What's the deal with these erasers?

We are drowning in tiny erasers here. Let me explain.

Starting about a month ago, Sam started bringing home little erasers in the shape of animals. He loved these things and carried them around everywhere. Until he would put them down and not remember where, and then the whole family would have to search the house trying to find a wiener dog eraser about the size of a penny. I just figured he was getting them for good behavior at Kinderpaws - they frequently get to go to a "Treasure Box." But the last morning of school before spring break, he asked both Ben and I for a quarter to take to school. That's when we learned the whole story. Apparently there is an eraser vending type machine at school that takes quarters. Other kids have been putting quarters in this machine at lunch and then giving him one of their erasers. At least he wasn't using his milk money quarters, which is what I thought at first.

Ever since them, Sam is collecting quarters and couldn't wait to go back to school to buy his erasers. Every day of spring break he asked if it was a school night yet so he could take his quarters to school. We gave him 5 quarters for Easter and told him once they were gone he's done buying erasers out of the machine. Each morning before school he gets a quarter from his stash in his room and puts it in his backpack. Every afternoon he gets off the bus and lovingly shows me the erasers he's bought. (Apparently my suggestion about giving some to his friends who shared with him is being ignored.) And Maria assumed she must be missing out, so she started taking a quarter each day as well.

So all these erasers are piling up, and now once the thrill of buying the eraser is gone, they don't really pay much attention to them. But I know if I throw them out, Sam will ask for some eraser he hasn't played with in weeks.

This eraser mania will end next week when their quarters are gone, thank goodness. But I don't think Sam is going to let it go quietly.

And just in case you were wondering, I have yet to see either child actually use one of these things to erase something!