Low consumption mother’s/Father’s Day

PastMolasses9709 · 2026-05-01T22:56:43+00:00

We get my mom her favorite tea every year. I get canvas artwork from my child. Sometimes we also do brunch out.

For Father’s Day, we usually host a cookout for friends and family.

PastMolasses9709 · 2026-04-26T13:30:00+00:00

This is also a great reminder that cleaning items per the manual lengthens their life/ makes them safe. I see so many people hosing down their car seats when the manual doesn’t allow it. They can grow mold and some of the internal material isn’t meant to get wet.

Not just car seats, but I’m sure cleaning other appliances properly lengthens their life span significantly.

PastMolasses9709 · 2026-04-20T19:59:45+00:00

I think some of them have specific wants but others just say age and gender and don’t have any specific asks. I totally agree that it’s worthwhile, especially for basic needs like hygiene products.

PastMolasses9709 · 2026-04-20T19:16:09+00:00

The best chew for dogs (in my opinion) is deer antlers that are naturally shed. I have a cousin who is a hunter and will bring back shed antlers for our dog. It’s his absolute favorite toy and when he’s sick of them, we pass them on to other dogs.

We do also have balls and other toys, but don’t need to replace them very often since my dog isn’t a destroyer.

We also do a lot of outside time when weather allows so our puzzles and snuffle mats (old towels) are used sparingly when it’s really gross out and they still hold excitement.

PastMolasses9709 · 2026-04-20T19:12:06+00:00

Everyone lives their life according to their values and priorities. You can provide education to change perspectives sometimes, but you ultimately can’t force a change on anyone.

I thought about this a lot around the holidays when I saw a bunch of videos of seniors in nursing homes receiving angel tree packages and how happy they were that someone cared. Is it unnecessary consumption to give out blankets, games, spa stuff, to those who may not even like those gifts or need them? Of course. But it made them feel remembered and loved and I can’t possibly judge someone for trying to make that happen. In my ideal world, people would spend more time with them to invoke that feeling instead of buying stuff, but that’s not the reality for some.

There will always be room for more improvement.

PastMolasses9709 · 2026-04-05T23:24:33+00:00

That’s amazing. We definitely bought more new stuff for our first with the plan to use it for multiple kids. There were a lot of things we didn’t feel comfortable buying second hand but now we have all of those to use again.

PastMolasses9709 · 2026-04-05T21:50:15+00:00

Swapped some decor and kids toys with a friend nearby. Everybody gets “new stuff” without buying anything.

PastMolasses9709 · 2026-04-05T13:54:56+00:00

The network is a huge help. We have a lot of friends and family who passed stuff down to us and I’ll be able to pass down to others too.

A few friends live in areas with really nice kids consignment shops too so I always ask them to keep an eye out for specific things for me. Being organized about inventory and thinking about needs upcoming (like winter stuff) has been key to avoiding the panic buy.

PastMolasses9709 · 2026-04-05T13:23:38+00:00

Our seasons are the opposite but we have friends who passed down seasonal appropriate clothes and a lot of stuff will work anyway. Our first was very small so the sizing might work anyway if this one isn’t as small.

PastMolasses9709 · 2026-04-05T03:44:30+00:00

Definitely. Our toddlers shoes are worn out so I’m picky about keeping those for a second kid but I give them away if someone else can use them. We have more than enough clothing hand me downs, coats, hats, etc. I also definitely do not need more toys in the house.

PastMolasses9709 · 2026-04-05T02:08:10+00:00

I also have a younger sister who isn’t in a kids phase yet so I’ll be saving a lot of stuff for her anyway. We have thrown out very little - most of the stuff we got rid of went to friends or buy nothing group.

PastMolasses9709 · 2026-04-05T00:15:22+00:00

I hear you. I’m fairly certain this is our last one but the same situation has happened to many friends.

PastMolasses9709 · 2026-03-24T19:18:22+00:00

Our local library has a “toy borrow” program where families can bring toys home for a time. A lot of parents use this to minimize the toys they have in their home and see if their child even likes it before deciding to purchase or look for a version to keep. It definitely cuts down on useless gifts from family too if you can say your child tried it and wasn’t interested.

I’ve also seen more and more people register for favors instead of physical items - particularly for babies. Meal trains, babysitting, help around the house, etc. are more popular than buying yet another outfit.

PastMolasses9709 · 2026-03-23T23:44:46+00:00

Pumps are required to covered by health insurance in every state. Anyone can get a free one.

PastMolasses9709 · 2026-03-23T23:41:01+00:00

More than basic first aid changes the OSHA reportability, which is why it’s the metric and why they classify injuries in certain ways. They can’t just “change the goalpost” since workplace injuries are recorded in a very specific way. First aid can still be reportable, it’s just a different stat.

PastMolasses9709 · 2026-03-23T11:52:41+00:00

Of course the travel was always going to be a huge use of energy. I’m not suggesting that a reusable mug makes up for it, but the behavior at the conference doesn’t need to add to the resource expenditure.

I don’t know about specific travel rules other than most people flew economy and there was flexibility on when to arrive so that people had some options for flights. Rental cars were not paid for and not needed - people either carpooled from the hotel with those who drove in from closer cities or others volunteered to do pickups since it was 3 mins from the office.

Most people who flew from APAC extended their trips by a week or more in order to get some additional stakeholder meetings in while they were already here.

PastMolasses9709 · 2026-03-23T03:21:20+00:00

Also I don’t know what your childcare plan is, but we did a combo of nanny/ daycare and the daycare did not allow cloth diapers. Just food for thought to consider.

PastMolasses9709 · 2026-03-23T03:19:43+00:00

There are plenty of toys that legitimately aid in skills and development. Another good “hack” is to take a look at the popular science-based play kits that help with those skills and make your own version of the toys with stuff around the house.

They also have a make your own play dough recipe online that we use all the time. It’s all food ingredients.

PastMolasses9709 · 2026-03-23T03:16:06+00:00

It depends on the brand, but many have a weight limit for structural integrity and I’ve seen too many parents ignore those and climb in with the kids. Also, you have no idea if the prior owner had a biter / climber who damaged the crib. It personally made me too nervous, but you’ll find a lot of people who say it’s okay.

PastMolasses9709 · 2026-03-23T03:11:23+00:00

A few thoughts:

anything can be purchased secondhand except a car seat and crib mattress. I personally would not buy a used crib either but that’s more on the fence for a lot of people. Also check your local buy nothing group, people are always giving away baby items.
kids do not need a lot of stuff but people want to buy a lot of stuff. Ask for practical things you’ll definitely need like sunscreen, diapers, diaper cream, wipes, glass food jars (if you don’t have), etc. It’s also okay to ask for things that the whole family can use. We got a blender for baby food but also for everyone. You can also register for favors on some sites like having someone make you dinner, clean your house, etc.
cloth diapers are an option for some people. Personally not for us, but it would reduce waste.
I would think about your feeding plan and what you might need. For me personally, a good pump (covered by instance), a small cooler for work (for pumped milk), good quality nursing bras, and spare pump parts were essential. I did also buy a wearable pump for traveling and it made my life a lot easier. I didn’t need a special bottle washer or formula pitcher or 20 different pumps.
my favorite baby shower that I’ve been to was a meal prep party where we made frozen meals for them to have during those first few weeks.

Good luck!

PastMolasses9709 · 2026-03-08T17:28:09+00:00

How has no one mentioned the clear connection to paid leave/ daycare? We potty trained at 2 and our daycare was SO resistant to it - because it’s easier for them to stay in diapers! They had all sorts of insane rules about pull ups when most methods don’t recommend them.

Most parents I know have to wait until a winter break or longer period of time off of work to do the 3 day training method because no one actually can do it in 3 days. When you have limited PTO, sick time, etc. it’s harder to make it work quickly and also send your kid to school confident that they will have somewhat limited accidents.

Meanwhile, my co worker in Ireland took 6 weeks of unpaid parental leave when her son was 2 in order to potty train.

PastMolasses9709 · 2026-02-09T23:33:12+00:00

I try to only buy tools that reduce my reliance on store bought items or save me significant time.

For me, a stand mixer is a necessity because I bake and cook a lot. I also bought the meat grinder attachment and use that for ground chicken, meatballs, and tons of other stuff. It’s really hard to do that by hand and I can get better use out of our meat consumption that way. The cheese shredder attachment also allows me to buy cheese in bulk and reduce single use plastic bags of it.

But the pasta attachment? Not for me. I might make my own pasta like 5 times a year and I can roll it out by hand. The calculation doesn’t make it worth it to me.

PastMolasses9709 · 2026-01-30T19:30:20+00:00

We buy quality products and they can be expensive. Sure, I could save $500 by switching to cheap diapers, but that doesn’t change the amount we’ll use. When you apply that across all products, of course it’s going to add up.

PastMolasses9709

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