Barbara Correa writes about work and family for the Los Angeles Daily News.Trying to Unload Kid Gear? Click here
File this one in the brilliant ideas I wish I'd had category. It's called Zwaggle.com (not crazy about the name) and it's basically Ebay without any purchase prices. Targeted to parents with too much kid stuff they've outgrown, Zwaggle users earn points for shipping their stuff to someone who wants it, then they can use those points to redeem stuff they do need/want. The only money that changes hands is shipping costs. I just logged on, and some users are offering to pay for shipping as well, just to find a home for their child's outcasts.
It's something that a nonparent can't understand -- and it sounds crazy. But the high chairs, baby swings and toys that your child drooled on, pooped on, played with, bit, laughed at, is saturated in sentimental value, and it's hard to just leave it on the sidewalk outside a Salvation Army store somewhere. I love this idea of getting things to people who will use them and love them!