Kids’ outdoor toys easy to share

When I had my four children at home and they were young enough to spend most afternoons (weather allowing) playing outdoors, our backyard was a shrine to all those colorful plastic pedal cars, play houses and sandboxes that turn ordinary homes into playgrounds. I used to think it ought to be a rule that each family was only allowed to buy one such product new. Each additional thing to be added to the collection had to be a hand-me-down or garage sale find. That way families could save a little money and perfectly usable pieces wouldn’t be left to sit idle when children outgrew them. There’s nothing wrong with gently used, after all. It’s a classic form of recycling. I did pick up some pieces at garage sales or in an occasional barter with a friend. But we still spent more than I’d have liked outfitting a play area for my kids. The other day I drove down a street and noticed a backyard full of big outdoor toys. It was obvious that nobody was playing on the fort and that the sandbox hadn’t been opened for quite a while. The pieces had ceased to be toys and had become, instead, as the children grew up and away, fixtures. The play products were, and still are, expensive. But, to be fair, they tend to be a good value because they last well and can take the abuse of little hands and feet. But what a shame for parents to shell out big bucks to make their kids happy when a neighbor might be thinking their toys are just taking up space. As my family likes to point out, I don’t run the world. But in this case, it seems to me my rule of buy-one-and-trade-one might not be a bad idea.