Not For Sale!

As stated before we had a garage sale this past weekend. The sale was a big success for us. We got rid of a lot of clutter and got some decent money for things that would have probably been thrown out anyway.


One item not for sale was Alyce's slide. This slide was a hand me down and probably one of Alyce's favorite toys. It usually resides in the garage and during the garage sale we had it on the sidewalk to keep it out of the way. Apparently these things are hot items as Mom continued to be asked what we were wanting for the slide. Mom put a sign on the slide stating that it wasn't for sale. This is when things get interesting. All of the signs we used for the garage sale looked just like the sign that Mom had put on Alyce's slide. And Alyce doesn't know how to read but she did try as she would get close to the sign looking at the letters. She mush have made the inference that her beloved slide was up for sale. Whenever a would be shopper would park in front of our house Alyce would protect her favorite toy by running up to her slide and putting her hand on it while giving the new arrival a mean look until they walked by.

We told Alyce that her slide was safe and after a while she eventually did get the message. She would no longer guard her slide like a bear with cubs but she didn't like it when other kids would play on or around it.

Garage Sale

This past weekend the family participated in the neighborhood garage sale. Every year around this time the neighborhood advertises in the local newspapers and online on our behalf. By ensuring that there are many sales going on at the same time it has the capability to bring in more shoppers. The theory is sound as we had a constant stream of people from 7:30 - 12:30.

Getting ready for the garage required Mom and I to spend a lot of time in the garage getting setup. We had both Alyce and Luke in the garage with us. Alyce had some freedom from our constant vigil so we could get things ready. Alyce did quite well for us. She didn't wander off, stayed out of trouble, and even helped a bit. At first she helped me sweep out the garage. She grabbed my push broom and proceed to push the big piles of dirt and leaves out onto the driveway. She was marginally effective as she drug dirt back into the garage when she walked the broom back.

Later on Alyce was watching Luke for us. Luke was in the stroller out of our field of view when Alyce ran up to us saying "Spit up, spit up" and pulled us towards Luke. Taking a look at Luke and sure enough he had spit up. We cleaned him up and praised Alyce for being a big helper.

Once the heavy lifting was done I played out front with Alyce on her slide, push toys, and tricycle. Her Little Einstein toy was a big hit. If you press a button on the front of it the Little Einstein theme song plays. Alyce would press the button then run up the driveway, around a car, into the garage, and back out with her arms outstretched pretending to be Rocket from the show.

Alyce was a sweetheart and well behaved the entire time. You can't ask for much better from a 2 year old.