My 4-year-old has a Playskool record player and probably 20 records. Some of it’s stuff that used to be mine that I don’t care if she messes up. Some of it’s stuff from thrift stores. A lot of the inner sleeves are missing from the thrifted stuff, and even the cardboard is torn. It’s such a mess, and I’ve chosen to not micro-manage it at all. It’s amazing she hasn’t broken or scratched a record, despite the records most of the time being shoved on her shelf without making it back in a sleeve or a case.

Her favorite record, by the way, is her Smoosh — Free to Stay EP, which feels appropriate, as the band members were kids (10 and 12) when it was recorded.

I do sleeves with opening pointing up so the records don’t fall out, and my husband mindlessly piles records and sleeves and cases in a pile for me to clean up after him.