Give a little, get a little

Big Dummy loaded down with books, boxes and an apple-munching, timeless classic-reading co-pilot

Every so often, it's time to redistribute the stuff that tends to collect around the house. Today's objective was to reduce some of the excess of books, clothing and other goods. Many of the books were those that she had outgrown, so she suggested that kids at her old preschool would enjoy them. We loaded up the Dummy and hit the town with three stops to make along some familiar routes.

We paused to say hello to our ovine neighbors

Things were going as planned until we ventured down an alley and discovered a perfectly good wagon and bouncing ball next to someone's trash. When she saw these items, our girl, who is a robust yet surprisingly sensitive kid said, "It breaks my heart that people throw good things away. They should give them to somebody else if they don't want them."

I've learned to be cautious of my own inclinations to pick up random but useful things that I find, a habit that is not always welcomed at home. But I challenge anyone to hear such an observation from a little girl, so earnest and profound for her age, and not end with the same result as I did. Needless to say, we now have a new (to us) wagon and bouncing ball. Both items will no doubt eventually leave our house, but it's a good bet that their exit trajectory won't be through the trash.

Rescuing free stuff can be its own reward