I stopped collecting garden gnomes when I realized that my 2 year old son was regressing into a potty training toddler because he wanted to pee on the gnomes.
I had been collecting garden gnomes for years, but in one afternoon I lost over 175 of them. It became clear to me that if I continued to buy more and more, it would set up a vicious cycle where my son would want to go out and destroy all of them. He had already pulled off their heads, stuck tongue depressors in their mouths, and urinated on most of them. So instead of buying new ones every time he broke another one or two, I decided enough was enough.
Fortunately we have not seen any regression since then – in fact, things have only gotten better since that day. He is a year and a half now and is potty trained; we no longer collect garden gnomes. I feel it was the correct course of action to take.
I still think they’re kind of cute though – at least I had them for a while!
You can sleep when you’re dead.
So… Why Did I Do It?
I used to be a collector of garden gnomes. I have always loved the way they looked and collected them because I liked placing them in different places around my yard so that they seemed like mythical little creatures. One day, my 2 year old son told me he wanted to pee on one of the gnomes. That was when it finally hit me that my son might see these innocent little things as something entirely different, and this is the day I stopped collecting garden gnomes.
A few weeks later, my wife and I took a trip to the local mall. We decided to stop in at one of those stores that sells unusual things like posters or garden gnomes. She wanted to look around while I stayed with the kids outside by the car. My then 3 year old daughter was sitting on the bench right next to me when an elderly woman came out of the store with her 2 granddaughters who were about 6 and 8 years old respectively. The little girls immediately began looking for something in their grandma’s cart that they liked, but instead found a garden gnome which happened to catch their attention instead. As soon as my daughter noticed what they were picking up she could not contain herself any longer and let out this little giggle. Then she said to the girls, “Hey what are you doing with that! That is one of those guys who pees in the plants!”
The little girls quickly dropped it and ran away laughing but my daughter was not finished with them yet. She then runs after them shouting, “Do not put those in your pants – they will pee on your butt!” The old lady did not seem so embarrassed nor did she make any attempt at stopping her granddaughters from running away giggling uncontrollably. I stood there dumbfounded as I looked over at my own kids just thinking back to the day when all this started and realizing how innocent these little things can really be to some people.
Gnomes and Cats
I had been collecting garden gnomes for years, but in one afternoon I lost over 175 of them. A few days before that, I had seen a documentary on television about how garden gnomes are toxic to cats. Cats often go from house to house finding food and shelter, and some homeowners leave bowls of food out for their cats to eat. Garden gnomes can be poisonous to cats because they contain lead-based paint. I thought that there was a very small chance that my son could get poison if he ate any of the gnomes.
I Had To Stop
I had to stop when I realized that if I continued buying more and more, my son would want to destroy all of them.
So instead of buying new ones every time my son broke another one or two, I decided enough was enough. Now we only have a few scattered about the garden – not even close to all of them but it’s better than having to sit in the front room listening to “gwone-gwone” all day!
Fortunately, we did not see any regression since then. My son had finally moved on to being a normal toddler who played more than he peed.
Wrapping Up…
We hope you liked our post. This experience made us realize how innocent things can be when seen by someone else’s perspective and why everything should not be taken literally as far as these tiny creatures are concerned!z
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