Oh, Baby

As you can see from the pictures I posted most of the places we went on our mini-vacation (Vacation! Ha! I'm exhausted) were family/kid friendly. When we were on our way home on Wednesday I decided to stop at the Crate and Barrel Store in Edina. They built a large store at the Galleria and I had not been there yet. I love Crate and Barrel and the new store is just delicious. I want to live there. Not so much in the furniture section (their furniture is kind of overpriced for how poorly made it is) but in the kitchen and accessories sections.
After browsing I decided to walk through the Galleria a little. I have never been there before and thought it would be fun to check it out. Needless to say I felt a little out of place. I had already felt out of place in the parking lot to begin with, in my 10 year old Honda Accord with the smashed front end and scratched wheels from me curbing my car so much. I have never seen more Acura's, Lexus' and Mercedes in one parking lot before.
To make matters worse I had the $14 umbrella stroller from Kmart, yes Kmart. My child was dressed in comfy clothes for the drive home - a cotton muscle shirt and little ratty shorts. I was wearing my usual uniform of jeans, t-shirt and flip flops. I think my entire outfit cost under $25.
I knew the shops were upscale but I think when it really hit me was when I stopped in an adorable baby store called Oh Baby. They had normal overpriced things but still within reason, that is until I saw the crib bumpers priced at $350.65. Yes you read that right. I didn't see that they came with a set of anything. Just $350.65 for the crib bumper.
I went home soon after that. Home to my little house filled with second hand furniture and clearance items. To my kitchen that has new knobs on half the cupboards and old ones on the other half because I am too cheap to spring the extra $50 to buy the cup pulls. After all I got all the door pulls for a total of $10 at a garage sale. $50 just seems like a lot after that.
Yesterday I was in Remy's room putting away clothes and thinking again about those crib bumpers and I looked around the room and realized that the only thing we have paid for in that room is his crib which we got secondhand for $30. The dresser, large wooden tractor, bookshelf and rocking chair were all either given to us or we found for free. Pretty amazing to think of how we have been blessed. Sure I would like to decorate my house differently, after all I have an Interior Design degree, but now is just not the season in our life when we can do that. Still we have so much more than the majority of the world. I was talking to my mom yesterday and she was telling me about a couple they know of in Africa who are building mud huts for orphans. It costs $230 to build the entire hut! Think of what we Americans could do with our extra money. Even if a wealthy person bought a crib bumper for $100 and sent the remainder to help those less fortunate, the impact would be huge. I hope that someday when life is a little more comfortable for us and we can afford to give beyond our tithe I remember to give up the little luxuries so I can bless someone else.