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Sunday, December 4, 2011

The Beauty of Being Cheap

Yesterday, my tiny baby girl...


turned 2. I cannot believe it. She's out of babyhood and officially a toddler.

This year has absolutely flown by. Some of you might remember this photo from Charlotte's first birthday party, last year. Admittedly, it was a little sad:



Dan was in Uganda completing Hannah and Joseph's adoptions. The guy in the picture is not my husband -- but our family friend and pediatrician, David. He's holding my laptop and skyping with Dan so, while in Africa, he could watch his fifth baby eat her first birthday cake.

So this year, we resolved to do Charlotte's birthday right. I mean, just check out her gift. It's a vintage spring rocking horse. A genuine Mr. Clip Clop.


Anyone want to make a guess at how much this beauty cost us?? Well, if you know me at all, you must know it didn't cost much. In fact, it was free. Many years ago, it used to be mine. Told you it was vintage.

But there's more...

Do you know that Dan and I have actually given this Same. Stinkin'. Horse. to ALL of our children on their second birthdays? Not a similar horse. The exact same one. When a second birthday rolls around, we drag it out of the attic, wipe off the dust and present it to the honored recipient.

So far, Mr. Clip Clop has a perfect track record -- every two-year-old we've gifted it to has been absolutely delighted with the thing. And never once have we been questioned by any of our toddlers as to why they are receiving a used rocking horse as a gift.

Each one of them has loved it, riden it tirelessly and then grown bored with it after about 6 weeks. (The average shelf life of any toy around this place). So Dan and I pack it up, stuff it in the attic and leave it there for the next babe.

And do I feel guilty for this? Not a bit. Because there's not a two-year-old in the world who needs, cares about or even understands elaborate birthday parties and extravagant gifts -- it's just more money that we don't need to spend on ourselves.

Earlier this week, a fellow adoptive mom wrote a post on a similar topic that's been floating all over the internet. I'm linking to it below and would encourage you to read it in it's entirety if you haven't already. It's long, it's opinionated and I will warn you in advance -- it may be the most offensive thing you've ever read. But she really gets at the heart of what I'm talking about here.

No matter your family traditions, your personal belief system, your idea of a good time... truth is truth. Read the Christmas Condundrum here, by Jen Hatmaker.

5 comments:

The Mac's House said...

LOL I love this post. We are doing the same thing here with our granddaughter that lives with us. We are giving her the stuff (age appropriate, of course) that has been stored in the attic that use to be her mothers. They are perfectly good toys, clean and just waiting for another little person to love them.

I love that horse, I had one growing up too.

the_blissful_mommy said...

I had that horse. But I called her "Goldy". Aren't I a Jew? And doesn't that sound Jewish? That's right it does.

;)

I love that I know where Goldy lives in your house now and can picture C on there, bouncing blissfully and listening to the whine of the springs.

love you.

anything but LoKEY said...

We have a little rocking horse my grandaddy made me when I was little and we have done the same thing with our kids. They LOVE it!!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the post and for pointing us to Jen Hatmaker's article! All of this is a big part of our conversation as a family right now!

Amanda

Anonymous said...

Love reading your blog!! What a small world... I'm reading Jen Hatmaker's book 'Interrupted'. Early in her ministry, she served as the youth pastor's wife to my best friend at a smaller church in Texas. Crazy!!
Melanie Wilhelm (Brandon's sister)