A note on hand-me-downs
Hand-me-downs are great. Especially with baby and children's items. They save you a bit of money. I have nothing against hand-me-downs. I am happy to take gently-used clothing and books. I might even take furniture or toys as long as they meet current safety standards.
The problem is the well-meaning, if misguided, people who use your new baby or younger children as an excuse to unload their crap on you.
Here is my guide to giving hand-me-downs (or donating to charity):
1. If you wouldn't give it to your own child or grandchild, throw it out. In that same vein, if it is dirty, stained, frayed, broken or missing pieces, throw it out.
2. If clothing more than five years old, make sure it is still in style, otherwise donate it to charity (as long as it is good shape).
3. Never try to give away or donate car seats or breast pumps. Car seat safety standards tend to change every year and used breast pumps can contain lots of harmful bacteria. (Don't use the excuse that hospitals rent out breast pumps. Hospitals have ways to disinfect those pumps that the normal person usually cannot duplicate at home.)
4. Furniture and toys must be in very good condition and meet current safety standards. You can find recall information online at the Consumer Product Safety Commission website (www.cpsc.gov). Safety standards for used cribs can found by doing a simple Google search. (This is a personal opinion: I would also say that commercial toys between five and ten years old you should definitely ask about the person if they want them before giving, and those more than ten years old should just be thrown out. I say commercial, because that heirloom wooden rocking horse you want to hand down will probably be taken without hesitation.)
5. Don't take it personally if the person you are giving to turns down some of the hand-me-downs. He/she probably has a good reason for doing so. Even if it is as selfish as wanting the baby/child to have new things. That is often the case with first-borns. Also, if the person takes the items without complaint and you find out later that he/she donated or threw out what you gave them, let it slide. They took the items in the first place because they didn't want to hurt your feelings.
6. General rule-of-thumb: If Goodwill won't take it, throw it out. And don't think that Goodwill takes everything. They don't. You may just drop the stuff off and then forget about it, but employees at Goodwill go through all donations and end up throwing out most of what is donated because it is in bad shape. And keep in mind that most Goodwills won't take baby items (except clothing) at all for liability reasons.
The problem is the well-meaning, if misguided, people who use your new baby or younger children as an excuse to unload their crap on you.
Here is my guide to giving hand-me-downs (or donating to charity):
1. If you wouldn't give it to your own child or grandchild, throw it out. In that same vein, if it is dirty, stained, frayed, broken or missing pieces, throw it out.
2. If clothing more than five years old, make sure it is still in style, otherwise donate it to charity (as long as it is good shape).
3. Never try to give away or donate car seats or breast pumps. Car seat safety standards tend to change every year and used breast pumps can contain lots of harmful bacteria. (Don't use the excuse that hospitals rent out breast pumps. Hospitals have ways to disinfect those pumps that the normal person usually cannot duplicate at home.)
4. Furniture and toys must be in very good condition and meet current safety standards. You can find recall information online at the Consumer Product Safety Commission website (www.cpsc.gov). Safety standards for used cribs can found by doing a simple Google search. (This is a personal opinion: I would also say that commercial toys between five and ten years old you should definitely ask about the person if they want them before giving, and those more than ten years old should just be thrown out. I say commercial, because that heirloom wooden rocking horse you want to hand down will probably be taken without hesitation.)
5. Don't take it personally if the person you are giving to turns down some of the hand-me-downs. He/she probably has a good reason for doing so. Even if it is as selfish as wanting the baby/child to have new things. That is often the case with first-borns. Also, if the person takes the items without complaint and you find out later that he/she donated or threw out what you gave them, let it slide. They took the items in the first place because they didn't want to hurt your feelings.
6. General rule-of-thumb: If Goodwill won't take it, throw it out. And don't think that Goodwill takes everything. They don't. You may just drop the stuff off and then forget about it, but employees at Goodwill go through all donations and end up throwing out most of what is donated because it is in bad shape. And keep in mind that most Goodwills won't take baby items (except clothing) at all for liability reasons.
Labels: babies, children, donations, giving, hand-me-downs
posted by Beth @ 4:13 PM
