Second hand baby shopping

 I have been meaning to jot down these things for a while.  Getting cheap baby stuff is almost everyone's priority unless you are independently wealthy, and I have to pay much closer attention to this now that I am not in an insular community full of families with older toddlers and kids, all willing to loan or donate their hand-me-downs.

My favorite place for getting second hand gear, furniture, shoes, coats, has become Kym's Kiddie Corner just north of us on 15th, at about 120th or so.  Yes some toys and furniture looks dirty, but lord knows my house gets dirty and grimy with toddler goo anyway.  I don't judge.  I wiped down the stuff I bought and was thoroughly satisfied.  Hudson spent the whole time sitting on the floor playing with cars, and then at the train table, once we made it past the push toys out front, of course. 

I was amazed at how much stuff was packed into the Kids on 45th store.  I went there for some fall clothes and I made the mistake of trying to take the stroller in.  Hudson just wanted to turn it upside down and play with the wheels anyway so it turned out to be a good distraction, but also a good aisle blocker.  At any rate the store was pretty awesome, and had enough new stuff like toddler cups and dishes and other supplies to make me a little over-zealous, and I spent too much money.  It's too easy to feel that freedom when you're getting it second hand.  Maybe that's what they're counting on.

We also found the kids' sale at the Phinney Neighborhood Center to be pretty thorough.  I think they must do the sale a couple times a year, because I've seen fliers for other sales after the one we attended.  They held it in a huge auditorium in the lower level of the center and there were racks and racks of clothes, well organized, tables of toys, and there was a pretty solid supply of strollers, walkers and big stuff too.  I'm sure the supply totally depends on what's donated of course, but it seemed well organized, clean, and easy to navigate.  And again, Hudson had a blast just playing with one of the walkers off in the corner while I blasted through the racks of toddler clothes and snagged some shape puzzles and a couple dolls for good measure off the toy tables.  I scored some adorable Nike sneakers for him that I'm pretty proud of.

Of course, I couldn't help but also grab some $8.99 Target fleece jammies the other day when I was out shopping and I knew it was silly, but sometimes you just need it now and don't have time to scour the second-hand stores.  I try not to judge myself.  We all need balance, right?