geniesflower's Profile

The biggest thing is prices... if you are asking too much, many folks will look at the high prices and not bother to look at the rest of the stuff, figuring that your sale is out of their price range. If something is really worth more than 10% of retail value, consider listing it on Craigslist or in the paper, where you can ask and usually get, a higher price.

The best thing to do if you're not a sale shopper and are planning on holding your own - go to a few weekends of sales first to get a feel for prices in your area. The worst sales are usually held by people who don't normally go to sales...

Also, make check out easy. Have one person doing the check out and make it fast. Yard salers want to quickly move on to the next sale, not wait 15 minutes while you slowly go through the items of the person in line ahead of them. If you have several households in the sale, figure out a way to divide the proceeds without the little colored stickers for each family - that really slows down check out and makes some of us really grouchy. Or, better yet, have several houses next to each other all have sales on the same day - so no confusing check out and fast and easy shopping.

Never used a shopping seat cover and at this point, am not even worried about it. Germs, in limited amounts, are good for the immune system. I did wipe the carts down during the crazy flu season last year, but beyond that... My kid is rarely sick, we go to play group, the park... Shopping seat covers are just another example of craziness in the parenting world... Plus, our carts are double seaters and the covers wouldn't fit anyways!

Oh, and a great place, beyond the newspaper, to advertise your sale - Craigslist. It's free and at least in our area, most sales are posted there. The hard core sale shopper will map out all of the sales for the day and advertising makes sure that your sale is one that they will attend.

I bought a Miele Neptune in 2009. I had looked for over a year and finally caved and bought one after my baby started crawling. We have all laminate floors, no carpeting at all and the soil around here is pure sand. Like beach sand only no water. I also have 3 critters with fur, one of which is a Bernese Mountain Dog (think St. bernard) that has mounds and mounds of hair. I was loosing my mind sweeping with a broom and had gone through the Hoover thing and the Dirt Devil... I also was tired of stuff breaking... I HEART this vacuum. Yes, it was expensive, but I won't have to worry about looking for a new one until my kiddo is in college. The Neptune doesn't have on board tools, but that's not a huge issue for me. To get that feature I had to get the carpet vacuum head and we just don't need it in this house. Whenever we move, and if the new house has carpet, I'll buy a bigger/fancier Miele.

Back in the day, my mom spent WAY more than this on her Electrolux (I think that she said $2000 back in the 70s, and we were a poor farm family) and it lasted literally until I was in college. As that brand is now sold in big box stores, it seems that the quality has gone down... I hope that Miele never sells out and keeps their super high standards.

Now, if only I could find a dishwasher that worked as well....

We got our changing table, pad and covers at a yard sale... and as tall parents, LOVE them. The thought of getting down on the floor 10 times a day... with no carpeting, no way. We also implemented the cloth diapers to cover the elastic cover. Just makes it easier to keep things clean and a few extra diapers in the wash really don't add to the laundry volume. Plus, the changing table keeps all of the diapering things in one place - in her room and not in the living room. It's the only ways I will change a diaper unless I'm not at home!

My little girl won't keep a bib on - so I take her shirt off. I also have a damp rag ready to go and she's learned to wipe her own hands on it. Still messy, but getting there. We've also had luck with the deeper silicon spoons that hold more - work well for rice and quinoa.

I'm the person who submitted this question - so thanks for all of the responses so far! I've gotten a lot of ideas and still need to look at the links... please keep the ideas coming!

Not mentioned in my question is that 2 of the acres are all woods behind the house. LOTS of shade. We have put in a "nature trail" that is still in development... it's 0.18 miles long and my toddler already walks the entire loop. The balance beam idea is great (and simple!) and I think can be easily done with two logs with a space on each notched out for a landscaping timber to sit in it. We're also going to add a bench back there eventually along with tree men faces, ceramic turtles, hop scotch stepping stones, wire flowers... and planting shade loving and drought tollerant flowers.

The front yard is also mainly shade with small patches of light. We will be putting in a veggie garden (only lived here a year) among other improvements. As the land is nearly completely flat, it's going to be hard to put in one of those great slides that goes down a hill - may have to bug my hubby on that idea.

We have a bird feeder already (she loves it) and a birdbath, too. I'd love a water table for her and of course, a sand/rock box. I also like the idea of a kids garden - will have to get those books from the library. We're both plant scientists so flowers and plants are right up our alley.

Thanks again for all of the great ideas and please keep them coming!

The drinking water in College Station TX is yucky. We bought RO water for years... and after finally growing up and buying our own house (not in College Station), decided that the RO under the sink system was the way to go. We're both scientists and only use RO in the lab (as all labs do) so it only made sense to do it at home, too. Plus, we've found that with better tasting water, we drink more of it. If tap water from city systems tasted as good as the well water that I grew up with, I wouldn't worry, but alas...

I have a very very old (250 year range) bed that I grew up sleeping on... and many generations of kids slept on before me. It's not quite my style though and I long ago decided that for my daughter, I want to slip cover the head and foot board. it will eventually be a twin sized bed, after we pay a metal worker to make new and longer side rails (while keeping the originals in the closet) so that a standard mattress will fit. It's important to me to have the history but also to have something cute and long enough for our very tall daughter! She's only 2 right now, so not quite ready for it, but in a year or two,

My 20 month old has slept side ways in the shopping cart seat, head on my purse, since she was one. We get LOTS of comments about that, all positive. However, when I try to move her from the car seat to her crib, she always wakes up - go figure.

At home, as the crib thing was NOT working for naps, I finally sat with her in the recliner until she went to sleep - and she sleeps for a couple of hours there. I can cook or do whatever and still keep an eye on her, so it works out. Do what works... naps are important for toddlers and mommies!