Quite frankly, I don’t buy a lot of stuffs for my kids, but they have super a lot of everything at home – Clothes, books, toys… 50% of what they have are hand-me-downs.
Stuffs for kids usually don’t have a long period of usefulness. They grow up so fast that before you know it, the clothes are too small and the toys don’t interest them anymore. So, hand-me-downs are really good and useful. Either I pass on my kids’ toys and clothes to other friends whose kids are younger, or I inherit from other friends whose kids are older than mine. Pretty good and logical system.
I’ve got a friend who has been giving a lot of her kids’ stuffs to us. Her youngest kid is already in Primary School, but she kept all her childhood stuffs in great condition and they looked brand-new. Joey was so thrilled that she suddenly received truckloads of toys, puzzles and hundreds of storybooks that could last her for the next 5 years!
Check out this box of random rubber animals and insects that Joey received recently! So cute!!!
And I particularly liked this Handy Manny look-a-like set of tools. Even I felt like playing with the tools!
The great thing about toys is how they stimulate the brain and development of the kids. Role-playing and make-believe games are always the best. :)
Because of this hand-me-down system, the kids got to play with a lot more different toys than they otherwise could if they depended solely on the daddy & mummy to buy for them. It also is a lot less heart pain when they play with a piece of toy and got sick of it after 5 minutes. At least… I didn’t pay for it. =P
