Are you allowing your child to do this?

[PeacchhLemonade]

I’m just interested if this is ok, am I crazy, too relaxed parent? Do other kids do this too?

So whenever we are outside, walking somewhere my 2 year old likes to pick up things from the ground. I’m taking about “harmless things” - coins, hair ties ( he calls them black circles ),those black zip ties. He never puts them to mouth or anything just carries really until home or until he drops it somewhere without noticing.

I never allow him to touch any actually rubbish if that makes sense, you know papers and plastic bottles and such stuff.

We come home, we always wash hands but is this ok? Am I too careless of a parent?

If you're careless, then I'm careless too. Feathers, snail shells, hair ties, pretty pebbles. My nearly 4 year old magpie has done it since she could walk.

As long as the child won't touch if you say not too (like a shiny syringe!) Its pretty harmless

Only if the child beat me to it...
I'm a dedicated scavenger.

All kids do that. My own 2 did, and the 2 GDs did, too. Feathers, stones, twigs, plastic caps, coins, all sorts.

My mum would never let me incase it had been pissed on by a fox/cat/dog. I still did it when not with her and I’ve survived.

All children I know do this to differing degrees. Never considered it anything to stop. They lose interest eventually.

Both of my dc did this and now my little granddaughter does it too.

She's an absolute demon for conkers and pine cones in the autumn! Leaves, flower heads, random sticks and god knows what.

I had forgotten about it until she started finding bits and bobs too. It's a lovely phase and she takes it home with her

You're doing better than me if you spot them tbh. I'd only find out that my kid had picked stuff up when I was doing the washing and found pockets full of precious precious items...
He was like Smeagle but with shiny pebbles, coins, dices, mahoosive elastic bands that I'm sure once held the postie's pre-delivered missives.

My kids are 11 and 13 and my coat pockets are still full of stones, sticks, rubber bands etc. I quite liken it when I’m at a work event or whatever and stick my hand in my pocket and feel a fircone or nice bit of string 😂

I stop mine because she 100% will put it in her mouth. If she didn't, I wouldn't be as fussed about it.

I wouldn't let my kid touch a hairband that had been in some randoms hair. You never know if they had scabies or impetigo or something, plus head sweat. No thanks.

My DS once picked up a broken wooden coffee stirrer and then spent 15 minutes in an impassioned Apprentice-style effort to sell it to me! He will end up very rich, I'm sure.

I'm even more of a pushover parent, I end up carrying the collection. I am forever clearing fathers, dead leaves and sticks out of my bags and coat pockets.

I think most children are little magpies. One of the worst things I heard while working at a nursery was "but I can't take my coat off, a spider lives in my pocket"

I allow it, but I have rules:

Yes to sticks, rocks, snail shells, leaves, coins
No to feathers (lots of avian flu in our area) and anything dropped by a human

Caveat: I don’t let him touch anything on streets extremely popular with dog walkers - everything is absolutely soaked in dog piss. 🤢

@7Worfs same.

Top tip: we have a decorated 'nature box' in our porch to deposit all the wonderful finds in, without them being distributed around the house!

Ok phew good to read that it’s perfectly ok! Sometimes I just worry if picking up all kind of junk is fine. But then at the same time twigs and sticks and stones are fine so why not a pink hair tie.

DS1 loved paper clips and stones, DD made a hole in both her coat pockets so that she could fill the lining with stuff, DS2was obsessed with pine cones so by the time DS3 was old enough to collect, he had a special box for his treasures. It is actually a great opportunity for children to talk about their finds and develop their language and reasoning when they are comparing items. Embrace this phase, it’s awesome!

We have a little pot of my daughter's 'treasures' in our kitchen as she has an amazing memory for random things she's found...think it's a normal part of toddler parenting!

Treasures! He needs a wee basket. No harm.

Yep, we have a corner in the front garden we call his “pile”.
Though now he’s 4 he’s not that interested in bringing treasures anymore. I suppose 2-4 is the prime age for it and then it weans off.
I must admit I’ll get teary the day I offer him an interesting conker and he says he doesn’t want it. 😔

..and this is why kids have no immune systems.

"Oh no, haaaair!"

So many pine cones on top of my washing machine where I've fished them out of pockets before/after putting on the laundry.

Mine were obsessed with sticks. We had a rule. They had to be smaller all ways than the finder's arm if they wanted to take them home.