This Saturday was the first of two mom-run rummage sales happening in the city this month. I knew I had to hit this opportunity in order to find some larger clothes for Tamlin. I love the idea of recycling clothes between families both because is saves money and because it keeps the clothes out of land-fills. For these sales, I was on a mission to hunt out shirts, pants, shorts in 2T, 3T, or 4T sizes. I specifically hoped to find some size 5.5 or 6 shoes and sun hats for this summer. Oh, and I set the cash to spend limit at $30 or less.
Now since this was a Saturday sale, I would have Tam with me while Brian was at work. With the rules stating that strollers were not allowed at the sale, I would have to either carry Tam or tether him on a leash to my arm. Ah, once again it was time for the rockin' back-pack carrier. I wrestled the carrier out of its winter storage and reset the straps for a larger Tam. The last time I used this was October 2009 when Tam was quite a bit smaller and lighter. I popped Tam in, hoisted him up, and...it was all good. He still fit, he loved being up high, and it still didn't seem that heavy to me since his weight was resting on my hips.
This weekend's sale was held at a church and is the smaller of the two sales. I got to the church just after it officially opened and it was PACKED. Oh, Shelly, you would have hated this because it was so crowded with moms shoving each other to get a look at all the goodies on the tables. Keeping my mental shopping list in mind, I hit the sales. The prices were all great with clothes ranging from $0.75 to $3.00 depending on size, condition, and number of pieces. Unfortunately, for every one table that had boy clothes, there were four filled with pink frilly girl clothes! I guess there's been a boom of female babies in the past few years here. I do love the hunt and at each table I visited I had that little thrill that says "ooohhh, what can I find here?!" Hmmm...I think this thinking of rummage sales as treasure hunts and the love of a bargain is a "Silvieus" gene that I've inherited :-)
Even amidst the moms, crying kids, clothes, shoes, toys, diapers, ... I still scored some things for Tam's future: 12 shirts, 3 pants, 2 shorts, summer hat, and a pair of sandals. It seemed that 24month / 2T boy clothes were the rarest commodity here, so many of my purchases were 3T and 4T. I may have to add a strap to the hat, but it is so cute. The shoes were the most expensive because they were brand new; they are a pale grey-lavender color, but I don't think Tam will care.
Summary:
Admission to sale : $1
19 articles of gently-used clothing : $23
One hour spent with Tam and talking with other moms : priceless.
The weather here has been rain, rain rain...until Monday. Finally, the clouds cleared a bit so that we could all get outside again. Tam, of course, was exstatic to push the wagon around again. We go up and down the street numerous times, while always stopping to investigate the neighbor's parked cars up close. He is doing really well at staying on the sidewalk and not running off into the street. I think this is because we don't say "No" to often unless really, really mean it...like when he heads toward the street.
On this occasion, our neighbor honked his horn and waved while he passed by. Tam thought this was a hoot and laughed and waved. He is getting really good at waving bye-bye whenever he hears the words.
