The weather forecast for Sunday actually looked alright for once; so on Saturday evening, Aidan packed up the car (still doesn’t have a name; Fluffy Dog is just not working for us) of the last of our boot sale boxes. Sunday morning was actually a textbook getaway for us… Apart from having to bring Dexter in his pyjamas because obviously that was the morning he wanted to sleep in.

The kids were a great help getting set up. Corliss was under a deal that to keep a teddy she had to sell 10 other toys… As it turned out, she bought another toy instead which made her forget all about the original teddy. They both tend to enjoy setting things up on the table and despite the usual wobbles over selling certain things, they really get stuck in to helping out.

Well, Corliss does. This was Dexter for most of the morning:

He had a great time playing with the banana boxes. One man commented how refreshing it was to see a little child actually playing rather than fiddling with a phone. I had to surreptitiously put mine back in my pocket at this point…

We didn’t actually sell that much this time. The car boot was huge but hardly any people were looking round. We had loads of toys to sell, but very few children seemed to be there. However, as per usual we bought loads. Stuff for us, stuff for the kids, stuff to eBay. We rinsed that car boot sale dry.

Corliss bought a Furby from a stall that honestly, it was as if the Big Bang theory had a stall. So much good stuff! We bought absolutely loads from them. And at the end of the day, the bloke from the stall came over with the other Furby and gave it to the kids for free. Dexter was pleased because it meant he had one too! They then played with the Furbies got the rest of the day… And mummy may have had a little play with them too…

I’m really pleased with some of the stuff I bought. Not had chance to properly sort through it yet though. There’s some vintage shoes, old Ladybird books, Welsh Woollen purse, vintage nightie holder, old photographs and less exciting stuff to put on eBay.

Tips for Car Booting with Kids:

1. Get everything ready the night before. I literally mean everything: clothes, breakfast stuff packed, sandwiches, sun cream, wellies. Make sure it’s all in the car.
2. Set an alarm as you can guarantee it’ll be the first time they sleep in for weeks.
3. Give them a job to do one you’re there, or if they’re little keep them in the car seats til you’ve got somewhere for them to play set up.
4. Babies that can’t move can sit on a picnic blanket and play with the toys you’re selling.
5. Babies that can move are a law unto themselves… We used to take it in turns to look round with Dexter in the sling.
6. Take loads of food and water.
7. Take a potty, sometimes toilets are miles away or non existent.
8. Give the kids a set amount of money to spend otherwise you’ll come home with more than you sell. Ours get £2 each (with a bit of leeway if something is really good and I think I can flog it at a later date.)
9. Bin bags are useful for the inevitable pooey nappy just add you’re trying to unpack.
10. Audio cds in the car are good for giving them a break / keeping them contained if need be.

Funny story: we have this Little Mermaid story read by Tamsin Greig and she does this great, scary, stern voice as the Sea Witch with a big cackle. Last car boot sale, the kids were in the car listening to it, and I was sitting outside. As it got to the bit with the cackle, one of the kids turned it up and a little old lady walking past obviously heard it… And thought it was me! She gave me such a strange stare and it took me a few moments to register why. I couldn’t stop giggling all day at the thought of her telling people about the woman cackling at her at the car boot sale.

How do you find doing car boot sales with the kids?