It always makes good sense to reduce, reuse, and recycle, but these economic times necessitate it more than ever. Add to that our rapidly growing children who are constantly in need of clothing that’s the right size and weather appropriate or age-appropriate gear—and you have the perfect equation for reselling outgrown, sometimes seldom worn clothes.

Jamie Glowacki, the owner and operator of LoveBugs in Providence, consulted with a few other local stores to put together this handy guide for how to prepare your unwanted clothes, baby equipment, and toys for resale or consignment. While each store has its own policies and procedures—whether it’s a consignment shop or a resale shop—they share many basic rules.

CONSIGNMENT: Bring in your items; the storeowner selects which ones to keep for sale. When items sell, you are paid a percentage of the sale in cash or trade (store credit)—usually 40% in cash or 60% in trade (Check with store for specifics). If your items don’t sell, they are returned to you or donated to a local charity depending on the store policy.
Pros: Items usually carry a higher price tag since the owner carries no responsibility for unsold inventory.
Cons: You have to wait for your money and some or all unsold items may be returned to you.

RESALE: Bring in your items; the storeowner pays outright for selected items—generally 30% cash, 50% trade (check with store for specifics).
Pros: You get paid up front and never see selected items again.
Cons: Owner pays less per selected item to compensate for risk of unsold inventory.

For example: You bring in a bunch of clothes and the storeowner decides to keep half the items and determines the used retail value is $100. In a resale shop, you would get paid $30 cash or $50 trade. In a consignment store you only get paid when items sell, in this case $40 cash or $60 trade if all items sell.

Rules on what and how to bring in items:
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Family vacations can create long-lasting memories and fun learning experiences for parents and children alike. But traveling with children can sometimes be a test of preparedness—and of patience.  Below are some helpful hints for traveling with children.

BEFORE LEAVING: Build anticipation for the family trip by starting a countdown calendar and by explaining the travel day occurrences. In a carry-on bag, strategically pack snacks, gum, pacifiers, bottles, hand wipes, tissues, books, paper, markers, games, and perhaps a surprise toy for each child. You are allowed to carry on one one-quart Ziploc bag filled with three-ounce containers. (Remember 3-1-1)

AT THE AIRPORT: Allow plenty of time for check-in and also between connecting flights. Arriving early to board together prevents last-minute delays and confusion, especially with the new security regulations. Review screening procedures with children before entering security checkpoints so they will not be frightened by the process. Everything MUST go through the security checkpoint. To speed the process along, remove children from their strollers/infant carriers and collapse/fold the equipment. You should also pull out any DVD players or computers and take off all jackets and shoes. When going through metal detectors with an infant, have one parent hold the baby and walk through the machine. Children who can walk should pass through the metal detector independently.

ON THE FLIGHT: Bring a child/infant seat on board for children weighing less than forty pounds. Place children away from the aisle, preferably between responsible adults. Also, remember to get up, stretch, and walk around with kids several times during the flight, but do not allow children to walk around the plane unsupervised.

CAR RENTALS: Plan ahead with the rental company to make sure it offers car seats and installation. If not, you’ll have to bring your own in addition to a collapsible stroller.

IF TRAVELING BY CAR: Make car travel comfortable by bringing pillows and blankets. Stop frequently at rest stops to stretch and use the bathroom. Play games like “I Spy.” Make sure the car is stocked with paper, pencils, plenty of engaging toys, and tapes or CDs of their favorite songs or books.

ONCE THERE: Have a daily schedule planned with some flexible, free time for each family member. Provide friends or relatives at home with phone numbers and addresses of hotels where the family will stay, plus transportation and emergency contact information.

MOST IMPORTANTLY: Maintain a good sense of humor while traveling to give your children a vacation to remember in spite of any unforeseen obstacles. Remember that problems do arise and accidents do happen, but being prepared and keeping these travel tips in mind may help avoid hassles and undue stress.

Kathy Bennett has been traveling since she was born. Her passion for travel and her knack for being organized, as well as a desire to work from home to be with her young children, prompted Kathy to start Ticket To Travel, a Rhode Island-based, full-service travel agency focusing on providing clients with a carefully planned, enjoyable, and memorable vacation that is as stress-free as possible.

When my brother and I were young, my mother did a fabulous job of writing everything down (and I mean everything…bless her) in our baby books. With a little help from modern technology, there are a number of different methods for documenting your baby’s early milestones. Here are just a few:

• Start a blog—Many Internet-savvy moms find blogging the easiest way to journal these days…and to share the special moments of their baby’s life with faraway family and friends. Check out www.blogger.com.
• Internet picture sharing—Now that we are in the digital age, we can easily share our photos over the Internet (and all sites can be password protected). We can share, store, and print our photos with the click of a button!
• Create a photo book—Photo sharing websites such as kodakgallery.com and shutterfly.com allow you to create your own photo album (as well as lots of other paraphernalia with your personal pictures on it). Why not create an album for each year of your child’s life?
• Hire a professional photographer—There’s nothing like professional photos of your precious little one to have as a keepsake forever. Photographers are skilled at capturing the special moments as well as the wrinkles and folds of your baby which will disappear in the blink of an eye.
• Capture your baby’s prints in pottery—Create a permanent and artful record of your baby’s hand- and/or footprints. You can do it at home with a kit or hire a professional (check out places such as Salt Marsh Pottery)

Kristen Kardos, MA Ed., and Kathy McGuigan, MSW, the co-founders of RI New Moms Connection, provide affordable, accessible pregnancy and new mom groups throughout Rhode Island. In “Tips for New Moms” they share their knowledge, resources, and helpful ideas for moms just beginning their journey into parenthood or moms who may need a little refresher.

Editor’s Note: Although “Tips for New Moms” is written with the new mom in mind—to support women in their journey through motherhood—it is certainly not the authors’ intention to exclude dads. Every new parent will find their tips, resources, and insights helpful. I invite all moms and dads to share ideas on how they manage their new role as a parent with Kidoinfo in the comments below.

Photo Credit: www.kharberphoto.com

Reviewed by Katy Killilea

Cupcakes and muffins are one thing, but rice? Fish? It turns out there are lots of things longing to be muffin-size. This little kit will set you and your kids up to make twenty-nine yummy foods, from lasagna to classic crumb cakes. They will all be cupcake shaped, and just the right size for a small tummy.

The spiral-bound cookbook is also just the right size for little hands, and the recipes are simple and fully illustrated with photos. The book comes in a box with six silicone muffin cups, each a different bright color. After you start cooking from this book, you begin to look at the world with new eyes. Just as hungry characters in Looney Toons see members of their cohort turn into roasted chickens, everywhere you look, you will see foodstuffs become muffin-shaped.

My cooking partner chose our first project, so we made the brownies and they were delicious. You can make these in any silicone muffin cup, or even in a regular muffin pan fitted with paper liners. We halved the recipe to make just six brownies, since that’s how many cups we had; the ingredients listed here are for six muffin shape brownies.

Brownies from Cook It In a Cup

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Reviewed by Katy Killilea

Readers of the Providence Phoenix will immediately recognize the work of Rhode Island cartoonist Steve Brosnihan. He’s the guy with the endless supply of insanely grinning and eyebrow-arching characters. He names his big artistic influences as Theodor Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss) and Don Bousquet (Mr. Quahog). I get a manic/Muppety/Flying Zucchini Brothers vibe from Steve’s drawings as well. You might have heard about Steve on NPR–he was recently featured on WRNI in a story about his work as the Hasbro Children’s Hospital’s Resident Cartoonist. Every Tuesday and Thursday night since 1991, Steve has been teaching patients at Hasbro to draw satisfyingly professional-looking cartoons as part of the hospital’s Arts & Healing Program. He’s also the cartoon guru at The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp (for children with cancer and other serious illnesses) in Connecticut.

Out of his experience teaching hundreds of kids to draw comes this instruction book, filled with goggle-eyed, eclectic characters. It’s written for anyone who can write the letters of the alphabet (ability to read not required). I have a kindergartener who has barely mastered the alphabet, and he’s enthralled by this book. Each character is drawn entirely from a handful of letters, and no more. All letters used are in the character’s name. For his first cartoonagram, my son skipped over the princess known as “ONE CUTE GIRL” and the cloud called “CLOUD NiNE” to the snake named “SLiMY COiLS.” He was gobsmacked by the result. I always love my kids’ artwork, but this was something different from the regular kindergarten drawing. The resulting snake in this case is moving toward the viewer, grinning with a “How ya like me now?” expression, and rattling its rattler with casual malevolence. A cartooning lesson? Sure. But also a demonstration of the magic that makes things greater than the sum of their parts.

The lessons in this book will engage not only those who are practicing their ABCs, but also older kids who draw and aspire to a more polished-looking result. Remember the rock star in fourth grade who could draw Snoopy perfectly? Cartoonagrams could nudge your young artist toward that kind of stardom. What’s more, a portion of the proceeds from this fun, funny, silly-but-smart book goes to The Tomorrow Fund for children with cancer.

The details:
Anyone Can Draw Cartoonagrams
By Steve Brosnihan
$12.95 Fly By Knight Designs

Looking for a fun and easy treat for your kids, but don’t feel like baking? They’ll love (and probably be grossed out by) the idea of armpit fudge. This simple, low-mess recipe only requires a small amount of your energy.

You’ll need:
½ cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon butter
2 teaspoons cream cheese
1/4 tsp. of vanilla extract
2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa
1 Ziploc plastic sandwich bag

Place ingredients in the plastic bag, and squeeze out all excess air. Make sure you seal the bag to prevent leakage! Place the bag under your armpit and squish until everything is well mixed. Feel free to find other creative ways to mix the ingredients: knee pits, between the ear and shoulder, even between your toes! Get super creative by adding extras once everything is well mixed: peanut butter, mini marshmallows, small candy pieces, nuts, whatever you like.

Once it’s all mixed, pull out a spoon and enjoy!

Jessie is a lifelong summer camp attendee turned camp counselor, where she gets most of her inspiration. When not playing at summer camp, she studies psychology, education and English at Wheaton College, with the hopes of pursuing a career in children’s literature.

I used a refrigerator box from Atomic Appliance in Providence to make our puppet theater.

Supplies:
cardboard box
straight edge / ruler
pencil / markers
utility knife
paint
Optional:
Make curtains. Hang from dowel or wire or velcro onto box
Make show sign. Attach a small chalkboard to front of theater or make your own sign from masonite and chalkboard paint.

How to:
Cut an opening in the box to make the stage. Keep it simple or decorate theater with paint and curtains. A table top version can easily be made from a smaller cardboard box.

Puppets:
• Make your own puppets from socks or felt.
• Buy crafty pre-made puppets online from  Mahar Dry Goods or Dwell Baby.
• Find plush, realistic puppets (like Folkmani) online or locally at Creatoyvity on Hope Street.

This is school vacation week for some and a regular week for others. Either way, check the the Kidoinfo archives if you are in need of a little inspiration. Plenty of creative ways to engage and entertain your children here.

Recycled Art Project: (Pictured left to right: Robot man and R2D2)
Save selected trash and with a little imagination and some tape, string or a glue gun (with adult supervision), you can turn all this stuff into something new, like a robot, a car, a rocketship…

Tell us what you are doing with (or with out) the kids this week.

By Nancy king

On a recent, bitterly cold weekend morning, breakfast was done and that blobby, what-are-we-going-to-do-now feeling descended on our house. In a rare moment of inspiration, I dug out the Bauernhof farm that I’d ordered from Calafant. Having read about this line of cardboard toys, designed in Germany, that you color and assemble, I knew that they’d be perfect for when it’s too cold to go out, too cold to play ball, and you sit in the house, doing nothing at all…

The toys range from small airplanes, dinosaurs, and spaceships (great for party activities and favors) to the Calacastle, big enough for wee ones to hide out and dream in (complete with secret compartments in the towers). I chose the medium-size farm, which comes with a stable and connecting fences—all we needed to supply were the animals and our imagination. Oh, and color! (The kit comes with a dozen markers, although you can use your own art supplies including paint, glitter, stickers, etc.)

We cleared the dining room table and for the next hour—at least—we were happily lost in bringing our cozy farm to vibrant life. My daughter designated one section the “fantasy barn”—purple windows? Why not!—and the other parts “reality”, where you could almost smell the thatched roof.
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Request by Professor David Sobel

Research in the Causality and Mind Lab at Brown University

What are kids thinking?
(We’re trying to find out)

The Causality and Mind Lab at Brown University is running a series of research studies about young children’s understanding of pretending, cause and effect, and learning. We are looking for children between the ages of 3 and 6 to visit our lab on the Brown campus and play some games with our friendly and experienced staff. Testing usually consists of one session that takes between 20 and 30 minutes

Testing is ongoing, and we can work with your schedule.

If you’d like your child to have a fun and interesting experience, and to contribute to the study of child development, please call (401)-863-3527 or e-mail causalitylab@brown.edu
____________________________________________

All research is designed and overseen by Professor David Sobel:
phone: (401) 863-3038
e-mail: Dave_Sobel@brown.edu
http://titan.cog.brown.edu/~sobel