I think we’re almost all pack rats by nature. Sure, there are the few that throw away everything and anything the moment it’s clear that the object no longer has an immediate use. Then there are those whose homes are garbage heaps with little paths through the clutter, people who ironically enough stand a reasonable chance of ending up on this or that reality show.

L has always been a bit of the latter. She’ll try to keep broken objects for sentimental reasons, even if she has a replacement. A prime example of this is her princess umbrella collection. Various department stores sell them, and L has bought three or four over the last few years. They’re flimsy, though, and break easily.

Convincing her that she needed to throw the broken umbrella away, though, has always been tricky. It took her a bit of time to warm up to the idea. Today, we pointed out that the umbrella is broken — again. “We’ll need to throw it away,” K began, probably sure that the conversation wouldn’t result in much more than a bit of begging and fussing.

“Okay,” came the reply.

Some days, she’s a bigger girl than I realize.