A few eye-popping stats on the wardrobing of our children: by age 17, kids will have outgrown over 1,300 items, and the average parent will have spent nearly $20,000 on their clothing (and as an average, we would shudder to think where those of us on the outer end of the spectrum come out). Of broader concern, over 20 billion pounds of clothing and textiles are tossed into landfills each year. Whether these stats predominantly motivate you based on affordability, convenience and/or eco-friendliness, we found the recently introduced ThredUP an interesting solution…
ThredUp is already the #1 Online Children’s Clothing Swap
Seeking a better alternative to trashing old clothes is not new, nor is the idea for finding good alternatives to buying everything at retail for kids. However, the options for this until now (i.e. consignments, auctions, swap parties) were difficult, certainly not ideal for busy working parents. This online service seeks to remedy most of those issues by providing a simple marketplace for giving a box of your worn (but not worn-out) kids clothes, identified by gender, age, and type of items inside… and in turn choosing another box of your own, for just the price of 
shipping ($13/box). As you browse, boxes are described by the items and brands are inside … though there is an element of surprise to what you receive when you actually open one up. However, as members are expected to follow a clear honor code (the "Golden ThredUP Rule"), the surprises seem to be mostly the good sort (and if you are not happy, you can always swap again).
Brand-wise, there appears to be a lot of Old Navy and Cherokee in the offerings, though some higher end labels are in the mix as well. (To encourage community building and usage, competitive leaderboards track who has racked up the most stylish points, as one measure; you can search their listings as a great starting point).
Over time, members can "favorite" preferred senders and gain faster access to their goods. If you become a real power user, a PRO Membership upgrade affords access to additional features like detailed clothing itemization views, unlimited favorite senders, and clothing recommendations and more. It’s fall cleaning, with benefits…
A Summit Just for Tweens (and their Moms)
Much has been written about the complexity of the years between childhood and young adulthood for girls, along with their adapting parents; less has been done to bring girls them together to understand, embrace and celebrate it. On October 10, 2010, The AllyKatzz Tween Girl Summit will be held in New York City, where over 250 tween girls from around the nation will come together to "SPEAK UP and BE HEARD" by the world, and meet inspirational personalities from media, entertainment, fashion and sports, culminating in their very own VIP concert that evening. Moms get their own programming track, and a Parents’ Lounge in which to mingle and relax. The 2009 Summit was sold-out and the chat boards on AllyKatzz.com would suggest this one is headed in the same direction. Tweens must fill out a thoughtful application and be chosen to attend; if selected the attendance fee is only $25 per person.