pockets are for the random bits of playdough that any preschool-aged kleptomaniac would find irresistible (that's what I tell myself, right before Mr3 and I discuss the rights and wrongs with walking off with the entire class supply secreted in various pockets). If they don't have enough pockets for their treasures, they'll use yours.Today, I was rummaging through the pockets of a jacket that I haven't worn for a little while and came across a rock. Not a particularly lovely rock. A bit of dried-up cement, if the truth be told. But as soon as my fingers touched it, I remembered. This was a Beautiful Rock.
Mr3 picks up a Beautiful Rock for me every couple of days. Some days my pockets get so full with them that I jangle and click as I walk. When he gives them to me, he says the same thing: "I found you a Beautiful Rock because you are beautiful."
The dried-up cement is still in my pocket. How do you throw out a Beautiful Rock?
{image: vintagechildrensbooksmykidloves.com}
Oh yes! this is so true! my boys love their pockets and I am always finding wonderful things in them, or in the washing machine if I forget to check the pockets first. Mini hoges especially loves his pockets of late....he looks so cute walking around with his hands in them and hiding treasures like mummy's lip balm, discarded lolli wrappers and shopping receipts.
ReplyDeleteI have a rock that is a fossil found in the south of France, two coloured sparkly polished rocks that the kids bought me at a market and a garden full of BOULDERS that my husband picks up brings home to sculpt or use one day ...
ReplyDeleteMy middle son's favourite activity until Year 4 was doing archeological digs in the school sandpit and - I do not exaggerate here - he brought home some kind of sandpit treasure a couple of times a week for years and years until he was stopped by a move in schools - we are still doing our own digs through his room.
My son stuffs his pockets with everything...even at 9 now he still does it...they are normally filed with matchbox cars ..... which come up really clear if I forget to check his pockets and just throw the laundry in .... My daughter picks flowers for me...beautiful flowers she wil say and I have them in pockets little vases in the kitchen all over the house.... and if I throw them away when they are dead she getts al upset... so ye keep the rock it was a present from someone who sees your beauty inside and out
ReplyDeleteMy husband is still a little boy he leaves things in his pocket all the time & no matter how much I've checked the pockets before washing them, there will always be something that gets put through the wash that shouldn't have.
ReplyDeleteThis is why I have so many rocks, pebbles, shells, lumps of concrete... because I can't throw them out. Both my children give them to me... that's 11 years of not throwing out so far.
ReplyDeleteI love finding forgotten treasures in my coat pockets. The washing machine however, could probably do without them!
That is so sweet.
ReplyDeleteWorking in childcare I have had to search many pockets! I would set up an activity or experience, and suddenly it would have disappeared, right into their pockets, bags, or hidden around the room so they could play with it later.
It's was always hard not to melt a little when we'd play outside and they would pick flowers (knowing they weren't meant to) to give to us and tell us how lovely we were.
I usually realise there's something in their pockets when I hear clanking coming from the washing machine. Chewing gum is the worst. Or £5 notes.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely thing to say about the rock and your being beautiful. My son smashed a cereal bowl the other morning and left a note on my bed thanking me for not getting angry "because you are a kind and generous mother." Couldn't be cross with him after that!
my son is the same way always puting things in this pockets!
ReplyDeleteI remember the time my brother picked blackberries for our mother and took them home in his pockets...
ReplyDeleteMy son's pockets always seemed to smell like old copper pennies and frogs. Yuk.
Yep, my son is 9 and his pockets are always full of rocks and twigs and stuff. He finds rocks that he calls crystals and diamonds, and he's always looking for heart-shaped rocks to give to me. I unpacked his lunch box the other day to find it full seed pods ...
ReplyDeleteIt's always a joy to discover that yours aren't the only ones with this (any) kind of behaviour, isn't it? Note to boys' clothes designers - more pockets please!
ReplyDeleteooooOOOoooh that little fella is a charmer. x
ReplyDeleteThere is a lovely book by Shirley Hughes about a little boy and his beloved rock, Bonting. Your little one would probably love it, both my boys adore it! The book is called The Big Alfie Out of Doors Storybook.
ReplyDeleteOh, what a sweetie, that Mr3. My little guy, too, is a sucker for rocks and leaves and sticks and pockets. When they fill up, he asks me to hold the overflow. I'm still waiting for him to tell me I'm beautiful though. =>
ReplyDeleteYou don't! That's very sweet. We should all keep a box just for trinkets and stories like this one.
ReplyDeleteA beautiful rock for a beautiful Mom. What beautiful words and no, I would not be throwing them out either. My daughter loves to collect things too and our house, my former clutter free zone is now filled with tiny objects and every one is treasured.
ReplyDeleteI can confidently say that, even if I didn't have a 6yo son, that post still would have brought tears to my eyes. It's all about the eyes of a child. Beautiful.
ReplyDeletexLouise
Awww ... that's truly beautiful! Can't wait until my small boy is old enough to bring me beautiful rocks :-)
ReplyDeleterewind: beauty is in the eye of the beholder. one mans trash is another mans treasure
ReplyDeleteOh. This IS beautiful. My Sam is a pocket man. He won't wear pants without them, and he NEVER has them anything but bursting.
ReplyDeleteAnd the things I haven't thrown away because they were handed to me with chubby little hands and eager little faces. The moments I live for.
I love this post, Alison. Love it.
I'll remember this post next time my boys offer me up something random and somewhat weird. I just love their little 'offerings' xxx
ReplyDeleteFarmgirl does that. She calls whatever she finds that she thinks is gorgeous "treasure".
ReplyDeleteLove it. I agree that you can't throw out a beautiful rock.
My boys collect rocks also, but they like to hang on to them. There are pebbles and stones in every single toy box, tin, bag - anything that they store stuff in it. They do like brining me feathers, though and weeds, ahem, flowers..
ReplyDeleteIt's so lovely when you watch your kids get so enthusiastic about something you think is mundane. They just make you see the world differently, don't they?
ReplyDeleteI love this...and I miss those days. Upon organizing our office the other day, I found a little wooden box painted blue by little hands and an old tile with her little handwriting on it (it's a coaster). She will be an old lady disposing of her mother's belongings before I get rid of it. ;-)
ReplyDeleteOh gosh how sweet is he?
ReplyDeleteIt's hard some of the "junk" we acquire thanks to our kids, but we also cannot let go of it because of the sentiment, or memory behind it.
I spend half my life telling my kids that "I am not a bin". I might just have to pay a bit more attention to what they are stashing in my pockets! Thanks for Rewinding this (I read it last year but no comment from me then?) x
ReplyDeleteThat's so beautiful!
ReplyDeleteWhat a gorgeous boy you have!
And a really lovely way to remember how thoughtful he is.
Rewinding with the Multiple Mum
Lots of beautiful rocks here too. We have a large jar full of rocks and shells from the beach. Then Boy 1 has a truck shaped biscuit tin full of AFX car parts, bits of cardboard and shiny stuff. I don't hold out much hope: Mr Karen is the worst culprit. I'm afraid this may be genetic. Funny thing is, these beautiful rocks don't weigh me down. I think it's pretty gorgeous really.
ReplyDeleteRewinding with MM. Great post. :)
Oh, you definitely can't throw that out. How beautiful. I love how their little minds work! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad I read this. Beautiful, just beautiful. I love the innocence of the young, the little things they do to say "Mum you are my world" I wouldn't be able to throw it out either.
ReplyDeleteRewinding with Multiple Mum
I loved re-reading this. As my two get older there are less treasures in their pockets... I kind of miss it.
ReplyDelete