Sunday Morning Swap: Little Swappies

One part of my work as a blogger that I truly enjoy is having the opportunity to try something new, or explore an otherwise unchartered experience.  Meaning, something that I would probably not do otherwise. And then of course, the best part is to share this info with YOU so we can all learn and try cool things out together.  Right?

I’ve never been to a swap meet before.  Frankly, I’m not too familiar with their existence here in the suburbs of Northern New Jersey.  I’m VERY familiar, however, with the notorious GARAGE SALE, which I figured was sort of like a distant cousin to the swap meet.  So I wasn’t entirely sure of what to expect when I was invited to attend Little Swappies in NYC last Sunday morning, but figured it would be a pretty cool experience.

I got to know Little Swappies founder, Lauren Patterson, through our work as Expert Moms for the Mommy Nearest app.  Lauren is a NYC mom of two little ones who founded Little Swappies when her oldest child was just a few months old:

“One day when my daughter was about 6 months old, I went through her closet, and realized there were adorable outfits – some brand-new with tags still on them- that she had already outgrown.  I knew that other mothers must be in a similar situation.  I thought we could all benefit by bringing our community together to swap the items our children no longer use for items that they need.  That is how Little Swappies was born.”

When my toddler son, mother and I arrived at the 25^th Street location of Sunday’s swap event, I was completely blown away by its amazingness.  Let’s start with the location:  the Avenues: The World School space was unbelievable.  Just steps from the Highline, it was bright, spacious and state-of-the-art.  The swap ran like a well-oiled, yet completely chic machine:

• You checked in with your previously-purchased ticket (we paid $10 for a family ticket)
• Then proceeded to the swap room with your 5 items (each family is asked to bring 5 items – either baby/kids clothes, maternity clothes or toys/books that are in new/gently used condition)
• Tables are clearly marked with item type and size range for you to self-sort the items you bought.
• Then it’s back into the main room where dozens of exhibitors were set up (including Mommy Nearest!)

While I spent a good amount of time at the Mommy Nearest table (I was helping the team out a bit), my mom and son sampled organic snacks, learned about children’s music classes and perhaps best of all – spent almost an hour in the Kid’s Center, which was run by Kids at Work, complete with arts and crafts, a musician and sitters from Urban Sitter.

There was a raffle and then the swap room doors were open.

Now, I’m a gal who spent the bulk of her career in the fashion industry and am well-versed in the ways of a sample sale. The swap room kinda operated in the same fashion.  But since kids were involved, folks were wayyyy more dignified and respectful than at your typical sample sale.  But it pretty much was a free-for-all. I did notice that there was an abundance of newborn and baby clothes opposed to items for toddler age children.  But there were plenty of toys, books and other items to go around.  My son found a toy carwash, a golf cart and some assorted plastic animal toys that he claimed as his own.  And rather quickly.  Which made me wonder if perhaps my innate sample sale-navigation gene was passed on to him…

What’s pretty fantastic, too, is that you walk away with so much more than just a few pieces of clothes or toys.  Being part of a swap, you:

• extend the life of your items
• receive as many new items as you choose to take
• are introduced to many socially responsible, innovative, and family-oriented companies
• protect our planet by recycling
• support homeless teen mothers and their children in Covenant House’s Mother/Child Crisis Center and Nursery Program (anything leftover from the swap is donated)

Little Swappies tends to run these types of events quarterly and they’re typically held early on a weekend morning.   While perfect for the city parent, I can tell you that it was a wonderful weekend outing for a suburban parent, too.  Minimal traffic, cheap parking and gorgeous weather made for an all-around great day to swap.

Lauren tells me that they’ll take a little break for summer, but visit the website to find out when the next Little Swappies event will be taking place in the Fall.  (And who knows…maybe a Little Swappies event might venture across the Hudson sometime in the near future!  Stay tuned…)

oxox

-mom a la mode

{I was not compensated for this post. I did receive discounted admission to Little Swappies as well as a goodie bag for attending.  This content is also appearing on the Mommy Nearest blog, for which I do receive compensation.  All opinions expressed here are solely mine.}