I now have a friend, Mindy*, who is expecting her first child this spring. Mindy also lives in Chicago and has the same shopping mentality as I--if it's too over-the-top, too expensive and/or too beautiful, buy without question. Which is perhaps why we're both broke. But recently, while shopping online for her nursery furniture, Mindy came up with a brilliant suggestion for furniture shopping in the city. This suggestion will require a background story, however, for those of you living in more...hospitable...places than Chicago.
*Names have been changed to protect the fact that she has never been "innocent" a day in her life.
You see, when Chicago has winter storms with large amounts of snow, a ritual takes place among city-dwellers who are sans-garages. Before leaving their snowed-in street parking, these urban miners must first dig themselves out of the snow bank in which the car is encased. Mind you, it's an often-grueling, time-consuming process. Where the story gets interesting is when such locals then feel a certain "bond" with their spot. They feel that the fact that they put so much effort into a parking space entitles them to the space, forever. No, really. Oftentimes in such situations, you will see Mr./ Ms. Snowblower place in the soon vacant parking spot an item of furniture. You see where I am going with this. Such items are frequently of the lawn-chair persuasion. Occasionally, however, you will get a nice CD tower or even a table.
As you have likely guessed, Mindy's brilliant idea is to prowl the streets for nursery furniture. Sure, you may have to mix-and-match when it comes to the style and design. But for the price, it can't be beat. Plus it instills in our children both a thriftiness and a love for recycling when we tell them the story of that Miami Dolphins lamp shade and how it came to be theirs. Helping the environment and helping ourselves--just a day in the life of a city parent.
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