Last weekend we went through the garage and sifted through at least a dozen boxes and bins full of old children's clothes and toys to find fodder for the annual Novato Mother's Club Rummage Sale. Last year we netted a cool $350 by simply getting rid of stuff we no longer used or wanted. Who would have suspected? My favorite rummage sale tactic, which we repeated last year, was to fill up one-gallen ziploc bags with miscellaneous el-cheapo toys acquired over the past year, mostly from McDonalds (the drive-thru toy store). We charged a buck apiece for them and consequently emptied at least two storage cubes from the kids' room. Cool!

While undertaking our household archaeological excavation, we stumbled across the major find of a long forgotten covered bin full of stuffed Easter toys: bunnies, chicks, ducklings, and the like. Many of them were in like-new condition, and all were with us courtesy of the Easter Bunny and of several sets of well-meaning grandparents. Since the children were over visiting with my parents while we did our work, I came up with a brilliant idea: why not redistribute the toys again this year at Easter? I could be wrong, but I don't think either of the kids will specifically remember any of the stuffed animals, and it solves the problem of having to buy more, and having to find even more storage space for the toys that the grandparents fork over again this year.

Absolutely brilliant, if I do say so myself. And friendly to both the environment and the present economy! Of course it remains to be seen whether our ruse is discovered. My daughter, even at age 3, has the uncanny ability to remember seemingly insignificant happenings from far in the past in minute detail, so we'll see how it goes.