Thrifting is one of my favorite parts about living green; not only is it a terrific way to save money (especially for a single income family like ours) but it’s a great way to keep materials in the cycle of use (and out of landfills).

Last week Annabelle and stopped by one small shop tucked away onto a backroad where I found 2 vintage crafting books (I am especially excited about one entitled Winter Book, with a number of activities and green living ideas for cold weather and time spent indoors with kids), a couple of Melissa and Doug learning activities (great resources for our homeschooling adventures), a cardigan, and checkered curtains for our kitchen (I have been searching thrift shops and the Goodwill for over a year now to find these! If I were a better seamstress, I would have made my own curtains, but sadly, I will have to admire all you fabric goddesses out there who create beautiful items available on Etsy).

So here are my new, well used, curtains! Not only do I love my curtains (they were well worth the wait), but they are hand made too.

What about you? Do you frequent thrift, consignment, and other secondhand stores? What are your favorite finds? Has thrifting helped you cut costs or enhance your creativity? How else does your family help reduce waste? Do share in the comments. Thanks!

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Since returning home, we are refocusing on the Montessori approach and encouraging Annabelle to learn to help herself.  I have been surfing the web for lesson ideas, browsing the local consignment shops, and checking in with our craft store for Montessori supplies.  Here’s what’s new in our Montessori home:

1. A step stool to help Annabelle reach the powder room sink so that she may wash her hands.  Care of the person is a necessary part of life and an important aspect of the Montessori approach.  Click here for instructions about how to show your child personal care techniques.

2. A mirror hung at Annabelle’s level next to her coat and hat rack.   Although Annabelle does not yet have much hair, eventually, she will want to groom herself and fix her hat.  For now, she adores kissing herself, rather, her image, on our way out of the door.

3. A second hand Melissa and Doug transportation puzzle.  Since learning how to identify trains as “Choo, choos,” Annabelle likes to point and identify all modes of travel as “Choo, Choos.”  My husband and I are now pointing out buses, cars, trucks, boats, and planes, and not only are we saying the word to match the vehicle but we are also making the appropriate sounds (beep, vroom, etc.).

According to Michael Olaf, puzzles encourage children to develop visual discrimination and eye-hand control.  On the Michael Olaf web-site, it says,

“ Through early experiences with such puzzles, children can develop many useful skills: handling materials, refining movement, completing a cycle of activity, carrying out logical steps in order, solving problems. There is a built in control of error in puzzles so the child can judge for herself, without the help of another person, if the work has been done correctly. This is high level mental activity. ”

I have noticed that Annabelle has an easier time replacing the pieces of the Melissa and Doug transportation puzzle than she did with her shape puzzle.  I wonder whether interest is playing a part in her success with one puzzle and not the other?

4. Montessori Geometric Stacker.  This is another consignment find, which we are using to replace or substitute our 3 rod shape stacker that was too challenging for Annabelle.  It’s a great way for her to learn about color, shape, and size, and she’s shown more interest in working with this toy than the more challenging version since mastery is within reach.

5.  Blocks.  Michael Olaf explains our children’s (and our own) attraction to blocks:

“The attraction is that the imagination of the child is set free to create relationships between these physical objects.

Many mathematical and geometric relationships and architectural concepts are discovered, and physics principles are discovered as the structure gets too tall or too heavy. The child can also work out personal problems by playacting with blocks, animal models and little people. In our experience, next to doing real family work, playing with blocks has been the greatest aid to developing concentration.”

6.  Clothing rack in Annabelle’s bedroom.  To encourage Annabelle to take an interest in dressing herself (another part of Montessori’s care of the person), we installed a clothing rack in her bedroom with 4 outfits for her to choose from each day. So far we are learning that she has a preference (I can’t believe this did not occur to me earlier) for what she wears, and that she enjoys dresses over other kinds of clothing.

Tomorrow we are meeting with our Montessori playgroup again so I hope to share more details about how and what the children are working on.  In the coming week I am going to try the kitchen tool exercises, like this one and this one.   Stay tuned for more, and if you’re a Montessori educator at home or in a school, please share your experiences about these or similar exercises.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

“My name is Regina and I am a thirty-something.”  So begins the introduction at Creative Kismet, one of my favorite blogs. Authored by a talented artist, nurse, and hip green mamma named Regina, Creative Kismet is a wonderfully inspiring place to learn about crafting, kids’ art, recycled art, homemade gifts, stamping,  vegan eats, and much more.    Regina and her family are ingenuous environmentalists who not only find ways to take care of the earth but also manage to do so in a stylish way.   Here are a few pointers from Regina of Creative Kismet:

1.  Reduce, recycle, and compost. Regina is mindful about the purchases her family makes and pays special attention to the packaging that products come in.  Her tip for reducing waste: “Look at packaging and  . . .  [only] buy  things with recyclable containers.”   In addition to recycling product packaging, her family composts food waste.

2.  Eat french fries and fuel your car.  That is, a veggie car.  Regina’s family owns a 1983 Mercedes diesel automobile converted to run off of used vegetable oil from restaurants.  To learn more about cars with vegetable fuel systems, visit Greasecar.com.

3.  Get thrifty.  Regina’s family buys 90% of their clothing from thrift and secondhand shops.  Also, as a talented fabric artist, she finds great fabrics and linens that she repurposes and designs as curtains, clothing, bags, and much more.  Based on the work I have seen on her Creative Kismet website, it is obvious that she not only has a talent for crafting and design but also has a wonderful knack for thrifting.  On the value of shopping regularly at thrift stores,  she says, “You’d be surprised at how many great things you can find in good to new condition.”  To locate a thrift store in your zip code, visit TheThriftShopper.Com.
4.  Clean the green way.   For her home, Regina chooses animal friendly, biodegradable, and natural ingredient cleaning products, and uses homemade remedies for around the house.  Her favorite recipes can be found at Junie Moon : cleaning recipes.

5.  Eat good stuff.  Since part of our connection to the environment is through the food we eat, Regina and her family pay special attention to the foods they put in their bodies.  Of their vegan cuisine, she says, “We eat lots of good stuff, primarily vegan foods (lots of veggies, legumes and grains) and locally grown vegetables from our local CSA  (http://www.localharvest.org/csa.jsp).”  And when available, her family buys organic food.

6.  Get fanatical.  Of her family’s habit of toting water bottles and reusable bags, Regina comments, “We are fanatical.”  Each family member uses a SIGG bottle and kleen kanteen on a daily basis.

Her family not only takes the ideal of reusing and repurposing seriously, but Regina’s eye for design allows them to be green in a stylish way.  She explains, “We  make our grocery bags out of re-purposed pillowcases and we use them whenever we go out.”

This week, one lucky commenter will receive a free reusable bag designed and made by Regina.   To see samples of her work, click here.

7.  Breastfeed.  As an RN for mothers and babies, part of Regina’s job is to teach about and promote breastfeeding, however, she also believes that it’s good for the environment.  She explains, “Not only does breastfeeding have long term benefits for both mom and baby that last a life time, but there is less energy use, trash and plastic waste compared to that produced by formula cans/bottles, supplies and transportation of formula.”  To learn more, read the  Benefits of Breastfeeding.

8.  Pledge Handmade.  No doubt that friends, family, and anyone lucky enough to receive a gift made by Regina are delighted with the thought, care, and creativity of her works, but in addition, those who receive handmade gifts participate in a meaningful object that is absent of large scale manufacturing.  Handmade gifts and purchases also value the artists, local cultures, and the environment.  To learn more about the Handmade Pledge, click here.

9.  Landscape and reduce harm.  Regina’s family chooses drought resistant plants and uses drip irrigation for the landscaping in their yard.   She notes that the environment influenced her family’s choices, “With very little rain in Arizona, we have to be very careful about water usage.  Having plants that are native to southern AZ helps to cut down on water.  We also have planted mesquite trees to help with shading our home and keeping it cool during the long hot summers.  We are currently learning about rain harvesting and are hoping to have a system in place before the monsoon’s hit in August.”   To learn about how to design an eco-friendly and edible landscape, visit Treehugger.com’s “Bountiful Backyards.”
10.  Purge the plastic.  “I’m on a quest to reduce plastic in my home,” explains Regina.  As part of her quest to rid her home of plastic, she is getting rid of plastic cups and containers, as well as poorly made plastic toys.  Her motto is, “Buying quality products made from natural materials will ensure that it lasts longer.”  And what about those well meaning plastic gifts from friends and family?  Regina recommends asking loved ones to “kindly buy . . . toys that are made from natural materials and have some kind of learning connection.”  Among her family’s favorites: handmade toys, books, creative kits, music, and games sets.  Natural made products to check out include:

• Eco-artware.com
• OurGreenHouse.com
• ImagiPLAY

Thank you again to Regina and her family for sharing a little bit about their green lifestyle.   I am convinced that there is more that they do, so maybe we’ll get to learn more sometime soon.  In the meantime, drop a comment and enter to win a stylish reusable shopping bag made by the talented Creative Kismet.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Inspired by our visit to the Montessori toddler room, I decided to start making changes around our house.  To get started, I made a visit to the Goodwill where I purchased fine china, silverware, glass bowls, plastic activity trays, two pitchers, and baskets for under $20.   My husband and I want to allow Annabelle to use adult objects (like cups and plates made from glass), and at the same time, we want to be practical about potential outcomes (like lots of broken cups and dishes) and cost.

At home, I reorganized Annabelle’s toy shelves, her bedroom bookshelf, my arts and crafts room since I need to make space for her arts and crafts, and my husband’s rec room.  So far, this is what our Montessori home looks like:

1. Coat and hat hooks next to the front door, placed low so that Annabelle can easily put her own coat away.

2. Kitchen shelf.  On the bottom shelf, we placed silverware in a tray next to bowls, cups, and fine china (only $.50/plate) so that Annabelle can serve herself.  Also located on this shelf are her favorite snacks.

3. Annabelle’s broom and dustpan.  She is still learning how to hold the broom and sweep properly.  For now I encourage her to hold the dustpan because her sweep is somewhat erratic, though always enthusiastic.

4. Small table and chair set.  We moved her table and chair set to the dining room and put her booster seat into storage.  She understands how to sit at her table and eat at it, although we expect to clean up many messes since she is still learning to keep her water in her cup (rather than pouring it onto the table).  One perk to introducing the table and chair set for mealtimes is that she is free to come and go as she pleases, which has minimized her frustrations and tantrums during meals (when she was in her high chair or booster, she would throw food and scream to signal that she had had enough to eat or was bored).

5. Her art shelf.  I moved my art supplies up (a good idea since she liked to go through them and some materials, like my jewelry kit were not really age appropriate) so that Annabelle can easily pull out her paper, coloring book, and crayons for art time.  For now I am keeping her markers on a higher shelf for supervised art time with me.   She loves having a new place to “work.”

6.  Annabelle’s living room play/work space located in our living room.  Some activities, like her chalkboard and pitchers, are on the higher shelves, although once I sell our television, I will move the top shelves to the floor so that she can reach any of her Montessori work as she pleases.

7. Her chalkboard and white board.

8.  Magnetic shapes and poles, and another magnetic sphere toy.  I have yet to identify these toys as Montessori activities, although she is learning cause and effect whenever she plays with magnets.  Watching her connect a circle to a pole or seeing two magnets push against each other is on par with observing her problem solving abilities.  It’s pretty neat.

9.  Annabelle’s picture basket.  I printed 4 X 6 photos of animals, flowers, our cat Toby, etc.  She enjoys seeing pictures of herself (she is in 2 or 3 photos).  She shouts, “Bee-bee” or “baby.”

10. Peg puzzles and a shape puzzle.  She’s having some difficulty with the shape puzzle but is getting the hang of it.  It requires patience and dexterity.  When she becomes too frustrated, she goes over to her shelves to find another activity.  To respond to her, I have shown her the sign for “help” so that I can help her as needed.  I’m not sure what the Montessori approach says about helping, but in these beginning stages, I think that is necessary for me to help her as it is only the first 5 times or so that she is experiencing an activity.

11. Pouring.  A great activity for building their wrist and arm muscles, as well as control.  Annabelle enjoys pouring but sometimes fixates on cleaning up kernels of rice that have gotten away.

12. Shells.

13.  Stacking and nesting blocks by size.  Cards with colors, animals, shapes, and textures.

14. Beans in a pot.  Annabelle loves this game.  She feels through the pot full of beans to find the animals that are hidden inside.  She also enjoys sneaking beans into her mouth.

15. Shape stacking.  This is a hard one.  So far we’re just focusing on puttingthe shapes back onto the dowels.

16.  An abacus and wooden toy that I found in a thrift shop for $3.

17.  Annabelle’s bookcase in her bedroom.  I moved all books to her room (before they were all over the house). Remember I showed pictures from last week with the shelf on an angle?  Well, after a playdate gone wild this week, I learned that toddlers like pushing books off the back of an open bookcase and onto the floor.  To remedy lots of fallen books, I moved her dresser and pushed the bookcase against the wall.  I am also asking my husband to attach a wooden back to the case and to secure it to the wall so that there is no risk of the bookcase falling forward.

18.  Annabelle’s toy corner in my husband’s rec room.  Oh, and the purple box?  I painted our grill box and cut a side door and trap door so that she and her friends have a space all their own to imagine away with (I realize that the Montessori approach focuses on realistic imaginative play, but I really think it’s worthwhile for children to pretend).

So, this is our Montessori home thus far.  I plan to add booster steps to our bathrooms, to organize her clothing drawers so that the lower shelves hold her daily clothes, and to place hooks on a wall in her bedroom for her to hang her pajamas and other clothes.  I have the best of intentions with making these changes.  My husband and I both agree that the Montessori home approach seems a bit ambitious, although Maria Montessori wrote that children rise to the expectations that we have for them.  Sure, we will clean up spills and glass (I am sure), but it seems worthwhile to make our home accessible for our child.

More to come . . .

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

For the first time on Green Mamma, we meet a green family of five who work hard at being eco-friendly to Mother Earth. Sara, the family’s green mamma, says that the media’s ongoing attention to green living has influenced her and her family to make choices that benefit the environment. Staples of the family’s green lifestyle include recycling, buying less, repurposing, and using reusable grocery bags.

With a large family and lots of friends, Sara, her husband Eli, their two pre-schoolers Avery and Zach and newborn baby Leah are doing their part for planet Earth. Here are just a few ways they live green:

1. How does your garden grow? To create a connection between their family and nature, Eli and the boys started a small vegetable garden to tend together. Growing a garden helps children identify real food sources and can help them understand that vegetables come from the dirt and fruits grow on trees. Additionally, the family participates in a Community Support Agriculture, or CSA that not only will supply fresh produce but also supports local small farms. To read more about CSAs, click here, or to read about Abbie, another green friend who is part of a historic farming family in Connecticut, click here.

2. Celebrate in a green way. Being green for all occasions is a challenge, and when Sara and her family have parties to attend, buying eco-friendly products is one way in which they exercise their environmental values. Sara purchases earth friendly gifts for the many birthday parties they attend, especially toys that are durable, like wooden blocks. To learn more about green and organic gifts, click here.

3. Remember your library card. When this large family is not busy with friends and parties, they like to read. Each week, the family visits the library and checks out enough books to allow each child a variety of stories to last them through the week. Having a library card not only saves the family money but it saves valuable space inside their home, not to mention paper that might otherwise be consumed for purchased books. Sara says, “My kids love picking out books because there are so many to choose from.”

4. Repurpose and recycle food containers. A big family means many trips to the grocery store, and you guessed it, lots of empty food containers at the end of a week. One way Sara offsets food packaging’s plastic consumption is to save containers from food and to reuse them for crafts or for play. Once a container has been well used, it does end up in the recycling bin, but as Sara points out, “At least it took longer [for it] to get there.”

5. Rescue abandoned toys. Sara’s family commits to the toys and products they choose to purchase. When the time comes for the family to part with an old toy, they donate and refrain from putting toys in the trash. By selecting toys and products with care and committing to using and keeping what we buy, green families can save themselves from overconsuming and wasting items that they don’t need or intend to use for the long run.

Sara, Eli, Avery, Zach, and Leah are on a green adventure; in the near future, they plan to start a compost, and Sara is in the works of making kid design cloth napkins. Hopefully we’ll have more about her napkin project soon. Also, to read more about composting, click here.

Thanks again to this incredibly earth friendly family! Planet Earth needs more green families like yours!

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Happy Easter!  Today my family enjoyed a wonderful day full of friends, good food, and play, and so I sit down to write and reflect with a lot of joy.  What am I grateful for this week?  Let’s see . . .

1. Live music.  Part of my daily routine with Annabelle involves visiting libraries, playgrounds, playgroups, and shows.  We take advantage of as many free activities as possible; for example, we play outside daily rather than pay for expensive baby gym classes, we attend weekly library activities for infants and toddlers, and we support our local artists and musicians who perform in the surrounding neighborhoods.  This past week, we visited Savannah and saw several street musicians (more pictures to come) who not only entertained us with good music but who managed to keep our little one mesmerized beyond three minutes.  At home in Virginia we saw Ms. Belle and Mr. Knick Knack, talented musicians who perform for children in the D.C. Metro area.

Whenever I listen to the lyrics of children’s music, I somehow relate the possible meanings to my own life.  I know it sounds corny, but this week I analyzed “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” to be a song about overcoming adversity.   Poor little spider keeps getting knocked down, but  when the sun (friends) come out to help, the little guy gets back up again and keeps going.  Corny, yes, but positively true too, uh-huh.

2.  Antibiotics.  (yes, they are safe for breastfeeding mothers to take)  A good and wise friend of mine is a homeopathic layperson.  She despises antibiotics and swears that they weaken our systems more than help us.  I usually listen to my friend, and oh please, if you are reading this post Teresa, forgive me.  But I needed antibiotics, really, truly, desperately needed them.  And oh, my husband made me take them.  See, I had been keeping him and our daughter up at night because I have bronchitis and am hacking up both lungs (it’s awful loud).  I am now on day 3 of the antibiotics and even though I am not 100% better, I am sleeping at night.  Let me put this formula out there: antibiotics = no coughing + sleep, sleep = sanity, then antibiotics = sanity (for a tired mom).

3.  Consignment shops.  When it comes to my dd’s wardrobe, I guess you could say that I have become a bit fashion obsessed.  And since I care about the environment as well as my dd’s wardrobe, consignment shopping saves me from harming the earth and our family’s bank account.   This week I purchased three hats, a pair of sandals, and perhaps an entire spring wardrobe for a total of $38.50.   Thank goodness for second hand shops!

4.  Friends who listen.  You know who you are.  Thank you.

5.  My camera.  I capture so much of my dd’s days and keep a blog of our adventures together.  Since I am not an avid baby book author, I thank Kodak and wordpress.com for giving me the tools I enjoy to create a digital and visual scrapbook with many a story of my dd and our family.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Hats are a new obsession for my little girl.  Previously, Annabelle despised hats until she observed her friend Aryana modeling fashionable hats upon her curly-haired head.  Poor Annabelle barely has enough hair for a barrette, so hats both flatter her and are practical (keeping the sun off her somewhat bald head and on cool days keeping her head warm).

So, this week we shopped for hats at local consignment shops.  One of my favorites is  Small Change, a neighborhood shop opened by a stay-at-home mom with the purpose of recycling all things worn and played with by children.   Susan Gerstein, the owner, is warm and welcoming.  In fact, when I went to the register to pay and did not have cash or check on me, she took my name and asked me to mail her what  I owed.   She also found my cell phone, which my dd kindly left in one of the many toy boxes in this very packed shop.

Shopping at second hand and consignment shops is a wonderful way that parents can save money and protect our planet’s resources.  Rather than buying new toys and clothes, I find as-good-as-new items that my 15 month old enjoys and honestly cannot tell a difference.   Seriously, I notice that my dd plays with just about any toy or item that is put in front of her so long as mom, dad, or a friend is playing too.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

As promised, I would like to add a new weekly post to my Green Mama blog in which friends of the earth (and me too) are featured along with tips about how they manage to be environmental in an often fast paced and hectic world where saving time doesn’t necessarily equal saving the earth’s resources.   This week we meet my friend Allison,  a former Peace Corps volunteer, who is committed to a green lifestyle and doing her part to protect the earth’s environment.   Here are just a few ways that Allison and her fiance Matt live green:

• The couple carpools to work 4 days a week, and both drive small fuel efficient stick shift cars.
• They use nontoxic cleaning products in their home.
• Allision references the cosmetic safety database to research products they use around the house.
• They buy recycled paper products in bulk from Amazon.com so that green products do not deplete their budget.
• The couple buys local, shops at farmers’ markets, and are members of a co-op that allows them to buy in bulk (and thus save the energy of frequent car trips and the materials needed for packaging items bought in smaller quantities).
• They buy organic and are cutting back on meat consumption.
• They light their home with CFLs.
• They enjoy freecycling.  In the words of Allison, “Freecycle is awesome!”
• They, gasp!  Recycle!  And reuse old grocery bags as garbage bags.
• Allison stops unwanted catalogs from coming with Catalog Choice http://blog.catalogchoice.org/
• They made an alternative gift registry for their upcoming wedding at http://www.alternativegiftregistry.org/
• They runlaundry on warm or cold water, which uses less energy than hot water.
• They buy used furniture from Craigslist.org
• And, last, my favorite is that Allison and her soon to be husband do not shop recreationally.   Allison explains, “When we need things, we’ll buy them, but we don’t wander the mall for fun and try not to buy stuff we don’t need.”

Way to go Allison!  Allison is very busy between work, planning her wedding, and on top of it all, doing a lot for our environment.  Her next big green adventure is a trip to the eco-friendly dry cleaners!  Keep me posted, Allison, and thank you for being such an inspiration to me and other green minded folks out there.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

So this morning, between catching up on the Clinton and Obama contest, I scanned an article in today’s Washington Post, “Greed in name of Green” discussing the consumerism that results from folks who “go green.”   Specials on HGTV, Martha Stewart, NBC, ABC, major newspapers, etc. are all hailing “green” as the fashionable thing to be and do.   HGTV shows viewers how to replace their flooring, paint, and furniture with products made from VOC-free materials and renewable resources.  Martha Stewart recommends that shoppers purchase reusable bags (a wonderful suggestion!  Even Home Depot offers re-usable bags.  But a better reminder to consumers might be to remember to bring their reusable bags each and every time they shop). The problem, as pointed to by  author Leslie Garret (The Virtuous Consumer), is that folks who love to shop and consume, continue their cycle of take and waste but do so by labeling it an environmental endeavor.  From the Post Article:

“There’s a certain thrill, that you get to go out and replace everything . . . New bamboo T-shirts, new hemp curtains.”

I remember a pre-Green Mama who didn’t understand the waste involved in buying new.  When a friend told me that she wanted to replace the lining in her wool jacket (that was several years old and quite worn but still attractive and practical), I asked her why she didn’t just splurge for a new one.   Now I find myself sporting the same jackets and shirts that I have owned for years and many of my new clothes are those given to me as hand-me-downs from family or friends.

Garret puts it best: “The greenest products are the ones you don’t buy.”

So I type this post and sit upon my lumpy old couch given to me by my parents when I moved into my first apartment.  The cushions are large and comfortable, even though they sink in towards the middle of the couch.  There’s a tear on one of the arm covers.  My husband and I debate purchasing a new couch, but the one we have is still good enough.  I have covered it with a loose couch cover (it’s a pretty bulk piece of furniture), thrown a quilt over its back and spruced it up with bright red pillows.  Good as new, er perhaps, good as not new?

As much fun as we might think it is to search out and buy, buy, buy for our homes, ourselves, and our loved ones, even more rewarding experiences await us:  go and be with ourselves and loved ones (go to a park, sit and have tea at home, walk around the green, play frisbee, play games, music, whatever) and to re-use what we have around our homes to re-create our spaces with materials all ready on hand.  Frame old photographs to create wall art, shop for curtains at a consignment store, and pick up new chairs and accessories off of Freecycle and Craig’s List.

At Green Mama’s house, I am pretty sure the next major purchase is to replace our washer and dryer, and that is only because, ahem, they are not energy efficient, and they are dying a little more each day.

And so I will continue to be a green shopper by staying out of the stores!  No bamboo sheets for me unless they pop on Freecycle, and that is that.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Today another mom and I were talking about baby birthday parties and a new trend in which moms and dads host parties for their child and everyone brings gifts, but there’s a catch–the gifts are used toys once loved by one of the invitees, and who is ready to part with his/her toy.  At the party, each child contributes one of their “old” toys and is able to choose a “new” toy brought along by one of the other children.  Everyone gets a new, er “used”, toy, including the birthday kid.  The birthday kid gets one toy just like all of his/her friends.  So, everyone wins, including the environment because no new toys had to be produced and purchased for sake of a birthday.  I’m liking that idea, and in a few months, maybe we’ll do something like that for Ms. Annabelle.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!