Not That Many, But More Than You Might Think
I never know what I’ll find at a garage sale. Sometimes I find clothes, toys, and books in great condition. Sometimes I find great prices. Sometimes I find both at the same garage sale, though that’s pretty rare. And then sometimes I find a garage sale proprietor who, upon seeing me approach with Abbie toddling at my side, says, “You can come and look if you want, but I don’t have much for little girls. I have twin boys.”
“Gee, what a coincidence…”
To think I almost skipped this garage sale. I have a rule of thumb to never stop at a garage sale unless I know they have children’s stuff. I usually determine their stock by combing through the newspaper classifieds. The listings are organized by neighborhood, allowing me to find garage sales in the appropriate areas, whereas “appropriate” is defined as “close and/or wealthy,” and then search for the words “baby,” “kid,” “boy,” “girl,” or ”day care.” Especially enticing are mentions of name brands, along with the words “desperate,” “must go,” “nothing over a dollar,” or “nothing over a quarter.” I can usually quickly eliminate the longest listings and anything that proclaims “estate sale;” these usually have massive amounts of beautiful and expensive antiques and other pretty things that have little value to me, partially because we can’t fit anything frivolous into our home, and partially because I expect most objects in our home including the pets to be marred by crayons or other coloring paraphernalia in the next six years.
There is no law requiring garage sales to advertise in the newspaper,* and many choose to advertise on the nearest street corner and save their $20, which is probably smart since $20 is about what we grossed from our one pre-Abbie garage sale. This is the route the mother of twins took. Usually I drive right past these signs with my tunnel vision focused squarely on the next advertised sale that promises “tons of baby items.” These signs generally just say “garage sale” with an address or arrow; the flashier ones might have balloons tied to them. Too often they point to lame garage sales offering obsolete college textbooks, dusty dishes, videotapes of movies that stunk when they were new, and more of the same type of junk we tried selling at our garage sale. These sales aren’t worth the time it takes to drive off-course and rubberneck as I drive past to discern their wares.
This mother was smart and put several target words on her sign that caught my attention; words like “crib,” “stroller,” and “high chair.” “Desperate” may have also been on her sign as she had several name brand garments at give away prices. She said she was moving soon and didn’t want to move so much stuff with her, and I was happy to help.
We had a nice conversation about what her situation and what I could learn from it. Her boys are now 3-years-old and in preschool, which explains how she had the time to sit at a garage sale leisurely reading a book.
She suggested making a T-shirt with common questions and answers written on it because I was going to be saying the exact same things everywhere I went. She said this several minutes after she asked if our twins were identical.
She warned that the first few weeks would be rough, but things would get easier. Sometimes I feel like I’ve waited 16 months for this advice to kick in with Abbie.
She asked when they were due, and I gave one of my favorite answers: “January 15th, but you know how twins are,” knowing that she indeed knew exactly how twins are early. I then said we want to make it until Christmas, but ideally we just want the twins to stay out of the NICU. She said her boys came almost six weeks early and spent ten days in the NICU. It would have only been three days, but one of the boys didn’t want to eat and needed intensive coaxing. So now I have a reference point to fret over.
It was good to meet and talk to another parent of young twins. There aren’t many of us out there, though it’s more than I think sometimes. We enjoyed a symbiotic relationship for a few minutes; she gave me advice, and I gave her money for her old clothes. I also gave her one of the most precious gifts a mother of twin boys can receive: A little girl to play with for a few minutes while I looked for deals.
* H.R. 2651 “The Register Needs More Ad Revenue Bill” died in committee last year.
“Gee, what a coincidence…”
To think I almost skipped this garage sale. I have a rule of thumb to never stop at a garage sale unless I know they have children’s stuff. I usually determine their stock by combing through the newspaper classifieds. The listings are organized by neighborhood, allowing me to find garage sales in the appropriate areas, whereas “appropriate” is defined as “close and/or wealthy,” and then search for the words “baby,” “kid,” “boy,” “girl,” or ”day care.” Especially enticing are mentions of name brands, along with the words “desperate,” “must go,” “nothing over a dollar,” or “nothing over a quarter.” I can usually quickly eliminate the longest listings and anything that proclaims “estate sale;” these usually have massive amounts of beautiful and expensive antiques and other pretty things that have little value to me, partially because we can’t fit anything frivolous into our home, and partially because I expect most objects in our home including the pets to be marred by crayons or other coloring paraphernalia in the next six years.
There is no law requiring garage sales to advertise in the newspaper,* and many choose to advertise on the nearest street corner and save their $20, which is probably smart since $20 is about what we grossed from our one pre-Abbie garage sale. This is the route the mother of twins took. Usually I drive right past these signs with my tunnel vision focused squarely on the next advertised sale that promises “tons of baby items.” These signs generally just say “garage sale” with an address or arrow; the flashier ones might have balloons tied to them. Too often they point to lame garage sales offering obsolete college textbooks, dusty dishes, videotapes of movies that stunk when they were new, and more of the same type of junk we tried selling at our garage sale. These sales aren’t worth the time it takes to drive off-course and rubberneck as I drive past to discern their wares.
This mother was smart and put several target words on her sign that caught my attention; words like “crib,” “stroller,” and “high chair.” “Desperate” may have also been on her sign as she had several name brand garments at give away prices. She said she was moving soon and didn’t want to move so much stuff with her, and I was happy to help.
We had a nice conversation about what her situation and what I could learn from it. Her boys are now 3-years-old and in preschool, which explains how she had the time to sit at a garage sale leisurely reading a book.
She suggested making a T-shirt with common questions and answers written on it because I was going to be saying the exact same things everywhere I went. She said this several minutes after she asked if our twins were identical.
She warned that the first few weeks would be rough, but things would get easier. Sometimes I feel like I’ve waited 16 months for this advice to kick in with Abbie.
She asked when they were due, and I gave one of my favorite answers: “January 15th, but you know how twins are,” knowing that she indeed knew exactly how twins are early. I then said we want to make it until Christmas, but ideally we just want the twins to stay out of the NICU. She said her boys came almost six weeks early and spent ten days in the NICU. It would have only been three days, but one of the boys didn’t want to eat and needed intensive coaxing. So now I have a reference point to fret over.
It was good to meet and talk to another parent of young twins. There aren’t many of us out there, though it’s more than I think sometimes. We enjoyed a symbiotic relationship for a few minutes; she gave me advice, and I gave her money for her old clothes. I also gave her one of the most precious gifts a mother of twin boys can receive: A little girl to play with for a few minutes while I looked for deals.
* H.R. 2651 “The Register Needs More Ad Revenue Bill” died in committee last year.
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