With the beginning of fall comes the end of one of our favorite times of year: garage sale season.
My girls and I are garage sale junkies, and we are not ashamed to admit it.
Since there are four children in our one-income family, our toy budget is very small. At garage sales, though, we can stretch it w-a-a-a-y out.
When Josie’s Big Wheel tricycle bit the dust in the spring, I researched new ones online. They were $80! We found a gently used one (pink and purple, no less) at a garage sale for $4.
We were hooked.
Sadie likens “garage-sale-ing” to a treasure hunt, because “you just never know what you’re going to find!” She and her two sisters gather up their change in their little sparkly purses and load up in the van, on the lookout for handmade signs and tell-tale balloons that mark the spot.
They instruct me to stay out of “town” because there are no “homes” there. Instead, I make a big circle down Lakeshore Avenue, across Center Street, and back up Bellflower Street. We find literally hundreds of garage sales in a 5-mile radius during the spring and summer.
They yell “there’s one, there’s one!” then scope it out to make sure there is some “kid stuff.” Sometimes, we just do what we call a drive-by, checking it out very slowly from the road. They have to take turns getting out of the car, so they want to make sure it’s a good one before they waste their turn on it.
Some of our favorite finds:
Brand new ice skates, just Josie’s size: $1
Gold sequined Michael Jackson hat (a perfect complement to Sadie’s gold purse): $1
2 willow brooms (excellent for playing Little House on the Prairie): $0.75
A free jewelry box for Sadie “because she’s cute.”
A bowlful of sea glass from Lake Erie for Sadie’s collection: $0.10
A leather storage ottoman just like the $250 one that Mommy’s been eyeing: $15
A huge boxful of Magnetix magnet toys: $5
Twin stuffed tigers for Josie: $1
Speaking of twin tigers, we have one problem with garage sales: Josie feels the need to bring home every (soon-to-be) homeless stuffed animal that she sees in the ever-present quarter box at any given sale. The case she usually pleads: “But Mo-ommm, I really need that. That (monkey, elephant, tiger, dog, cat, lizard, camel, mouse) needs a home! He looks so sad! I neeeeeed him! And even worse, he needs meeeee!” Since she already has a shelf full of adoptees, (and a heart bigger than her room) we really have to try and steer clear of the quarter box.
Also, all three of the girls love to patronize the lemonade stands that their peers set up. They are very supportive of the entrepreneurial spirit of anyone in their age bracket; they are willing to submit to the highway robbery that some of these kids charge for cookies and fruit punch. Apparently, snacks taste a lot better when you are buying them from someone your own age WITH your own money.
Books for a quarter, brand new clothes with tags still on them, costumes for the dress-up box, craft materials, coloring books, the thrill of the hunt…. You can see why we are sad to see the season go.
I guess that old saying still applies: one kid’s trash is another kid’s treasure.
So, start cleaning out your closets now – you’ll probably see us in the spring!
-From my 11/6/11 article for www.mentorpatch.com
