Tie a Yellow Ribbon

I came to an important conclusion recently that in terms of life skills, particularly that of a domestic crafter, people are not going to have Pinterest envy over any of my exploits.  The Huffington Post recently ran an article on the first world problems parents face keeping up with the Joneses on the arts and crafts front.

 

I recently succumbed to an epic craft fail when trying to create my own magnetic fridge frames to display photos of the minions. After several glue gun related injuries, a series of ruined (otherwise lovely) frames from Target and IKEA I surrendered and bought a set on line via Etsy that I'm fairly certain aren't going to slide off of my fridge and jab my foot whenever I try to take anything out of the freezer.  They cost me a third of what I spent in frames, glue gun sticks, band aids and shame.

 

After admitting my hopeless craftperiment, a coworker pointed me to the amazing site craft fail. These are my people!  My failures as a crafter are okay...so long as I'm still having fun while I "create" I can live with my purchased frames.

 

Miss Molly in a hand knit outfit - courtesy of Nana.

My failed frames brings me back to a simpler time: I was about ten years old at my great grandmother Alice's birthday party and wearing this ridiculously puffy gingham dress with a giant bow on the back.  My grandmother Alice* pulled me aside and complimented me on my dress and then added, "Tell your mother to teach you to tie a proper bow, yours looks so terrible I'm surprised you even know how to tie your shoes."**  I went back to my mom to get her to help me fix my dress and my grandmother responded with something like, "I guess it will have to do."***
 

I consider this to be my first taste of the proof that I'm never going to win a bow tying competition.  I can change a tire, I can bait a worm on a hook, I can cook some pretty tasty meals and I am excellent at finding the perfect gift (that may be home made, but not by me) but if you're looking for the next Domestic Goddess, move along.  Miss Molly, I have been inspired and have looked up how to tie a bow on a dress.  I'd say I did it for you, but last week my shoddy bow skills landed one of the ties of a wrap dress in the toilet.
 

They say it takes a village....so children listen carefully:

If you need to have your hair done in a fancy braid - ask your Aunt E.

If you need your nails trimmed without getting cut by your mom - ask your Uncle G.

If you want to learn another language - ask your Aunt M.

If you want a gift wrapped nicely, or any origami - ask your father.

If you want to learn to knit - ask your Nana or your Aunt E.

If you want to learn how to parallel park like a champion ask your Grampa P.

 

 



You get the picture...I may not be able to complete the task myself, but I'm not afraid (or ashamed to outsource!)


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*Yes, everyone on my mother's side of the family was named Alice.
**My grandmother Alice was the Queen of open faced compliment sandwiches (one compliment, one or two even larger insults).
***Notice she didn't offer to help.

She Works Hard For the Money

It's been just over a month since our period of "fiscal restraint" began.  A little while ago I talked about ways to save money when you're on a budget (http://multiplemomstrosity.blogspot.ca/2012/08/money-changes-everything.html) and that's helped us a ton!  However, sometimes saving money doesn't feel like enough when household emergencies happen or there's a big ticket item* on your calendar and your regular income isn't going to cut it.

Since I've been back at work I've missed the minions a lot and the idea of being out of the house for a second job was too much for either of us to handle physically or emotionally plus it's not worth the return on investment.

When we were first discussing our new budget, a friend who was preparing to move suggested, "Why not sell some of your old stuff?".  She had recently made enough money to pay for her movers by selling old CDs, DVDs, textbooks and books that she didn't want any more and had significantly less stuff to move.**   I couldn't believe that I hadn't thought of it myself.  I, of course being me, decided to take things to the next level.  Here are some things I've sold, considered selling and how it's worked out for us.

Textbooks
If you've been in school recently and aren't going to use your texts any more, August/September and December/January are great months to sell your books.  You can either sell on line (I used Amazon) or go to a local college or university bookstore.  Some book stores will give you a higher price if you can prove that you got an A on the course.  Textbooks expire quickly, so they may not be worth anything if a new edition came out.  You can check what others are selling the texts for on line by using ISBN numbers before you list yours.  To date we have made $140 on the sale of textbooks...this is after shipping costs and listing commission fees.

DVDs, CDS and Books
We kept the series, movies and books, that we continually trade and lend to friends, but the ones that we know we'll never watch or use again - we decided to sell.  The series has to be worth a significant amount of cash to be worth the shipping costs and effort, so you'll need to determine whether it's worth it to post on line or take to your local used book/media dealer.  So far we have made $50 on the sale of television series alone.***  We haven't made it out yet to the physical shops for media that isn't worth the shipping fees but I've been told that BMV and Vortex are two of the best options in Toronto to take in your used stuff.

Clothes & Shoes
I have three pairs of name brand shoes that I bought a few years ago, spent a ton of money on and wore one time because they killed my feet.  Last week I sold the first pair on eBay and made $40.  Much better on closet and wallet space.  Same goes for dresses or clothes that are bought for special events and weddings that you know you won't wear again.  Research eBay vs. consignment shops to figure out what will work best for you.

Clearly Molly & Jack have not mastered the art of wrapping and packaging items for shipping. 

Baby Supplies
We have a lot of baby stuff that Molly and Jack have already outgrown.  Anything clothes related, toy related or basically anything that has been handed down to us, we've passed on to our ever growing circle of friends and acquaintances who are expecting.  That being said, you have to do what you have to do and you can't always afford to pass on or donate to charity...We have some twin specific items that will be no use to the parents of singletons and some gifts that we received that were barely used that we've decided to sell.  Baby consignment shops, mom websites and groups (or twin specific groups) have some great options for mom to mom sales that can work for you.  You can also go out to friends first before you post on line on these sites or on other sites like Kijiji or Craigslist.  I offered some items to some friends at a reduced rate before I posted on line.  So far we've made $95 selling baby/twin stuff that we don't use any more.

Hobbies
You know that fun hobby you always talk about how you wish you had more time for****...make it a reality, start selling on Etsy or another crafty site - just make sure you sell the items for enough money to cover your supplies and time.  This isn't something I've done personally, but I have a lot of crafty friends who would benefit from selling their art on line thus forcing them into making time for something they love and making a few bucks at the same time.

The biggest challenge for me has been making it to the post office regularly and shipping the items promptly.  I am really terrible at returning movies to a video store and mailing anything...It's been a big road block I've had to face this past month.

If anyone has any other suggestions for selling...I'm listening..all while I work on my plan to sell Chris' origami frogs for cash or interesting trades.



*Say one of your closest and oldest friends is having a destination wedding later this Fall, with the final deposit due, literally, tomorrow.
**That's like finding a double rainbow.
***Seller beware: I am an idiot and unknowingly listed a season of a television series as a Blue Ray rather than a DVD and am currently in the process of sorting out my first return.
****Subversive cross stitch, knitting, jewelry design or moderately offensive garden gnomes anyone?

Daughter

When I first met Chris I wasn't even sure that I wanted to have kids.  The only dad I'd ever known was my dad and filling those shoes would be pretty tough.

Picking only one or two childhood or adulthood experiences wouldn't capture why my father is my dad and why it's been amazing to be raised by him.  Here are a few of my favorite memories/things about my dad  in no particular order:

He always coaches everything, whether you want him to or not.

• A couple of years ago my brother and my dad went on a road trip together.  My brother wanted to go run some laps in the hotel pool, my father insisted on going with him to life guard as there was no one on duty.  He spent the entire time my brother was swimming walking the length of the pool and critiquing his technique.

He always shows up to support you in everything, no matter how bad you are at it, whether you want him to or not.

• As a teenager my sister was embarrassed by my parents coming out to her soccer games and wanted them to pretend that they didn't know her.  My father bought my mother a custom sweatshirt that said "I'm not E's Mother" on it.  
• When I was 12 I was a terrible runner*, yet for some reason (probably at the encouragement of my dad) I decided to run for a distance event for cross-country running.  When I was miserably last and walking and wanted to give up, my dad and my sister showed up to jog along beside me to cheer me on and get me to finish.  It also delayed the ridicule, cause no one is going to smack talk you in front of your dad.

This is the card that I got for my dad this year.  I bought it in Seattle, but you can get it, or other cool cards at: http://www.etsy.com/shop/BettyTurbo

He made sure that I knew how to change a tire and check the oil on a car before I was ever able to drive on my own.**

He makes amazing breakfast & he BBQs great/ most of the time.

• His back-bacon and egg English Muffins are to die for.
• If ever my dad is cooking and the food turns out poorly, rest assured it's because he got caught up in a game of catch, baseball or soccer with his kids, grandchildren or a combination of both.  So your meal may be burnt, but it's burnt with love.

He makes you do adult stuff & reminds you about it A LOT.

• Because of my dad I remember to check my steering fluid, I file my taxes on time and we actually purchased a living will kit on Groupon.***   

His passion about books and reading.

•  I find it random that my father made me read Animal Farm, at age ten, and write him a book report about it - in the Summer.  Now he and I share the same satirical taste in certain books and give each other some great recommendations.

The way he pretended to be Frankenstein when my mother wasn't home.

• When we were little and my mom was out, sometimes my father would pretend to be a monster.  He'd walk around the house, not speaking, sticking out his bottom teeth and bump into you a lot.  It was never scary, just incredibly annoying, as "Frankenstein" ran into the toys we were playing with and slowly chased us around the house.

Yesterday, Chris was playing with Molly on the floor and she got distracted, ignoring him for a toy that we call Astronaut Comic. Chris pretended to be a monster, took Astronaut Comic in his mouth and started bashing him against the side of the coffee table while he grunted and roared loudly.  He had Molly's attention and she was thrilled to be spending time with her dad.  Chris, I guess you make the cut.

Happy Father's Day, to my dad, Chris and all other Father's!

*Not that I'm a fabulous runner today, but I'm not doing it at the ridicule of other midst-pubescent middle-schoolers anymore.  My treadmill doesn't judge me.

**This shamed a couple of ex-boyfriends who had to step aside while I took care of road problems on my own.
***I haven't filled it out yet, and am reminded of this constantly...But yes, it will be done before the end of the summer, I promise.