Suburban bliss does require a few pieces of equipment, and in that spirit, Slate offers a defense of the ugly plastic toys and giant swing-sets that populate so many exurb lawns. Hear Hear! My Coupe Car may have bird poop on it this morning, but by 10am, it’s guaranteed to bring a sunshiney smile to the face of my 16-month-old daughter, pleased as punch that she can scoot around in it saying “vroom vroom!” and “beep beep!”

In an earlier article decrying the ugliness of the Lawn Pox, Slate’s Tom Vanderbilt complains that these colorful plastic eyesores, with their somewhat short lifespans, they are simply so much fodder for the landfill. Perhaps he’s never heard of Freecycle, a very cool way of getting rid of good stuff you no longer want or need. Whether it’s old furniture, a fax machine, weights — you name it — there’s someone in your community who could put it to good use. And that, my friends, is how we came to own a delightful, colorful, and plastic, sand and water table.