I have a friend who always sends out her birthday party invites with "Seriously, no presents. They're bad for the environment" at the bottom. It really cuts down on the amount of unwanted gifts brought by people who think "no presents" means "but secretly yes please presents."

Burrell, I've had good luck passing on baby stuff to pregnant neighbors through our local Yahoo Group - I'm sure there's one (or several) in LA.

The anti-wedding, from this weekend's WP (it's a cute article, not a complaint article): [link]

I could relate to the Wegman's love.

Question-- any of the educational types around here ever heard of the People to People exchange program? Abby's apparently been invited to travel to Australia next summer with other eligible 5th and 6th graders from the Jacksonville area.

The letter states that it's a program founded in 1956 by Dwight Eisenhower.

::off to do research::

Burrell, I've had good luck passing on baby stuff to pregnant neighbors through our local Yahoo Group - I'm sure there's one (or several) in LA.

I should try Craigs List or something. We have neighbors, one day a nice new stroller just appeared outside their house. When the owner didn't come back for it, they tried to give it away for free. No one wanted it.

Since most of our stuff was secondhand (mostly from my sister) I'm okay with just recycling things like the 10 year old car seats. But I do want to find a good home for the crib, it's still in beautiful shape.

Burrell, I've had good luck passing on baby stuff to pregnant neighbors through our local Yahoo Group - I'm sure there's one (or several) in LA.

I've done this. Also, I've passed stuff off to our church nursery and Ellie and Frisco's daycare. I've decided that when Frisco is done with our stuff, I'm getting rid of it. I saved absolutely everything of Ellie's and the house just feels full of crap - even if it's good crap.

If we have another baby, I'll just invest in new versions of the stuff I want. It's sad - there's so much stuff I never/rarely used - like the crib. Of course, you never know what the new baby will like, but I'm willing to take that risk for a few years of clutter-free living.

eta: [funny crib x-post]

I Want you to Want Me has the great handclapping at the end. Crowds love to clap along! Bonus I already have it on my iTunes.

I'd kind of like to sing something newer but...I can't really remember the popular songs of the 90s or the 00s!

"(I Can't) Breakaway" by Big Pig,

Awesome!

IMO, Big Pig's Bonk is one of the best albums of the past 20 years. Seriously. If I ever sang a slow rocker anywhere but my shower, especially for karaoke, I'd sing "Devil's Song."

What about Crazy by Gnarls Barkley? Or (to go old-but-goofy)Uptown Girl by Billy Joel?

any of the educational types around here ever heard of the People to People exchange program?

It's legit. The catch is, of course, that you have to pay for the trip somehow.

I did a quick search and don't see any lawsuits or bad press.

I posted to the list-serv for parents and grad student parents at work and disposed of an infant car seat, crib, and bouncer in about 3 hours, and had at least 6 people waiting as backups. Pregnant grad students LOVE free baby stuff.