Don’t you love when you get things you need, when you need them, and they are free?!?
Today my 7 and 9 year old asked if they could ride their bikes together, and since they had finished doing everything they were supposed to do, I didn’t see why not. They came home flushed with excitement, and told me how they saw a sign that said FREE and beneath it was a portacrib, infant car seat, toddler rocking chair, and a couple of other things. They raced home with their bikes, and without mentioning anything to me, ran back to the stuff, and brought it all inside to me.
They were so excited and happy to have been the ones to find things that were so nice and useful for us! The portacrib is beautiful – everything looks new, actually. You can’t tell that any of the items were used at all, except that they aren’t wrapped in the initial packaging.
We have a portacrib that the baby sleeps in during the day, but at night he sleeps on in my room, which is two flights above the main floor where we spend the day (we wouldn’t be able to hear him when he wakes up from a nap in the day, which is why he has two sleeping places). But I was recently thinking that we’re going to need to get a second portacrib for the night since he’s really outgrown the bassinet that he’s been in until now. Now we have it!
My toddler loves the mini rocking chair – he keeps pushing anyone who tries to sit in it without asking him out and reminds them that it’s his. He’s really good about sharing whatever he has if people ask, though, so I don’t mind.
I sure do appreciate whoever it was who wanted to share what they had with others! My kids have become experienced at finding treasures. Our house has an alley it backs up to, shared with the neighbors on another street who also back up to it. Several times people have put things out next to the trash, but not in it, obviously there so that someone could notice it and take it, and my kids have brought it home. (We do the same thing when we have things to give away.) I’ve had to restrain them sometimes, though, since they get so caught up in the thrill of the hunt that they’ve occasionally brought things home that are just more clutter to deal with. But generally they have a really good sense of what I’ll okay and what I won’t.
My husband and I have remarked to one another about how easy it is to live off the ‘fat of the land’ in America. Seriously, in this country we have so much that lots of things in excellent condition are given or thrown away just because someone doesn’t want it anymore and can’t be bothered to take it to somewhere that accepts donations. Just because it happens so often doesn’t mean it isn’t a huge blessing, and I regularly share with my children the feeling I have about how fortunate we are, so that we don’t take all that we have, or all that we’ve received for free, for granted.
Avivah
