Learning to Give

An email was sent out at my office that a toy drive was going to be held and also that if you donated then your name would be put in for a raffle of a free vacation day. Heck I’ll take a free vacation day, especially since our vacation policy is pretty redonkulous I even won’t have enough vacation day next year to cover all the shut down time we have next year, nevermind all the days off that my kids have from daycare being closed for holidays I don’t get off. But that is besides the point.

So the toy drive is for needy children. There was a list of items that were requested the most. So this past weekend I decided to take the kids to the store. Now before we left I explained to him that the toys that we were going to buy were not for us. We were not keeping them; that they were going to kids that did not have a lot of money and could not afford to buy toys. He seemed to understand it. We headed over to the dollar store. I grabbed a cart and Aiden loved the fact that he was able to help pick out what we should give. We picked up coloring books, crayons, makers, books, puzzles(Aiden picked out the images), cars and generic Barbie dolls (Aiden picked those). He had fun putting all the stuff in the cart. Honestly, I think he was more excited about picking out toys in general, but it’s a start though.

 Later that day when Seth asked us what we did earlier in the day Aiden said,

 “Daddy we went to the store to buy toys.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah! We bought toys because they can’t buy toys because they waste all their money.”

::facepalm:: 

Maybe next year little man. Maybe next year.

 (the back half of the cart was filled with the diaper bag and coats.)

 Rebecca checking out the dolls.

My One Consignment Purchase

Last fall at my first sale I bought a bunch of winter clothing for the kids. They needed it and in the need I just broke even with what I sold. The spring I found a few more sales in my area and proceeded to try to get rid of as much of the summer stuff I had from when Aiden was a baby and the previous summer  season of Rebecca's. It was a lot of clothing. I did manage to sell about 70% of the stuff. About 10% was not what I deemed sell-able, but from what I have seen of the racks it would be perfectly fine to some people. So not too bad. This Fall sale season I was tempted to go just to see what was there as far as toys went because the kids were all set in the clothing department, but I resisted the urge. I volunteer one shift at the sale that is most local to me and was my first sale because I like to. I get to talk with the different moms and its nice. Plus I earn a little extra percentage. I get a chance at a drawing to earn 100% of my sales and also because as a seller I can also buy anything that is unsold during the regular sale. During the sorting of the items that were being donated, I happen to come across this beauty.

 

 Its Techno Gears Marble Mania. Aiden has had some interest in marble runs because they have one in one of his old classrooms. I did have it down on his birthday list, but never got around to getting it for him.  So when I happen to see this I snagged it up and for a lovely price of $8.00. And the box looks brand new to boot. You never know what you are going to find at one of these sales.

Feeling all sentimental.

When Aiden was still a baby for Christmas I wanted to get him this Stride to Ride Lion push toy. I thought it was really cute and it fit in with the jungle theme that I had going on for him. Plu sit was a pretty gender neutral toy that could be used for future kids. My Brother in Law got it for Aiden and I saved it in the closet until he started to show signs of cruising. Aiden was about 10mos when he started to cruise along the furniture. For his birthday he received a Little People push toy that came with some people and mini cars as well so the lion kind of took a backseat. I put it in the basement for safe keeping.

Now that Rebecca is here and she started to cruise back in December out the lion came. I cleaned it all up and she loved that she could walk around the house now on her own. She also loves that it plays music. While I do love the lion I was kind of hoping that someone would get her a push toy that was more girly. Ironically, Seth's aunt and uncle did get a Disney Princess one. I love it. It comes with a rocking base and also and attachable handle so that an adult can push her around. Also, for the younger ages, there is a bar that goes around the whole thing so she doesn't fall off of it. And it plays music as well. Aiden got all excited when he say it and we had to explain that it was for Rebecca that he still had his red car that he does play with on a regular basis still.

The day after the party I mention to Seth that now that Rebecca has the new push toy that I guess we don't need the lion anymore and that I could sell it at the consignment sale next month. He looks at me ans says "Well... why don't we wait and see." Awwww!!! He's getting all sentimental on something of the kids. I think it has to do with the fact that the lion was used by both kids and we have pictures of both of them using it. It is something that can be saved to use for potential grandkids and he has agreed with my idea to go through the toys to see which ones can be saved for that purpose. Like his toys were saved and Aiden now plays with Seth's old matchbox and hotwheels cars. This is the stuff that makes me smile and is the reason why I love him like I do.

Aiden on his 1st birthday with the lion.

Rebecca on her 1st birthday with the lion.

Now a bottle free home.

Thursday I packed away all the bottles. Actually I went through them, peeled all the labels off them with Aiden and Rebecca's names on them, scrubbed off the label residue and threw away all the nipples. I posted them on Craig's List to see if anyone wants them that way and I am going to try to see them at the Spring Consignment Sale in March if they don't sell on CL.

Let's be honest. Rebecca has not taken a bottle in a little over a month and for me to keep them in the pantry until her birthday in a "just on case" moment that she decided that she wants one was just plain stupid. She's not going to take a bottle and she definitely wants nothing to do with formula as this point. The girl made my life a whole lot easier by making that decision herself. Aiden we had to cut him off the bottle cold turkey and even then he held out for almost 3 weeks before he would drink milk out of a sippy cup. We're still working on getting her to drink more milk, she prefers room temp water the best, but our pediatrician said that she really need should be in the formula still. Well.. she is...kind of. I put it in her fruit and in her yogurt and she eats it. She doesn't get the same amount, 20oz., that she got when she was drinking it, but she is getting about half so I guess that is something. And its not like she is dehydrated and not getting any fluids. I make sure that she drinks at each meal, before and after each nap. And she also gets fruit at each meal and snack as well which is loaded with fluids. So she is good to go in my opinion.

It is nice to have all that space in the pantry again so I can spread out the kids' food out a bit to see it better and don't have to worry anymore about making sure that I have water to make a bottle or if I remembered to fill the formula sorter. I just have to toss in a sippy cup. And ironically she's not keen in on the soft spout cups (woo hoo more stuff that I can get rid of!!), she likes the hard ones already. The thermo ones are still a little hard for her to suck out of at this point so she is using all of Aiden's old take n toss cups. Not bad they are stackable and don't take up that much room either. Now I guess the next step is to start going through all the old baby toys to see which ones I want to get rid of and which ones I want to hold on to for the future, like the shape sorter or the nesting blocks. Anything soft and fabric needs to be sold since that won't hold the test of time. I can't believe that its starting to come to this already. It goes by too fast.....

 Oh yeah, she's already got straws down too. (stealing brother's juice box)

Getting back to "normal"

Since Christmas 2010 our family room has been rearranged to, first make room for the Christmas tree and then once that was taken down the space was filled with all of Rebecca's gear. Bouncy seat, swing, playmat and a bin with some soft toys and books. The couch was pushed under the window and it was a little tighter walking by. The view of the tv was better because you were a little further away, but it still looked funny because the love and seat and couch did not make the typical "L" that they normally do in most set ups. Well Today I finally took down the tree and all the decorations while the kids were at daycare. I moved the love seat back to where it originally was. I brought the end table back up from the basement where it has been used as a storage rack for the past year and I can say that it looks so much better. I love that we have our family room back to normal. I just need to get a new lamp for the table.

Also in this we moved Aidens train table down to make room for the new play kitchen and the further opened up more floor space in the actual play corner so that area looks so much bigger as well. Though I am not quite sure what we are going to do in 5 weeks after Toys R Us yet again throws up in our house after Rebecca's birthday. There is going to be quite a large toy purge as that point and I need to find a space for her impending Pottery Barn Anywhere chair.

God I can't wait until we do a playroom in the basement next winter....

...then I get a nice little reading corner over here and I can finally unpack some of my books that are still boxed up in the basement.

Packing up the gear.

So this morning as I'm picking up a few things in the family room I realize that we not longer need the Bumbo seat since Rebecca can now sit up on her own and I also realize pretty soon she will be done with the swing as well. Right now she only uses the swing to nap and I am going to start working on getting her to nap in the crib. Especially since if we don't clip her in then when she wake up we usually find her sideways in the swing. Something that makes me nervous that one day she will topple out of it.

In addition to packing up the baby gear, another thought crosses my mind. When do I start to sell the stuff? Do I be one of those crazy moms and start making a list of items that I will keep for grand kids? Yes, I know that is a long way away and it will mostly be just toys, no gear. But I do know that I love watching Aiden play with Seth's old matchbox cars and when he is a little older I know that Seth will let him play with his old Transformers. I know that toys are not made the way they used to, but there are a few select toys that I know will stand the test of time and they will be fine ( barring any recalls) for the next generation. Honestly, the only gear that I can see us potentially keeping is the exersaucer and the play mat since you don't really need batteries to play with either. The bouncy seat could also be saved since it breaks down so small, but we will see.