Last week Two weeks ago, Heather, Julie and I tried something new. We trekked downtown (which isn’t seeming so far away for Heather these days, she’s there a lot) and we attended September’s Indy WordLab. It’s true. I spend my day looking at words, and for fun, in the evening, I went to an event about words.
It was so much more than that.
For starters, I finally got to see Indy Reads Books for myself. It’s a real used bookstore, located right on Mass Ave. It operates as part of Indy Reads, Indianapolis’ Adult Literacy education initiative.
So. WordLab.
There’s a speaker (usually a writer) who leads the group in some kind of writing exercise.
Our group was lead by Indy WordLab organizer and author of Nothing New: An Irreverant History of Storytelling and Social Media, Ryan Brock. He led us in an exercise that started with 30 minutes of writing, then a shorter amount of time (6 minutes?) and then finally, 90 seconds. The only requirement was that we include the phrase “autumn leaves”.
So what did I write?
I wrote about my kid, of course. Here is my 30 minute product. It kind of sums up what’s been going on around here the last few weeks. It was inspired by the fact that she learned to ride a two-wheeler on my birthday. It’s not a gift I’ll soon forget.
The end of summer is a new beginning. New shoes because her feet have grown. New backpack and lunchbox because her tastes have changed.
She’s asking for phone numbers and posting on My Big Campus. She guards passwords and tracks her allowance. The training wheels have come off as the neighborhood pool closed, and she’s taken off down the street.
Her birthstone earrings have been returend to her jewelery box, and she’s raided mine for a pair of hook earrings.
Autumn leaves turn as she leaves one place and surges head first into the next.
It’s a book about the USA, written about men, by a men, for men!
The other night, we read the book, “Americana Advenure” by Michael Garland. It’s an interesting book, and it held MaM’s attention for several read throughs. There are things to find, illustrations to ponder and quotations galore.
After reading it, MaM asked why I reading over the back page, which listed all of the quotations in the book.
“I’m looking through the quotations to see if there are any by women.”
“Mom, there won’t be any, there aren’t any women presidents.”
“I know, but not all the quotations are by presidents. Oh look, ‘Independence is happiness, by Susan B. Anthony.”
“She was a president?”
“No, but she worked really hard so that women could vote.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, when Great Grandma was a little girl, women weren’t allowed to vote. Men didn’t think their votes were important.”
She got a look on her face, and said earnestly, as only a seven year old can, “Mom, every person is important. Why didn’t the men think the women were important?”
“Well, that’s just how things were. So Susan and her friends started protesting, and holding up signs, and working hard to get the government to understand that the women should be voting too.”
“Well I don’t know why the men were being mean the the women. I think those boys need to be taught a lesson.”
MaM and my grandma, circa 2010
My grandmother was exactly the age my daughter is now when her mother was granted the right to vote. Nearly 100 years later, the book Americana features exactly one quote by a woman.
I find it hard to accept that this is the world we live in. I mean, really.
Here’s my hope: in ninety years, when her great grandchildren are reading books about America, I hope the women are better represented. It’s not that they’re not accomplishing things, it’s that they’re not being recognized. My hope is that my daughter’s generation will change that. After all, and I quote, “Mom, every person is important.”
EDITED: This giveaway is now closed. Thanks for playing! (In this case, if you played, you won!)
I’m going to let you in on a secret- I kind of like organizing kids clothing. It’s probably because I’ve never had to do it for a living. Each season, I like to sort through the clothing for both my children, packing up what doesn’t fit and finding of a spot for things that do fit.
Do you know what I like even better than organizing their closet? I like selling their outgrown clothing at Indy Kids Consignment Sale.
It’s easy. It’s profitable.
It keeps baby/kids stuff out in the universe where it can do some good, instead of loaded in my garage, where it just gets more outdated every season that it sits.
It’s an invasion of Little People! Toys sell fast at every sale.
I was a little hesitant when I signed up for my first sale, but it couldn’t have been easier. The IKC Sale website has answers to just about every question, and previous consignors are happy to give advice as well. Is it better than having your own garage sale? You bet.
Here’s why:
1) You make more money. Once you’ve set your prices, they’re set and you make at least a 60% commission. You have the option to sell everything at half-price on Saturday, but it’s not required. At the last garage sale I had, people wanted to give me $1 for 2 dresses I had marked at $3 each.
2) You don’t sit in your driveway all day. As a matter of fact, you don’t even need to attend the sale. All you need to do is drop off your inventory at your appointed time. The IKC staff does the rest.
3) It takes less time. See the above. Then add in the amount of time you spend getting your items ready- even if you don’t tag all the items and enter them into a database (you don’t do that for garage sales, do you?), you are still spending the time to sort through things and get them set up on tables. After that, you sit in your driveway all day. I spend a few hours getting my inventory ready, but that’s it.
4) You have the choice to donate unsold items. IKC is happy to have you pick up unsold items, or they will pack up your items and donates them to a worthy cause. Again, this is less work than tearing down your garage sale and then driving to Good Will with everything that doesn’t sell.
5) Access to the Pre-Sale. Consignors make the IKC Sale go-round. All consignors are eligible to shop the very first moments of the sale, and consignors who volunteer during the sale get to shop the earliest (their commission is higher)
Last fall, the boy was wearing a 3/4T, the girl a size 6.
First Day of School, 2012. The boy is wearing size 6 shorts, the girl a size 8.
Are you convinced yet?
This year’s fall sales will be September 13-15 at the Hamilton County Fairgrounds, AND there’s a brand new sale in at the Hancock County Fairgrounds set for September 27-29. In addition to the fall sales, there is a new Holiday Sale happening at the Hamilton County Fairgrounds November 16-17. Talk about opportunities to be out with the old and in with clothes that fit your growing kids!
The consigner registration deadline for the Hamilton County Sale is September 4th, and for Hancock County it’s September 22nd. Consignors who register for both sales will save 50% on their second registration fee (so it’s $10 for one sale, $15 to do both).
{The Giveaway}
Indy Kids Sale has graciously offered two pairs of tickets to their popular Pre-Sale. Instead of waiting until Thursday, Pre-Sale ticket holders get to shop on Wednesday afternoon, and therefore get first dibs on the great deals!
TO ENTER: First, leave a comment telling me what you are on the hunt for this fall. I’m looking for winter jackets for my two- their arms have grown inches and inches this year.
Second, link to post about this giveaway on your Facebook page and leave a comment here telling me you did for an additional entry. FYI, you can find IKC Sale on Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/IndyKidsConsignment
Thirdly, feel free to also post about this giveaway on Twitter- here’s a Tweet to make it easy: “Enter to win pre-sale passes to the Fall @IKCSale from @gotchababy. Clothes don’t buy themselves, & your kids have grown!”
This giveaway will be open until Monday, September 3 at 9pm. The winner will have 24hours to respond, if there’s no response, I will choose a new winner. Good luck! (And mark the sales on your calendar!)
