Was this made in China Mom?

Okay, so I'm not as good or even as witty a writer as my husband but I still think it's important for me to post on here once and a while. I am the main purchaser for the family so it only makes sense.  

I am really excited about our new adventure. For those of you who know me know I'm always looking for the next new challenge... as if having 3 young children isn't enough of a challenge at the moment. I like to just dive right in... so here we go, no better time like the present, right?

So far the biggest challenge for me with this adventure is remembering to check where the product is made. When I have my daughters with me they seem to be good most of the time reminding me by blurting out "was this made in China Mom!" but sometimes it completely slips my mind. Like the other day we were going through the check out with our groceries and I went to put a box of straws on the counter when I realized I hadn't checked where they were made... China! of course. The same brand of straws I bought last year were made in Thailand. Why couldn't they be made there this year. It would have made things simple for me plus it would have saved me a trip back to the isle they came from, which with 3 small children can be a task in and of itself. At least I didn't buy them before I realized, otherwise I would have to drive back to the store to return them. 

Oh and trying to find a birthday present for a 4 year old in a small town that my 5 year old thinks is "special" enough is nearly impossible. We did manage to find some "special" markers and construction paper made in the USA and my 5 year old decided to give her one of her "special" toys. 

My goal for the week is to remember to check the item as soon as I pick it up. I will try to keep you posted on how that is working out for me.

M

First shopping trip.

We went on our first major shopping trip on Monday. Living in a small town in BC you have to go elsewhere when there is a need for some serious restocking of the shelves and this time we chose Spokane, Washington. How did we do avoiding Chinese products, well really well. It also helped that some of the kids would look at every product they were interested in and ask at the top of their lungs "is this made in China?" Kids can be so embarrassing at times as they are brutally honest. They really helped in our quest.

As you can imagine, almost every toy out there is made in China especially the lower end plastic products. We did manage to find some books for the girls that were made in North America, not that they need any more books but at least they got something. My wife found clothes that she was needing and although there were a lot of clothes made in China, there were a lot that weren't. Again we seemed to do really well at Old Navy where a majority of our dollars were spent.

Shoes. That is the tough category, could not find any summer shoes out there that weren't made in China. Flip Flops forget it. I looked at my runners that I bought a couple of years ago while I was in training, Mizuno brand, sound European doesn't it. Nope, made in China. So shoes will be the trouble spot. Oh yes, and hair clips.

There was one store we looked at in Spokane where every single product was from China, unfortunate because they had really nice stuff.

One point for the Chinese though. I won a bid for some microphones on ebay a few weeks ago and they arrived yesterday. Turns out they were made in China. We had to really look all over them to find a country of manufacture and it was hidden inside the shaft. Sneaky. I ordered those before we started this so I have to let it slide.

One week down. The unfortunate thing about the trip is the speeding ticket I got on the way back for going 35 in a 25 zone! I know some police officers here that would never write a ticket that lame. That ticket eliminated any possible savings for the day, if the ticket stands 'cause I'm gonna fight it.