Old as Good as New?

I'm not sure if it runs in the family, but both my sister and I are frugal when it comes to getting toys for the little ones. We don't believe in having a roomful of toys for our tods - simply because of practicality.

We ladies are guilty of buying clothes that we won't wear, at least not that many times. So we do a quick mental estimation of the longevity of the plaything, to ascertain its worthiness in buying. Since my mother-in-law is looking after Jaeden on weekdays, we needed a duplicate of most day-to-day basics for two houses, and yours truly the financial controller is ever quick to rule out the lower-priority ones.

Recently I decided to search for second-hand playyards and those inflatable swimming tubs. Believe me that they are many moms out there who buy items/toys to find to their dismay that their kids don't like it, and the items quickly became newly minted white elephants, so it's very easy to find almost brand new items at discounted prices. The drawback? You have to self-collect the item.

The owner of the secondhand play yard I bought was nice to throw in this activity table FOC as her girl has outgrown it and hardly plays with it.

Jaeden with his "new" play yard <20 Mar 2012>

When it comes to toys, rather than buying into that "suitable for motor development" and "recommended for age so-and-so" tagline, look around your house; there are many household essentials that will stimulate the said motor skill just as well, so long there is an adult supervising the play process. These are my two cents' worth of alternatives from a scrooge mommy.

Thankfully, I have friends who gave Jaeden toys for different developmental stage during his baby shower. Thus far I have only bought him a Lamaze giraffe and some teethers. I have managed to survive on hand-me-downs and rented toys but that, is another entry to be shared in time if it is deemed a good idea.