The Sacrifices We Make Aren't Really Sacrifices at All

I have been reflecting a lot about sacrifice of late. We all make sacrifices, though we might not always call them that. We allow a car to merge ahead of us on the highway, we are sacrificing our spot in the line of traffic to help someone out. We need a new driveway so we might sacrifice some of our savings or a planned holiday to pay for it. A lot of the sacrifices we make are just day to day decisions, conscious effort to sacrifice a life we don't want to live for one that we do.

As a stay-at-home mom of three goofballs people could justifiably say that I sacrifice a lot to be home with them. I sacrifice a second income, which would definitely come in handy as we try to pay off the mortgage and do home repairs. Trips to Home Hardware for supplies sure add up. I sacrifice my clothes, they are never pristine for long. They are a snot rag, a paper towel, and who knows what else. I sacrifice my privacy. The bathroom is no longer a sacred place. Why they need to come in when the door is clearly closed is a mystery that seems to be beyond me. I sacrifice my sanity. Hearing my 16 month old constantly say Momma, over and over and over and over and over again. Gak! Or when the older ones come and start complaining, or whining or asking for things or whatever. I seriously start thinking, perhaps a paying job wouldn't be so bad. And I sacrificed my body to bring them into the world. Stretchmarks from here to there and everywhere. I don't know where the stretch marks came from, as I never get that big ,but geez Louise, my career aspirations of being a bikini model is out, unless there is quite a lot of airbrushing ;) There are other things that we sacrifice, I could probably be here all day.

But, when all is said and done, I wouldn't have it any other way. I get to see the mischief they get into. I get to see them build towers and habitats for their animals. I get to see them have a crazy dance party. I get to hug them when they are sad and be their confidant. There are somethings that when we think of the checklist of the world that we are for sure giving up, but when you think about love and family and things that really matter, the sacrifices don't really matter. We would and still do keep doing the same sacrifices over.

habitat that my oldest made

a dance performance for their dolls

a tall tower for their turtle

By being a one income family, it allows us to prioritize what is important to us, especially where our dollars go, and what family activities we should do. Are our priorities always what they should be? Heck No! We make lots of mistakes, but we are learning along the way and doing our best. It is also showing our kids that we can't always get what we want exactly when we want it. We have to work and save and plan for things. Are we perfect teachers? Nope! But, we are trying. We are trying to teach them the value of a dollar, what are needs and what are wants and that we have to cherish what we have already instead of going out and consuming more.

Sacrifice does not need to be a hardship. If we think about it. Sacrifice is an opportunity to live a life that will make us feel happy and fulfilled. That could be going against the norm and being less driven by consumption, or it could be going the other way and embracing consumerism and instead forgoing the simple pleasures in life. Sacrifice is about choice, about choosing how you want to live and then tailoring yourself and your surroundings to fit that ideal. If you want to get out of debt and stay out of debt, spending and mindless shopping needs to be sacrificed. If you want to have a garden, a nicely manicured part of your lawn will need to be sacrificed. If you want to spend time with your children as they grow up, a career may have to be sacrificed.

There is no one size fits all when it comes to sacrifice. It also doesn't mean you have to choose between a bad and a good thing. It could be choosing between a good and a better or best thing. So, think about what is important to the way you live, whether it be your own morals, ethics, or religious beliefs and say to yourself "what are the best things I should be doing to achieve the ideal?" Then strive to do them. As we do this we will realize that the actions, habits, or ways of life we are shedding is a freeing experience and that the sacrifice really isn't a sacrifice at all. It is bliss.

What are some of the ways that you sacrifice to live how you do? Do you consider them a hardship or do you find them to bring joy?

Awesome Activities at Your Library

During the summer I try not to over schedule or have set committed activities. You never know what the weather will be like or what will be coming up last minute (you can't always plan a beach day), so it is nice to have your days free, thus making everyday a kind of adventure.

With that in mind there is still one constant that we have and that is our library. We go at least once a week, sometimes more, to get books, movies, and listen to stories or do other activities. This year at our local library, and probably most libraries across the country, they have a summer reading club. Each child is given a passport to write down all the books they read. Each time they go to the library they show the passport and they tell about one of the stories they read and they are given stickers, ballots to win weekly and the grand prizes, and other little prizes (like a coupon for free ice cream). The kids are excited to share what they are reading about and are excited to choose new books.

kids reading during the first warm day this spring

Along with the reading portion, the library hosts different activities. There is the usually story time and craft time but there are some other fun options. At our library for instance, they are doing lego building, robot programming, learning about animals and their habitats, making LED jewelry, marshmallow catapults, make your own lip balm and more. And the best thing about these programs is that they are absolutely positutley FREE! Isn't that amazing?!?! (For info at what is happening at Waterloo Public Library reading club click here) I can't wait to go to some of the programs, mostly because I want to learn about them too, hopefully my kids do too! By the end of the summer the librarians and other staff at the branch we go to usually know our names very well. It is always nice when the kids go into the library and the staff welcome them by name. It makes it a special place for them and they are excited to go.

For more information about summer reading clubs or to see if your local library is doing it check out this website (for Canadian libraries only, though it has some cool activities to do and gives you some book ideas). If your library isn't doing this, ask them if they will. Be an advocate for your kids and community. Libraries are to serve the community and are not just about books anymore. It is truly is a learning centre.

So happy reading, and happy exploring you local library. If you don't know what to read, head on over to my other blog. There should be something that piques your interest. What free things are available in your community for your kids to do?

The Junk - Hosting a Yard Sale

A few weeks ago we had a yard sale. We had collected enough stuff from around the house that we decided it was time to see if we could make some cash. Even some friends of ours donated some items that they didn't want and told us we could keep what we made. Now if that isn't a friend I don't know what is. The weather was rather chilly for June so that might have prevented some people from coming out but on the whole it was a successful day with a steady stream of people, at the end of the day we were $170 richer. That was enough to pay the piano movers to move in a piano the aforementioned friends were giving us (for FREE!). I am sad that my friends were giving their stuff away, because they are moving across the country and we won't get to see them as much. But, I'm happy I was able to sell their stuff! :)

So after slogging through my first (personal) yard sale these are the tips I have.

Tip #1 Set Up Early

Even though we had advertised that we were not going to start our yardsale until 8:00, we made our first sale at 7:50.

My husband and I woke up around 6:00ish and started moving tables out to the drive way getting the stuff out of the boxes and made sure we had good flow and placement of items.

Before the actual day we moved all the stuff we were going to sell into the garage and priced it all. That way all we had to do was open our garage door and move the stuff right out. That little bit of pre-gathering of all stuff for sale helped save us some time and hassle.

So setting up early on the day of is important but so is getting everything ready before hand. It takes an hour or two of time commitment but it is worth it.

me putting the finishing touches on

Tip #2 Price Everything 

While this may sound like a daunting task, especially if you have a lot, just trust me on this. While you may have a sign on the table saying "all books 25 cents" you will be amazed how many people will still come up and ask how much it is. So just hunker down and put a price on it.


For our yard sale I did not go out and buy special stickers or labels. I used a marker and painters tape. I have a lot of painters tape and it is easy to remove off the item once it is sold, so there won't be any residual stickiness.

And know that the price on the item may not be the actual price. While most people, in my experience, wont negotiate some will. So have this be your top price and leave some wiggle room for those who want to negotiate.

The only time that I wouldn't put a price on stuff is if you are having a charity yard sale. I have learned when you are raising money for charity just say "by donation". When they know of the cause they will usually feel more generous and give more then what you would get if you actually had a price on items. Yes, you will get some cheapskates, but they are few and far between and are more than made up for by others. Two months ago my friends and I had a charity yard sale to raise money for our friend's daughter who has a brain tumor and needed financial assistance. By saying by donation we were able to raise over $1000. Not to bad for a yard sale.

Tip #3 Be Ready to Negotiate

Before you start your yard sale you need to decide why you are having it. Are you having it to get rich or are you having it to get rid of junk. If you are having it to get rich you are probably better off to sell some of the bigger items on free sites like kijiji or craig's list or whatever may be in your area. People who go to yard sales are looking for rock bottom prices, at least I am when I go yard saling.

If things are priced too high people will not buy and you won't make any money. Also if you are looking to get rich you probably won't be willing to negotiate and that could mean not as many sales.

If your goal is to get rid of stuff and the extra cash is a bonus be willing to negotiate. At our yard sale I did not try to play hardball. If they offered a price I took it. Most people are reasonable and if they offer a different price than listed it is usually not too far off. Also if people wanted to buy a lot of stuff I would round down to the nearest dollar, or made it a nice round number thus helping the change situation.

To go along with negotiation, at the end of the day make everything 50% off. We did this with an hour to go. This did help motivate some people who were sitting on the fence. This is a great tactic if your goal is to get rid of the stuff. And believe me getting rid of the junk is great!

Tip #4 Make Sure You Have Enough Change

This is the trickiest bit about the yard sale. How much change is too much or too little. You don't want to run out, but then you don't want to be taking it all back to the bank either. We had $160 in change and that seemed to work out perfectly. We had $50 worth of $5,  $50 worth of twoonies (Canada's two dollar coin) $50 worth or loonies (Canada's one dollar coin) and $10 worth of quarters. We had lots of change and we didn't have to run to the bank to get more.

Most people who are seasoned yard salers will make sure they have small bills already so you won't be dealing with too many big bills and so that amount of change be excesive. But I was sure glad I had a lot of change when someone only had a $50 on them and the item they were buying was only $4.

Tip #5 Keep Signs Simple

You can buy signs, but I find them hard to read at times, especially when I am in my car driving by. I made my own signs by using bright pink bristol board (I think it is called poster board to those who are not up with Canadian lingo) and garden shepherd hooks that I got at the dollar store. Using my word processor I made big letters and then cut them out and then made an arrow and cut it out. If you have a cricut machine or something similar you can just use that. I then glued the letters onto my boards and then taped the boards onto the shepherds hooks.

These signs were easy to see were at a higher visual plane than other signs making it easier for potential customers to turn down the street and were cheaper to make than buying actual signs.

I kept the words simple. It simply said "YARD SALE" and then had the arrow pointing the appropriate way to our house. We had them at the main streets and where turns needed to be made. The uniform colour and printing made sure people knew where we were.

I even had matching duct tape on hand, what luck!

Tip #6 Decide What to Do with the Leftovers

No matter how much you might want to think everyone is going to want your junk, you will have things leftover. Decide what you are going to do with it. For us, somethings we were on the fence about. Those we decided to keep. Those items were mainly things that were our kids. Everything else we decided to get rid of. Most of the items went to a secondhand store. Other things like furniture and baby items we put up on kijiji.

If it is important for you to just get rid of the junk put the items directly in your car and take it to a donation centre. Otherwise those items will migrate back into your house negating all the hard work you did to make your house simplified.

Tip #7 Involve Your Kids

Involve your kids in not only contributing some of their stuff to the yard sale, but figure out what they can do to help. My kids are pretty young still, (my oldest is seven). Money is still a weird concept for them especially when making and understanding change. But, I also needed to give them something to do so they wouldn't be watching The Winx Club on YouTube all day. So, we let them have a lemonade stand. They loved it. They drank most of the lemonade themselves but they felt a part of what was going on. They probably would have made more if 1) it was warmer that day and 2) if they weren't distracted by other things and kept abandoning their posts, but when they were their they were quite the entrepreneurs. (People thought they were so cute they would give them money without taking the lemonade. I wished that worked for me!)

the girls at their lemonade stand. it was so chilly we had to find the winter coats

Tip #8 Have Fun

Make this a good experience. Put some fun tunes on, smile and enjoy the time in the sun. There are so many ideas you could do to make this a fun morning; have a friendly competition with your spouse, every hour do a sale, have a special item that if bought they buyer gets to pick another one for free, have your neighbourhood involved etc. You are only limited by your imagination. Think outside the box and have fun!