April 22, 2010

Radical Homemaker?

I am reading this new, just-published book called Radical Homemakers: Reclaiming Domesticity from a Consumer Culture. It's pretty great. I like it a lot. And I found it very relevant yesterday. I was shopping online, looking for rain boots for Eliot. He has to have rubber boots (plus rain coat and pants) at daycare, because they go outside every day, rain or shine, and the backyard is a big muddy mess. There's a lot of shade back there, so the grass doesn't really grow properly. And the backyard gets a lot of use, so when it's muddy, the grass wouldn't hold up that well anyway. Well, the boots I bought him don't fit right. They constantly fall off. They are cute as hell -- shiny shiny (like patent leather looking) kermit-the-frog green -- but completely impractical, like many shoes I have bought for myself in the past. Another mom at daycare told Eliot his boots were hot. Ha.

Yesterday, he wore another kid's boots who wasn't, and they are toddler size 6 (I could write an entire other post about how difficult it is to figure out children's shoe sizing; they have baby, toddler, children, youth...? all with different numbers). Auntie Val told me they stay on, so maybe that's the size Eliot needs.

So last night, there I was, looking online for cheap replacement boots in a toddler size 6. And I was so irritated to spend money on boots he will need and fit into for such a short amount of time. I knew I could go to kids' consignment stores, but didn't want to travel all over trying to find the right size and type of boot.

And then I thought, hm, maybe Craig's List. And then I thought, hm, maybe eBay. And then I realized, huh, I am a member of two groups in Portland -- Portland Green Parenting, and the Sunnyside Swap Shop -- that regularly swap and trade and barter for things. I recently traded my old bike for a foos ball table in the basement (which I need to buy foos balls for still, 3 months later). I bet somebody has toddler size 6 boots they would give me, or trade me, or sell me pretty darn cheaply. So, I posted to both forums: ISO (which means In Search Of) toddler size 6 rain boots. I got three responses, and one of them is dropping off boots today, to my house. Free product, and free home delivery. She doesn't want anything in return, but I am going to give her some homemade lip balm as a thank you.

Yay for community.

2 comments:

Jen said...

I wish that you had a "Like" button because I like this story! Yay for free boots!!

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