Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Fixing the Ferret: Lessons From a Faulty Toy

My daughter fixed her ferret with a foot of fishing string. As such, our story about a defective toy has a happy ending. Our quick repair taught us valuable lessons. Here's what we have learned:



  • Hit the return button. Why didn't we return the broken toy, asked one reader after reading the original story: Cheated By a Ferret: One Child's Lesson. We have several reasons: 1) We lost the receipt; 2) we trashed the original packaging, and 3) most importantly, we were too annoyed to think of the obvious. Anger can be counter-productive. Anger can be expensive. The faulty ferret should have been returned for cash or store credit.


  • Be creative: My daughter found inspiration in a piece of clear fishing string, which resembled the original "invisible" string that made the ferret move. From her repair, I learned to think outside the tackling box and to constantly consider ways to find new uses for everyday materials that are around the home.


  • Repair, recycle, reuse: It's tempting to toss out worn, broken or outdated merchandise, including toys, clothing and shoes. We live in a disposable society, and we're often quick to contribute to landfills. My goal is to find new uses for old items, including an old teapot, worn out socks and old calendars.

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2 comments:

Emily @ Under$1000PerMonth said...

Good points, especially about no waste. I recently fixed my son's favorite basket with a pipe cleaner so that it would not have to live in the landfill.

Save Money Hound said...

I like the motto of repair, recycle and reuse.

As a consequence not many things get thrown out in our household.

As well as saving money, I think it also challenges our creativity to find alternate uses for things.