I have to say, friends, I had the most fun I have ever had at Value Village today. As you know, I don’t exactly have a slush fund these days, but after a bit of a rougher day yesterday, Cher asked if I’d like to go, just for fun, and maybe find a few things I really needed, or even some Christmas gifts. We got there this morning right as it was opening, and it was hoppin’! It was amazingly full for being there right at 10am! But we rolled with it and joined the thrifty fray.
The first thing I found was a big pan. Its basically a full sized cookie sheet but with taller sides. As our kids eat more and more (they only get cheaper as they age, right?) we are in need of bigger cookware, so I picked it up. I figured, if I was wrong and we didn’t actually end up using it, it would work beautifully as a pan for the BBQ at the lake. It was only $4!
Also in the kitchen stuff, I found four $2 items that will be really nice to have.
One of the items is a pointy noodle serving spoon. We only have one, and we’ve caught ourselves really wanting a second one in times where we fall behind on dishes. I found one from Twisted Goods that is an upside-down dinosaur head, and the teeth help hold the noodles. The kids will be STOKED. And its cheap, so I’m happy.
I also got a ladle, because at home we have a GIANT ladle, and then a gravy scoop, and nothing in between, which is what we most often need. So, win. Cheap.
I got a square cow that holds kraft singles so they don’t fly around the fridge the way they do now. Both tidy and hilarious and cheap.
And I bought myself a glass. Ok, I’m actually pretty sure its a small vase, but its bright and purple and floral and I love it, and I am in for any gimmick that might convince myself to drink water. Bring it on, purple cup!
I bought Brady a really nice plaid flannel shirt. See, we had plans this winter, of finally heating our garage, and Brady set up shop to do his woodworking in there. Unfortunately, as we talk about moving, we are thinking less and less about improving our current place. So in the meantime, the space heater pumps, and Brady dresses a little warmer. With that, I wanted him to have some nice shirts that could be work shirts but also still look like him. This one is beautiful, and I got it for $5.49.
Onto the really, really good stuff!
Christmas gifts!!! Thriftmas! I found really really cute pajama pants for three of the kids so far. I made a point to look solely for the things I think the kids would like, not necessarily what I would like. I found for Laela, Rowan, and Solomon.
I was super happy with these!! Every year, we try and get the kids all matching onesies, but its a pretty expensive endeavour, and frankly, they’re really annoying to figure out whose is whose in the laundry. So jammie pants it is!
I found a hammer for Dekker for Christmas. Don’t tell him!!! Its a little smaller than average, and its hulky and heavy. Brady is going to clean it up really nice for him, and I know he will be SO excited!!!
Last but absolutely not even close to least is a shower chair for Brady!!!!!
Now this might not seem like a big deal to you, but hear me out.
Since Brady has had his surgery, he has obviously become connected to Saskabilities in Saskatoon. This should surprise no one. Saskabilities works with people of many abilities, and “lends” them what they need to make life easier, or at least as far as public health goes. Fun fact. Public health does not supply grab bars. Bizarre, right?? Anyway, they provided Brady with a shower bench when he came home. It was gigantic. It was legitimately bigger than our bathtub. It also wasn’t tall enough to fit over the side of our super standard tub/shower combo. We actually had to have a stack of a couple 2x6s under one side for it to work. Which took up yet more space in our small main bathroom. It was pretty ridiculous. He finally got so frustrated with it, we moved it to the garage and he chose to shower on the floor of the tub. I could rant a whole bunch, but it was clear right away that Brady did not need a whole bench with the amount of strength and mobility he still has.
Except.
Public health supplies benches. But not chairs. Its a bench or its nothing. So we looked into buying a shower chair, and would you believe they are CRAZY EXPENSIVE?! THEY ARE!!!
Today, I found this shower chair at Value Village. We will obviously clean it, don’t worry, but it is in excellent shape and is exactly what we need.
It was $7.
At Home Depot, this exact shower chair is…
$80!!!! EIGHTY! DOLLARS!
It makes me feel like crying. People have no idea what its like to suddenly be faced with such a gigantic change, and how absurd so much of it is. The hoops they expect people (who can’t jump) to jump through is just incredible, and not in the good way. I don’t know who “they” is, and I’m not trying to make some big statement, but I wish the right people could see some of this. To grasp the excitement that came with finding this shower chair today. Such a “nothing” purchase. But it gives Brady comfort and freedom. He doesn’t have to see me struggle to find where to set it during the kids bath time, as it pours water its holding all over the floor.
A grown man should NOT have to sit in the bottom of his tub and hose himself off like a dog. Yet he does, happily, and humbly. But I want him to have more dignity than that. And hey, saving $73 doesn’t hurt!
That turned into a whole thing. Whew! I am SO happy with our shower chair! I am SO happy to have found FOUR Christmas presents! And I am SO happy I got to spend a morning out with Cher 💜 With no deadlines, no lofty goals, and nowhere else to be. It was a nice, light morning. Thank you, Lord, for today.
It really is nuts the mark up on stuff just because it’s made for people who need more accessibility. We wanted to make our town’s spray park fully accessible for kids and/or parents in wheelchairs and we needed a picnic table. One wheelchair accessible picnic table that we looked at they were asking $10,000 for! The only difference was it was slightly higher than a normal picnic table with slightly different supports and it was made of metal. A friend of mine is a finishing carpenter and was able to build one for $250 (cost of materials, he donated his time). It was wood and not metal but is still really nice and well made.
Goodness. Its absolutely bananas how much it costs to make things accessible :/ All this stuff you NEVER would know unless you around it, which makes sense. And disabilities vary in such a huge way, I see the grey area. But still, something shouldn’t astronomically more than “normal” products. As if its not already super expensive to be disabled…