Kids Exchange

So it's that time of year.....consignment sales. Everybody knows that the biggest one in the Raleigh area is the Kids Exchange. I think I have been to every sale since Chandler was 3 months old. I also went one time before he was born when they were still allowing maternity clothes to be consigned. It's a great way to save money and I usually buy all the boys' clothing for the upcoming season at these sales. This time was no exception. As a consigner to the sale you are allowed to shop before the general public and this is a great advantage. I almost always do this, except this time. This time since I'm having another boy and really don't have much to consign to make it worth my while I decided to volunteer at the sale.

I've never volunteered before, so we'll see if it's worth it. As a volunteer you get to shop even earlier than the consigners, so that was a definite bonus. Derek went with me and he got a new travel swing for Maverick, an airplane lamp for Maverick's room, and then went to find some shoes for Chandler. I was trying to find a baby K'tan (no such luck) and I eventually settled on a Moby wrap. Lastly I headed to the 4T clothing section to get Chandler set for summer.

So here's a picture of the swing we got:

No, you are not seeing double. We have two! Unfortunately, the swing that Derek picked out seemed fine at the sale. I made sure he picked one that had batteries so we could test it. The swing motion worked and the lights and music checked out. We thought we had a winner. Once we got it home and I started inspecting it more thoroughly we discovered that the bottom part where the baby sits was cracked and broken. It might work once we had a baby in it, it might not. Derek suggested some epoxy might fix the problem. I had a better idea.

This morning I called my friend Jennifer who I knew would be shopping at the consignment sale. I asked her if she had an extra pass, and thank goodness she did! I hurried down to the sale, boys in tow, and got in line to wait. Once we were inside I found a duplicate swing that I could use for parts for $4! I was hesitant to buy this particular swing last night because it was very dirty and didn't have working batteries to test it. Funny thing is that once I put batteries in it, it worked! I still switched out the broken plastic part and kept the "original" swing since I had already washed the swing seat and it was in better overall condition.

Lesson learned.....more thoroughly check out equipment or buy "spare parts" while you are there!