Karma
About 2 months ago I went through all the boxes of kids' clothes I've accumulated. Most of it was Laszlo's outgrown stuff, but some of it was hand-me-downs for Lily and Laszlo later on from various kind people. A lot of it was stuff my kids would never wear, so I put it all in a corner of my garage. I also put in some old toys (that still work, but were chuckable for various reasons) and some old blankets, etc. All in all, I had 6 huge black lawn bags of stuff. I also had Laszlo's original car seat and base (a Perego which I hated) and the bassinet that they both slept in, but which is basically useless because it's huge and it's only good until 13 pounds.
Ok, so it's been sitting there.
I called an old neighbor of mine who is very religious and asked if they took such donations at her church. She said that she didn't think so, but she'd call a few others that she knew of. She called me back and said that St. Mary's would be happy to take the stuff but not until September (this was back in July I think). I held onto it.
I used to donate everything to the NCJW - National Council of Jewish Women...mostly because it was in my old, old neighborhood and because they were pretty good about getting out tax deduction information in a timely manner. But, when we moved, they were total assholes about furniture they were supposed to pick up - and I never knew where the money was going that they profited selling my stuff. Also, I wanted the baby stuff to go directly to people who needed it, not to be sold to people who just love a bargain.
Called St. Mary's last week, shlepped all the stuff to the church. My mother and I joked on the way there that it was a nice way for our Jewish family to be spending the holiday! As I walked into the church, I saw a woman and her two young children. They were there for food - canned goods and juices, etc. I didn't know that the church had such an outreach program. Then two homeless men walked in to look through the clothes they had set up on a huge table.
Turns out that they leave all the clothing and stuff out (not the food though, that they ration more carefully) on the table for certain hours every day and let people just come and help themselves to what they need. And clearly, the people that knew to go there were in need.
I cried on my way out, feeling both grateful and really good about myself for finding an appropriate place for all this great stuff. I'm so happy knowing that babies who need clothes/blankets/toys are going to use Laszlo's stuff.
Flash forward to last night. I have been keeping my eye on this kitchen at Toys R Us, but it's a fortune. I have to watch the big purchases because Robert's company was just fined a lot of money and he's not sure if he'll be getting the kind of bonus that he usually does, which is a huge issue. I have been combing remnants of garage sales on Monday mornings, but finding nothing. My mom called last night and said that she found a kitchen at a yard sale and they had originally had it for sale but since it was the end they just gave it to her! I scrubbed the shit out of it a few times today and I can't wait to give it to Laszlo! It's so cool. It has a fridge, a table, a microwave, and oven and a sink. The sink worked at some point, but I ripped it out because it was pretty gnarly and I have no idea what was in the hose. Other than that and some peeling stickers, it's in great shape. I called the number on the bottom to see who makes it (since there's no brand on it anywhere) and the number has been disconnected. Oh well. I was going to call to see if they could get me more stickers.
It's almost dry and I am so psyched! I can only figure that we found it because I gave away all that other good stuff. :-)
Will post a picture tomorrow.
Ok, so it's been sitting there.
I called an old neighbor of mine who is very religious and asked if they took such donations at her church. She said that she didn't think so, but she'd call a few others that she knew of. She called me back and said that St. Mary's would be happy to take the stuff but not until September (this was back in July I think). I held onto it.
I used to donate everything to the NCJW - National Council of Jewish Women...mostly because it was in my old, old neighborhood and because they were pretty good about getting out tax deduction information in a timely manner. But, when we moved, they were total assholes about furniture they were supposed to pick up - and I never knew where the money was going that they profited selling my stuff. Also, I wanted the baby stuff to go directly to people who needed it, not to be sold to people who just love a bargain.
Called St. Mary's last week, shlepped all the stuff to the church. My mother and I joked on the way there that it was a nice way for our Jewish family to be spending the holiday! As I walked into the church, I saw a woman and her two young children. They were there for food - canned goods and juices, etc. I didn't know that the church had such an outreach program. Then two homeless men walked in to look through the clothes they had set up on a huge table.
Turns out that they leave all the clothing and stuff out (not the food though, that they ration more carefully) on the table for certain hours every day and let people just come and help themselves to what they need. And clearly, the people that knew to go there were in need.
I cried on my way out, feeling both grateful and really good about myself for finding an appropriate place for all this great stuff. I'm so happy knowing that babies who need clothes/blankets/toys are going to use Laszlo's stuff.
Flash forward to last night. I have been keeping my eye on this kitchen at Toys R Us, but it's a fortune. I have to watch the big purchases because Robert's company was just fined a lot of money and he's not sure if he'll be getting the kind of bonus that he usually does, which is a huge issue. I have been combing remnants of garage sales on Monday mornings, but finding nothing. My mom called last night and said that she found a kitchen at a yard sale and they had originally had it for sale but since it was the end they just gave it to her! I scrubbed the shit out of it a few times today and I can't wait to give it to Laszlo! It's so cool. It has a fridge, a table, a microwave, and oven and a sink. The sink worked at some point, but I ripped it out because it was pretty gnarly and I have no idea what was in the hose. Other than that and some peeling stickers, it's in great shape. I called the number on the bottom to see who makes it (since there's no brand on it anywhere) and the number has been disconnected. Oh well. I was going to call to see if they could get me more stickers.
It's almost dry and I am so psyched! I can only figure that we found it because I gave away all that other good stuff. :-)
Will post a picture tomorrow.