One of the reasons I was none too thrilled about having a daughter of my own was "girl drama". Any girl who has ever been through high school or anyone who has ever raised a daughter of their own will know exactly what I am talking about.
Now my daughter, well, she's the "I want what I want and I want it now" and the "If i ain't happy ain't nobody happy" sort of a girl. Maybe that's a bit harsh, she's not really that bad. But she definitely has her ideas about what she wants and isn't afraid to let you know it at deafening decibels.
My mind has certainly been changed about raising a daughter. I love my daughter and couldn't imagine life without her. I have gotten into way more of the girly stuff than I ever thought I would. Now I'm all about the cute shoes, headbands, dresses. I love to watch her play with her baby doll. Even so, there is always this dark cloud looming overhead. The cloud that you try to forget about. The girl drama cloud. I scarcely think of it anymore because I thought it was so many years down the road.
This past weekend, my sister-in-law and I were at a bridal shower. The bride-to-be commented on her niece's choice of shoes, saying that she obviously picked out her own shoes. And it was obvious. She was wearing a Dora t-shirt, jean Capris, and black dress shoes that click-clacked as she walked. My SIL and I were talking about the dilemma. You don't want to stifle your child's creativity, but at the same time you don't want everyone to think you can't dress your own kid. Then again, why do you care what other people think? See the dilemma? But, I thought, I had a couple of years before my daughter insisted on this outfit or that, these shoes or those.
Then the other day we were getting ready to go out and help my husband and son wash our cars. I grabbed her pink Jumping Beans sandals. These are her play sandals. They are a nice shade of pink but other than that not much to look at. Just your everyday Velcro-on sandal.
But as soon as I reached for her play sandals, she immediately starts screeching, yes, screeching, and pointing at something else. I look in the direction she is pointing. She's pointing at a different pair of sandals. These are cute flip-flops with cherries printed on the flip-flop and pink sparkly straps. I asked her if she wants those ones. She nods. I sigh. Then I try to reason with her (why, I don't know. You can't reason with a toddler). I tell her that these ones don't stay on as well and so they aren't as good to play in.
As you might imagine, she wanted what she wanted and wasn't going to be happy otherwise. Then I asked her, "Why do you like those? Because they are pretty?". She gives a big, over exaggerated nod, of which she is famous for. And so it begins, I thought to myself. I put the "pretty" sandals on her feet. As soon as she stood up she got the biggest grin on her face and began to giggle and stomp her feet. She was beyond excited.
When I told Anthony about the "girl drama", I believe his exact words were, "O geez". My sentiments exactly.
I will note that while playing outside her shoes did come off several times, her feet got dirty, and she was very unhappy, just like I tried to tell her. But sometimes they have to learn for themselves. And learn she did. Two days later, she hasn't asked to play in them since.
While I'm not too thrilled about the ensuing "drama", at the same time, it's fun to see her blossoming personality, her ever-changing likes and dislikes, and her budding independent, adventurous spirit. My, oh my, will she be a handful.
Sincerely,
The-No-More-Drama-Mama
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Monday, August 13, 2012
Garage Sale 101
Recently I posted on Facebook that I thought there should be an official garage sale handbook that all people should have to follow, because in my experience, most people's garage sales are deeply flawed and well, quite frankly, a waste of my time to stop at. So here I present to you some tips on throwing your next garage sale.
1. Do not advertise your sale as being huge because I will be expecting something truly huge and will most certainly be disappointed. Two tables of stuff Goodwill would throw away if you donated it does not a huge garage sale make.
2. Consider advertising your sale if you are selling kids clothing/items. Though this isn't necessary, consider the following. The people you want to come to your garage sale are people with kids as they would be most likely to purchase your items. Now, if most people are like me, they can't call up a babysitter every time they want to go to a garage sale, so they end up schlepping their kids with them. Do you think most people are going to drive around aimlessly looking for garage sales with kids items with kids in tow? Probably not, so by advertising, you would make such people aware of your sale and they can then stop (or not).
3. If you do advertise, be specific. I can't count the number of times I have seen the words "kids clothing" in an advertisement for a garage sale. Do you have boys clothes? Girls? Both? What sizes do you have? Again, for someone going to drag her kids with her, this is helpful information, as I likely won't go to a sale unless I know it at least has the sizes I need for my son and daughter.
4. Try to be organized. My time is precious and there is nothing more annoying to me than sifting through tables of clothes where boys and girls stuff is mixed together and all sizes are mixed together. Some people get annoyed by this. Therefore, you might sell more if it were more organized. Also, take the time to price your items. Having to ask about prices is annoying and being told, "ummm, I don't know, like, $.50 a piece" is even more annoying. You don't know? It's your garage sale.
5. Though it is hard, try to look at things as an objective third party that might be shopping your garage sale. Consider what you would be willing to pay if you were them and what condition you expect items to be in.
For example, though I know you are deeply attached to your children's clothing and it is hard to part with all the memories and you want to get the most money you can out of them to make it worth parting with them, let's be reasonable. I was recently at a garage sale that was charging $2.50 per item of clothing. Depending on the item, such as a nice dress for church, that would be ok. But keep in mind, this is a garage sale. You are selling used stuff. So for everyday t-shirts and pants, this is not ok, at least not with me. People can go to Kohl's and get new stuff on clearance for their kids for about $3.50. And when something is faded, stained, or torn, it's not worth anything even if it is name brand.
On that same note, I was also at two garage sales recently that were selling clothes that looked like they were from the late 1990's for about $2.00 a piece. I'm sure that these clothes were very nice back in the day, but I think it's time to move on.
6. Be clean and odor free. Would you want to go to a garage sale that looked so unsanitary that you felt as if you needed a shower afterwards? I went to one recently that looked like everything had been stored in their dirt floor basement for years. It was so filthy that I didn't want to touch anything. Again, look at things objectively, is that how you want to make people feel? Take the time to clean up your items or just consider saving everyone the gross factor and not having a sale at all.
On that same note, I was at a different sale recently in which everything looked clean, but had a funny odor to it like it had been sitting in boxes in the garage getting wet for that past couple of months. Again, not the kind of thing people want when they go to a sale.
So to recap, here are the basic guidelines for a successful garage sale:
1. Do not refer to your garage sale as huge.
2. Advertise your sale.
3. Be descriptive in you advertisement.
4. Have everything sorted and priced.
5. Price your items reasonably.
6. Don't sell dirty or odorous items.
It all seems like commonsense ideas, but trust me, you would be surprised.
Sincerely,
The-Annoyed-Garage-Sale-Going-Mom
1. Do not advertise your sale as being huge because I will be expecting something truly huge and will most certainly be disappointed. Two tables of stuff Goodwill would throw away if you donated it does not a huge garage sale make.
2. Consider advertising your sale if you are selling kids clothing/items. Though this isn't necessary, consider the following. The people you want to come to your garage sale are people with kids as they would be most likely to purchase your items. Now, if most people are like me, they can't call up a babysitter every time they want to go to a garage sale, so they end up schlepping their kids with them. Do you think most people are going to drive around aimlessly looking for garage sales with kids items with kids in tow? Probably not, so by advertising, you would make such people aware of your sale and they can then stop (or not).
3. If you do advertise, be specific. I can't count the number of times I have seen the words "kids clothing" in an advertisement for a garage sale. Do you have boys clothes? Girls? Both? What sizes do you have? Again, for someone going to drag her kids with her, this is helpful information, as I likely won't go to a sale unless I know it at least has the sizes I need for my son and daughter.
4. Try to be organized. My time is precious and there is nothing more annoying to me than sifting through tables of clothes where boys and girls stuff is mixed together and all sizes are mixed together. Some people get annoyed by this. Therefore, you might sell more if it were more organized. Also, take the time to price your items. Having to ask about prices is annoying and being told, "ummm, I don't know, like, $.50 a piece" is even more annoying. You don't know? It's your garage sale.
5. Though it is hard, try to look at things as an objective third party that might be shopping your garage sale. Consider what you would be willing to pay if you were them and what condition you expect items to be in.
For example, though I know you are deeply attached to your children's clothing and it is hard to part with all the memories and you want to get the most money you can out of them to make it worth parting with them, let's be reasonable. I was recently at a garage sale that was charging $2.50 per item of clothing. Depending on the item, such as a nice dress for church, that would be ok. But keep in mind, this is a garage sale. You are selling used stuff. So for everyday t-shirts and pants, this is not ok, at least not with me. People can go to Kohl's and get new stuff on clearance for their kids for about $3.50. And when something is faded, stained, or torn, it's not worth anything even if it is name brand.
On that same note, I was also at two garage sales recently that were selling clothes that looked like they were from the late 1990's for about $2.00 a piece. I'm sure that these clothes were very nice back in the day, but I think it's time to move on.
6. Be clean and odor free. Would you want to go to a garage sale that looked so unsanitary that you felt as if you needed a shower afterwards? I went to one recently that looked like everything had been stored in their dirt floor basement for years. It was so filthy that I didn't want to touch anything. Again, look at things objectively, is that how you want to make people feel? Take the time to clean up your items or just consider saving everyone the gross factor and not having a sale at all.
On that same note, I was at a different sale recently in which everything looked clean, but had a funny odor to it like it had been sitting in boxes in the garage getting wet for that past couple of months. Again, not the kind of thing people want when they go to a sale.
So to recap, here are the basic guidelines for a successful garage sale:
1. Do not refer to your garage sale as huge.
2. Advertise your sale.
3. Be descriptive in you advertisement.
4. Have everything sorted and priced.
5. Price your items reasonably.
6. Don't sell dirty or odorous items.
It all seems like commonsense ideas, but trust me, you would be surprised.
Sincerely,
The-Annoyed-Garage-Sale-Going-Mom
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