Reuse: Children's Clothing

Anyone that has young children knows how quickly little ones grow, especially in the first few years.  I have found two great options for people that don't want to hassle with having a garage sale or listing things on ebay.  The first option is to consign through a company such as JustBetweenFriends (http://www.jbfsale.com/default.cfm).  I decided to give it a shot this past sale as I had a basement full of toys and my kids had grown out of a lot of clothes from the previous season.  I listed about 200 items, of which 75% sold.  I made a 70% commission since I volunteered, and yesterday (a week after the sale) I got a check in the mail for about $625!  This was amazing, as it's typically stuff I would just pass along or donate.  Now that we are on a tighter budget, I figured I could sell the things and use the money to buy things in the next size up.  I also was able to shop the presales since I consigned and volunteered and I scored some great deals on toys for my kids to play with this summer.  The best part is that I plan to resell the things at the fall sale and hopefully come out even!  The second thing I have discovered is a website called ThredUp (http://www.thredup.com/251731).  It's a great children's clothes recycling program.  Basically you can list your items in under five mintues (think stuff that didn't sell at JBF or clothes that are cute, but you never got around to using) and if someone buys it all you have to do is print the shipping label and the postal worker will come to your door and pick it up.  You can then turn around and buy someone else's box for $15.95 (including shipping) that has approximately 15 items in there.    They also have toys, maternity clothes, scrapbooking stuff, and books to trade.  There are no picts on the site, though you can request a seller send you a picture before purchasing.  One cool thing about this is that when you get the box, it's like Christmas!  I can't wait to get the boxes I just ordered in my first trial run, I'll see if I can upload a picture for a future post!  =)

Do You Have Affluenza?

My husband is also enrolled in school and came across an interesting documentary in one of his classes.  It's on so called "affluenza."  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E60sWCR4eLQ  Basically, it shows how we are so caught up in trying to keep up with the Jones' that we are actually less happy than we would be if we were just satisfied with what we did have.  It also says some pretty startling statistics such as we spend an entire year of our lives watching advertisements.  Now if that doesn't make you flip off the TV, I don't know what will!  I personally chose to go without a television upon the birth of my son, two years ago.  Upon that confession I am usually either looked at as though I am an alien from outerspace or am congratulated about how "good" that makes me.  The primary reason I originally decided not to have a television is that when I was younger, I have horrible memories of my daycare providers watching television all day long (typically soap operas) and forcing me to sit in front of a bowl of cereal I refused to eat until either I finished or she was done with her "soaps."  To this day I hate both soap operas and cereal!  The moral of the story for me was that I knew what a time waster television could be and did not want to fall into a rut of neglecting my children while at home with them because I was glued to the television.  As a result, I have a two year old who LOVES to read and is extremely smart and has a great imagination.  If he is over at a friends house (or grandma's) and the TV is on, he has about a five minute attention span before he's off looking for books or toys.  If nothing else speaks volumes, I think that does.  I highly recommend of economically disposing of your biggest time waster!  Not to mention there literally is almost NOTHING good on anymore.  TV shows used to have morals, now they portray adulterous relationships and broken families.  We laugh at them because we can relate...which makes me wonder if we relate because of how much influence these little machines have in our lives!  Also, to answer the question that I get the most - am I completely out of touch with the world without a TV?  Absolutely not!  I still have access to the internet, and although it is also a time waster, I have much more control of what I view and when I view it.  Plus, people are always talking...if something important happens (say a tsunami or even something way less dramatic like a large upcoming snowfall) people talk about it.  It takes two minutes to click on foxnews.com or other news source to get up to date.  I do not miss the television, and it's one thing I think if you break the addiction to you will be unlikely to ever go back.  I feel I don't have time right now to begin with, how much less would I have if I had "a show" that I was fixed on watching every night?

Responsible Parenting, Part 2

Something really caught my attention today in the April 2011 edition of Parents magazine.  A reader had written for advice and here was the dialog:


Q: Last week my son came home from school with bulging pockets.  I made him give the items back and apologize.  But yesterday I received a not that said he had stolen again and lied about it.  Is this a phase? deltachild

A: Our son tried this too, and I'm betting that it will pass soon.  Make sure that you and the teacher are on the same page.  both of you should watch his pockets and remind him that, if he comes home with stuff that isn't his again, he'll lose a privilege of be put in a time-out.  Mom2NinoandAlly

Really?!?  I realize we are in an age where spanking is taboo and viewed by many as child abuse, but if "proper discipline" would equate stealing to a time-out I think we have fallen beyond lax in our parenting standards.  I believe the punishment should fit the crime, and in the REAL WORLD stealing would get jail time.  Just because they don't punish children on the same scale as adults, that doesn't mean we shouldn't be driving home the idea that this is a serious offense.  Personally, if this were my child I would have a serious talk with him, then I would subject him to community service.  40 hours of working with the underprivileged, at a food shelf, etc. will show him a couple of things.  If he is "acting out" to get attention, volunteering with him would give him the attention he needs, but in a proper and healthy setting.  If he is stealing because he is envious and coveting his neighbors belongings, than spending time with people that have considerably less than he does should knock that out of him as well.  Plus, in the real world criminals are given community service for this very reason.  If the child was older I would also have him watch a documentary on prison, and make a point that he does NOT want to go there.  That stealing is wrong in every way - morally, Biblically, and socially.  It scares me to think that a popular mainstream magazine such as Parents would be doling out such harmful advice!  I will be writing them a letter on this one!

Responsible Parenting, Part 1

"Train a child in the way he should go, and even when he is old he will not turn away from it."  Proverbs 22:6

I have been thinking a lot today about what it means to be a responsible parent.  Training our children to be responsible adults that love God is probably the greatest responsibility most people will ever have.  I have two small children and I can definitely see how they are like sponges and imitate even the smallest habits.  I was washing my face when I noticed my son reaching out to the faucet to turn on the water.  I said "no touch!" as I did not want him to waste water, and he proceeded to dip his little hand in the "discard" water and then patted his face.  What I had initially perceived as the desire to waste water just because he wanted to play, was actually his attempts to imitate me.  Every day I can see that he is trying to figure out the world - the difference of right from wrong, how things work, what pleases or annoys people, and he surprises me daily!  One thing I have been challenged on in the past month or so is my son's fascination with light - turning light switches on and off continuously.  I told him (as I always do) that it wastes energy and that in broad daylight we shouldn't need to turn on any lights.  This morning he had his Twilight Turtle (a battery operated turtle that shines stars on the ceiling) that he was playing with, experimenting with the light.  I decided to just observe his play, and was fascinated by how he went about experimenting.  First, he brought it into the bathroom and turned on the light and then he noticed that he couldn't see the light in a fully lit room.  He then tried to figure out a way to see the stars in the room, and discovered that if he pulled out a drawer and tucked it inside, he could see the light from the darkness of the drawer.  After a few minutes I walked over and told him to shut it off and gave him some crayons to play with.  Later in the evening that same day, my son noticed that the hall light had been left on and he shut it off saying "turn light off."  My point for mentioning this is that sometimes we get overzealous in our efforts to conserve energy and we inhibit growth and learning in our children.  It is okay to allow them to experiment and explore, as long as they are ultimately learning that it's important to try and conserve our resources.