Sources & Uses: Non-Traditional Outlets for Kid Stuff

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Being a parent shopping for children's “necessities” like miniature shopping carts or  doll houses can make one feel a bit like an unwitting tourist falling victim to a rapidly changing foreign exchange market. I mean, come on... does miniature plastic fruit really warrant a $69.95 price tag? I recently purchased a build-it-yourself dollhouse. The dolls and miniature furniture to fill it cost almost as much as our real life-sized dining room set.

I ’ve now been finding it very useful to source child-oriented products from non-traditionally child-themed stores.  The impetus for this was my original qualm with paying $8 for what felt like a notebook's-worth of paper that was so narrow, my daughter and her friends couldn’t avoid drawing and painting on the craft table it was intended to cover... and the quality was akin to that of the roll of tissue-paper masquerading as an impenetrable germ barrier protecting our children's naked bodies on doctors' examination tables.

This is a copy of an email I sent to my play-date posse:

FYI for those of you with easels or craft tables: 

HP 24"x150 print rolls are approx 3xs the paper, wider, better quality and

less expensive (even with taking shipping into consideration) per sqft than the Melissa&Doug or ALEX-like brands out there…and require less frequent roll changes.

See below.

Regards,

Josh

Keep Calm

and

Carry On

Sent wirelessly via BlackBerry

Subject: Your Order with Amazon.com

Thanks for your order, J.Sapienza!

Want to manage your order online?
If you need to check the status of your order or make changes, please visit our home page at Amazon.com and click on Your Account at the top of any page.

Purchasing Information:

Order Grand Total: $50.12

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Order Summary:

Your purchase has been divided into 3 orders.

Order #1 : (order will arrive in 1 shipment)

Order #:

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Shipping Method:

Standard Shipping

Items:  

$14.25

Shipping & Handling:  

$9.12

------

Total Before Tax:  

$23.37

Estimated Tax To Be Collected:*  

$0.00

------

Order Total:  

$23.37

1

"HP Bright White Inkjet Paper (24 Inches x 150 Feet Roll)"
Office Product; $14.25
In Stock
   Sold by: Amazon.com

Order #2 : Shoplet

Order #:

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Shipping Method:

Standard

Items:  

$11.72

Shipping & Handling:  

$5.29

------

Total Before Tax:  

$17.01

Estimated Tax To Be Collected:*  

$0.00

------

Order Total:  

$17.01

1

"HP Universal Bond Paper (24 Inches x 150 Feet Roll)"
Office Product; $11.72
In Stock
   Sold by: Shoplet

Order #3 : Essex Technology Group

Order #:

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Shipping Method:

Standard

Items:  

$9.74

Shipping & Handling:  

$0.00

------

Total Before Tax:  

$9.74

Estimated Tax To Be Collected:*  

$0.00

------

Order Total:  

$9.74

1

"HP Recycled Bond Paper, 24 Inches x 150 ft Roll (CG889A)"
Office Product; $9.74
In Stock
Sold by: Essex Technology Group

Go-To-Market Strategy: Finding Teaching Oppotunities Everywhere

No longer is the free cookie at the bakery department our motivation for getting to the market. I’ve really learned that taking your time in an isle may be time consuming but very fun and rewarding if you have the time to begin with….I realize that not everyone can spend two hours at Wegman’s but after growing tired of the stress induced by rushing through the market in an effort to  beat the meltdown clock with a tired and bored little girl who wants to walk, then be carried then be placed in the cart…I decided to view the supermarket as a classroom and as a playground.  It makes for a much less stressful errand… and I no longer get those apathetic looks of annoyance from the masses of fellow shoppers I used to stop just short of smashing into with every turn or acceleration of my cart.

Bringing a shopping list and hunting for items at the grocery store with Catherine has proved not only to be fun but also serve as practical Montessorial exercises in reading, conceptual math and coordination.

Now, we not only look for the specific items we write on the list, but also the appropriate size and weight…which we translate to “units” thanks to our good friends: Team Umizoomi.

Today, I had Catherine sit in the cart while I placed a 1lb bag of rice in her lap. I told her it was 1lb or 1 “unit”. Then I replaced it with a 10lb bag of rice. I plopped it right in her lap while announcing that “This one is 10 units!”.  I asked her to describe what the bags felt like and which one felt heavier. I then began asking her over and over again to make sure and repeated this exercise until she couldn’t stop laughing. The take away here: Bags of rice are “squishy” and 10 units is heavier than 1 unit….and half of the people shopping at the market today probably think I smoke pot.