Trash Man

Baby M is obsessed with trash. He said the word "trash" before he said "Mama". He eagerly awaits trash day and with 3 separate trucks coming down our street (garbage, recycling and green waste) our Mondays are very busy with lots of pointing and shouting "truck." He also likes pointing out trash on the ground. Getting across the park can take all day as he gestures at every plastic bottle cap, cigarette but and stray candy wrapper. But what he really loves, at times seems to lives for, is throwing away trash. When we're at home he'll take his used tissue, walk confidently over to the cabinet under the sink, toss it in the trash and then smile at me proudly. When we're out he'll stand in front of the trash can with his arms raised waiting to be lifted up so he can throw away his granola bar wrapper. At Starbucks he loves dropping empty cups into the little round hole in the counter. But apparently the world is not producing enough trash for Baby M so he had decided to take things into his own hands.

Today he pulled all his swim diapers out of the nearly full package and ran into the kitchen with the wrapper shouting "trash! trash!" Yesterday he found a box of gelatin packets in the cupboard, dumped them out and tried to throw the empty box away. I showed Baby M the cute Easter card his uncle sent and it immediately went into the trash, along with some unpaid bills that I had carelessly placed on the coffee table.

Perhaps this janitorial calling is genetic. Baby M's 3 year old, bilingual cousin is also enamored of litter. In a somewhat disturbing Christmas tradition, we open our presents and then wave the wrapping paper in the air shouting "basura, basura" and wait for Baby J to come and collect it in his big black garbage bag. Come to think of it, this last Christmas Baby M helped his cousin carry that bag around so I suppose I should have seen this latest development coming.