The Garage Sale

I got up before 6AM to start putting things out and try to come up with prices for things along the way. My mom spent the night so she was up early along with me. It was more fun together. Fortunately T slept until 8:30! Totally unusual for him, but turned out excellent for me! I was afraid he'd be freaking out at all of his toys and clothes out for sale. He kept telling me all summer that just because he doesn't play with a toy for a long time, it's not because he doesn't want it--he just forgot about it for a while. "So don't sell it, OK Mama?"
It didn't matter that I tried to justify that if we sold the baby toys that means we had more room in our house for NEW toys. Uh-uh. What's mine is mine, in the eyes of a 6 year old. And that means forever.
He came out of the house, fully dressed in the outfit he picked out all by himself (I usually pick out the clothes, so they match). But he didn't do a bad job! Nice job T! And he wasn't freaking out with all the stuff set out to sell. He admitted that he was scared of having a garage sale before, but he's not scared anymore. Whew!
My brother also woke up semi-early and helped quite a bit. Plus he made all the brightly colored signs and put them up in the neighborhood, strung colorful flags across the driveway and placed helium balloons around the yard with the words "Garage Sale" on them.
The customers started coming at 7:45!!! Sheesh. I knew they'd come early, but I specifically said in my Craig's List posting that I was open at 9AM!! After a while I was afraid I was missing too many opportunities and I started to sell stuff at 8:30.
Every thing went really well! There were no super-pushy people that tried to haggle to a ridiculously low price (well, OK there was one woman but she didn't get away with super expensive item.). I think I sold about 2/3 of the stuff I had. Including a lady's fur coat from the 1960's that mom had brought over! Even the neighbor across the street, whom I don't really speak to anymore, broke the silence and came over to buy a tricycle and a Leapster alphabet toy. So we chatted and I feel things are OK between she and I. (Still not speaking to her husband, but I've decided to stop being angry and will occasionally wave to them if they're outside.).
In total, I made $482!!! That's amazing! My mom and I split it 50/50. She helped a lot with the sale, and if I'm being honest...she probably bought most of the stuff I was selling! My brother made a few bucks selling some of his old fishing rods--so he was happy with that. And T did great taking the money and putting it in the drawer. He even learned to figure out and make change to give back to the customer. We'll have to work on his eye contact during the transactions--but he did great! He was all about collecting money. That boy LOVES to take money and put it in his piggy bank. Something he's picked up from me, I think. I mean, where else would it come from? Or maybe it's an inherited trait? Either way, it's a good habit to learn, huh?