I just rocked and sang my son to sleep in used glider rocking chair that we bought at Tried But True, the consignment shop on York Road selling children’s clothes, toys and furniture. It cost us around $70 almost exactly four years ago, purchased a couple weeks after our daughter was born.
Around that same time, I carried Lucy strapped to my chest practically everywhere – around in the house, in , at the mall – in a friend’s hand-me-down Baby Bjorn carrier. I used it again in summer 2010 when I was home on maternity leave after Isaac was born, taking leisurely warm-weather strolls with the dog around the neighborhood and on the NCR trail.
The same friend who gave me the Bjorn carrier also gave us lots of clothes that her little girl had outgrown, and some of my favorite first outfits for Lucy came from those bags of previously worn onesies, sleepers, and overalls. We’re now dressing Isaac in some of his cousin’s old clothes, and once again, there’s something cozy about clothes that have been washed and rewashed and have already seen their share of kid adventures.
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Today, Lucy’s favorite toy, without question, also came from Tried But True. It’s her Woody doll from the Toy Story movies. I’ll never forget the day she spotted him on the shelf there – she was so joyful over her discovery. I think I spent $12 on Woody and he was still in the original packaging. “Brand new” versions of the same toy sell for around $40 in retail stores now, but Lucy couldn’t be any happier.
In this neighborhood, we’re lucky to have two kid-centric – besides Tried But True, there’s Hyde & Seek, which opened recently and I have yet to visit but going there is high on my to-do list (I’m an avid follower of their Facebook posts showing new items in the store).
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Why are we lucky to have them? Not just because these stores offer great deals at a time when money is tight and kids need things just the same, but because gently used kids things are comforting to me. I remember using the rocker and Bjorn carrier when I was feeling entirely out of my element with a newborn, and those broken-in things somehow gave me a feeling of been there/done that confidence.
Does that make any sense to you? Parents, do you have any second-hand things that you use on a daily basis with your kids that you can’t imagine having been any better had they come straight out of their shrink wrap?
