This may not amount to anything at all, but I want to try anyway.
So a few months ago, one of Nate's patients asked if he wanted 'a few' train sets to give to Truman. I guess she had tried to sell them on Craigslist without success (I do not get this part) and figured Nate's train-obsessed son would get good use out of them. So Nate said 'sure' and he brought them home that week. He mentioned that there were a lot of trains but he had to hide them in the basement so Truman didn't find them. I figured we could give them to T for Christmas and kind of forgot about it.
Then last night I knew I should go through them all to figure out what was even hidden in our basement. And then I freaked out. Holy crap, you guys. There are thousands of dollars worth of Fischer Price Geo Tracks down there. I obviously have no idea exactly how much all of this cost to buy originally but some of the smallest boxes still have stickers from Kohls that say $12.99---and those are the littlest sets. Three giant garbage bags just full of tracks, a huge cardboard box that is big enough to fit both of my children inside is full of big pieces of the sets, a box full of trains, a box full of miscellaneous small items, and then boxes and boxes full of these sets. It. Is. Insane.
I was so overwhelmed last night after pulling it all out I just sort of sat there (with my glass of red wine) and couldn't move. Why didn't I do this sooner? What on earth was I going to do with all of these trains? Our house is already overrun with choo choos and it's just another one of those times when I feel incredibly blessed. We are so grateful to be able to provide our own Christmas gifts to our kids (not to mention the necessities in life just to get by) and I know there are many families out there who are not as fortunate. Especially during Christmas, it's hard to think about families struggling to get by, unable to buy toys for their kids because it's either toys or food (or heat). Hopefully my children will never know what it's like to be hungry or cold, because if anything they are ridiculously spoiled by their well-meaning parents and grandparents. So trust me when I say I know how blessed we are. And the last thing Truman needs is a boat load of trains. Our playroom could never handle the mass influx of locomotives and my Type A self would die before trying to contain all of them into storage bins.
I posted on Facebook last night, asking for suggestions about what to do. I forced Nate to help me organize everything to see what sets were complete and what we wanted to give to Truman. We picked 4 boxes to give to him at Christmas and might save a few other things for his birthday. But everything else really needs to go to someone who could use these Geo Tracks more than us. If nothing happens with this blog post, I have no problem donating these trains to Goodwill or The Salvation Army. I'm not sure about donating to a place like Childrens' Hospital, as suggested on Facebook---I mean, the trains are in good shape but they are definitely used. I'd love to hear other ideas about places that would take pre-owned toys for donation if you have any. But I also really like the idea of giving some of these trains to a local family in need--making it more personal would make me feel better about sending these tracks to a home in need. Kind of like
MODG's amazing WANA post, where she is helping families in need hook up with families who can give---but about 1/5000th as big as that post;) I started reading through all of the comments on that post to see if anyone had a little boy who would use the trains but then realized, duh---Christmas is 3 days away now. And shipping them might be a challenge.
So I'm sorry this post is so late. I should have gone through the stuff a lot earlier but I had no idea there was THAT much in our basement. I am asking if you, or someone you know, lives in the Milwaukee area and needs GeoTracks for their kids. I hate to narrow it down to just Milwaukee folks but it would probably make the most sense to meet in person to give you these trains. I would also be open to shipping some of them out but there's no way they'd arrive before Christmas and they may be a pain in the butt to send in the mail. I'd rather deliver them myself if possible but again, I realize that given the time constraints before Christmas and the request that you live in my area I may be setting myself up for failure.
Regardless, let's see what happens. Email me or comment here if you could use these trains. Or if you have ideas of specific organizations that would take them. Otherwise I will happily take a load to Goodwill or the Salvation Army, since there is nothing wrong with those places, either. I was just wondering if I could make it a bit more personal instead.
Off to enjoy the start of this fabulous 4 day break from work with my family. It may not be the amazing 11-12 days that a lot of people have but as healthcare workers, Nate and I know that we don't get a lot of time off around the holidays. And that is okay. We'll take what we can get, gearing up to see both of our brothers and my parents next week, too! Hope the Missourians are ready to inhale some frigid Wisconsin air;)
