Whoops. I got to the end of the day and looked to see what I'd taken photos of. The only things that were new were very mundane. A photo of table leaves, meant to ask which of my daughters they belonged to. A picture of pool and spa chemicals, asking whether I needed to pick some up. And that was it. So I looked around at what was relevant for what happened today, and as I geared up to take a photo of what I'd bought, I realized what mixed signals it would be sending.
My main focus of the day was to take the girls up to Loveland, so my daughter could purchase a 2-kid stroller. She found the exact one she wanted used on Facebook marketplace, for less than half of a new one. She was all over that. She likes getting these things second-hand, not just because they save money, but also so she doesn't feel like she is feeding into rampant consumerism. She's only going to need this thing for a few years, and I wouldn't be surprised if she doesn't pass it on to some other mom of more than one kid down the road. This is all well and good, and I admire her desire to consume less plastic and throw less in landfills, on the whole.
The problem came when we made our third stop (second was a bank). We wandered around Walmart, just to spend time together and give Val some out-of-carseat time. I ended up grabbing a handful of brand new baby toys, because I'm grandma and primary babysitter. I got an alphabet puzzle, magnetic letters for the fridge (finally found them), one of those balls they keep in a pen in the middle of the aisle, and a xylophone. So on a trip to be conscious of consumerism, here I am buying a whole bunch of new plastic. I think I failed this assignment.
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