1.15.2011

Hoarder Schmoarder PEZuhroarder

My dad is a hoarder collector.  A self-proclaimed one, I might add. 
Kirk's parents are hoarders collectors.  Self-proclaimed, as well.

So it's really no wonder that we all come by it honestly. 

My sister is a hoarder collector, though she argues it's "not the same" as Jim-Dad's.  I'm a hoarder collector.  I don't really mind getting rid of stuff, but I despise the process it requires.  Organizing closets and going through this and that equals Texas-size headache to me, so I'd just rather not do it...thus hoards of stuff collections occur.  Kirk's a hoarder collector.  His reasoning is that you never know when you might need something or other.  And then there are the children.  All hoarders collectors.

But, perhaps the biggest hoarder collector we have in the family is Keaton.  The kid has a collection of collections.  He keeps papers and paperclips and bottle caps and the teensy syrup bottles from Cracker Barrel that come with his pancakes.  He has shells and rocks and leaves and pen caps and spiral notebooks and empty bullet casings and parts and pieces of anything and everything that he deems interesting enough to keep. 

As a result, when Keaton decides he's going to start a new collection, my reaction is usually, "Uh-huh, that's cool..." because the kid usually doesn't stick with something long before he's off to the next most interesting thing in the world. 

So it was when he decided he was going to start a Pez Dispenser collection. 

I smiled and nodded and said, "Uh-huh, that's cool..." and went on about my business.  I had no idea what would transpire over the next year.

It all started last February-ish.  The Pez Dispenser collection.  It started with a couple of Pez Dispensers he picked up at WalMart just because he thought they looked cool, and he had a couple of dollars burning a hole in his pocket.

Then he decided to gOOgle Pez Dispensers.

Which led to his eBay addiction discovery.

Long story short, since last February, Keaton's collection has grown to 195 dispensers (I know, because we count them often *wink*).  Some have been bought with piggy bank quarters, some have been worked for, some have been eBay finds, and a lot of them have been gifts. 

And so far, he's still loving the collection.  And as far as his dad and I are concerned, he's going to KEEP ON loving that collection.  Because we know how much has been invested in those crazy plastic candy machines.

Today, Keaton decided to get out his big bin of dispensers and ORGANIZE them, one of his most favorite activities.  And since I didn't have anything going, I decided to spend the day with him.  I let him tell me all about his favorite ones.  About the worth of this one and that one.  I watched him dust all of them and carefully place them away in their special boxes and bins with an organizational strategy that only a ten year old could come up with.  I even helped him make a spreadsheet that wasn't written in Childese, so that we could start keeping track of what he has and what he doesn't. 

It was fun.
But my favorite part was seeing him so excited about these things that he cherishes so dearly.




See the box of candy?  Yep..he doesn't eat it.  He hoards collects it, too....

Oh, how that boy makes me smile....

All for the love of Pez.... 

10 comments:

theelizabethhighsmith said...

my family are hoarders, we dissected this at Christmas and came up with definitions, there are the hoarders and the organized chaos types of hoarders, then there's me, the anti-type. i helped move my Grandmother and clean out her house, let me just say dishwasher full of plastic bags, you don't want to know about the oven, it was bad, i am a habitual purger, i will be the old lady in the nursing home who throws not only my stuff away but everyone else's stuff too, the kid's safe though as long as there's candy involved.

what a sweet mom to be involved in his thing and um cool collection mad props for the unique!

Mich said...

thanks for letting my "secret" out.:)

I too know how much that collection is worth...and it was worth the smile on his face when he opened my Christmas gift too.

Glad you got to spend the day together. Love you much.

Nina Diane said...

My son Jake collected pez dispensers when he was younger....they are all boxed up in the attic along with all of the toys my adult kids won't let me throw out. Drives me crazy....I like to get rid of stuff.

lisa@littlesliceoflife said...

I love that boy like one of my own!

Christi @ Writing the Waves said...

How cool that he has such a big, fun collection! Maybe one day it will make him rich! If not, at least he's having a great time! :)

Jim said...

Kea, here's a bit of Pez Poetry:
"A PEZ is a PEZ is a PEZ
A bit of sweetness is what it sez
But the PEZ is more than its contents
More than the little bit of candy-mints
It's a bit of history displayed in art
That lasts much longer than the tasted tart
For each portrays a different face
A character known from many a place
And each for some bring memories rare
As they recall the face that's there
Now, Keaton's the PEZ entrepreneur
Who keeps these faces of PEZ-land secure
He keeps them clean and orderly
And adds new faces that he might see
So, now to Keaton, my grand-PEZ-son
I laud your super duper PEZ collection!

Jim-Dad

Bridget said...

Michael's a hoarder, I am not. It sure makes life interesting... :)

Kendra said...

Kirk Junior and his collection! I guess you could say my kid collects stuffed animals and super hero action figures. But not because he seeks out to collect them. We just have too many of them! Guess you could say I collect yarn. Or hoard it. Whatever.

Gretchen said...

Wow! By this time next year, he may be a world record holder. You could make tons of money off your little protege' and retire where they have blue water ... and floating Pez. :)

N said...

Wow, that's impressive! PEZtacular