Although I'm still trying to find time to make this blog better, I also started a new blog. Someone recently told me that you can discover yourself as you blog, and maybe that is what is happening. Please check it out at www.local-ade.blogspot.com.

I recently came across an old article about just what a huge business the baby apparel and product market is. I'm trying to get current figures, but in 1997 a Consumer Expenditure Survey from the Bureau of Labor Statistics calculated that baby apparel sales were at $11.6 BILLION nationally (that does include diapers). Sales of infant and toddler apparel--not including diapers--increased 45-percent since 1993, according to another survey. Certainly the growth of many established adult apparel companies adding children's lines has contributed to this phenomenal growth in clothes for a population who mostly stay at home, or even in bed most of their days.

What does this mean to this little blog of mine? It means that we should be supporting all the little guys and gals who are but a small part of this very huge business. People obviously want to, and are prepared to, spend quite a lot on baby and children clothing so why shouldn't that money be spent at a business that is financially supporting others in their community by hiring people to make their products?

This morning in my yoga class my instructor said, "It's about quality, not quantity." Of course he was talking about repetitions done in a particular pose. As I collapsed on my mat, I was thinking of shopping locally instead.

Certainly when you shop at a small boutique, prices may be a few dollars higher and there is less inventory to choose from. But especially when shopping for little ones who outgrow their clothes in months, not years, then you only need a couple of quality items to use for a season. Why not choose those few well-made items as opposed to some with the expectation that it's OK if they fall apart or don't last because the kids were going to grow out them any way?

And what about the quality of that shopping experience? How much more meaningful to have a conversation with the owner or designer about how she or he picked out the fabrics of the clothes you are buying, or find out what she has coming in the next season. I worked in retail off and on since high school before developing interests in photography and journalism. I am familiar with the environment, how to make sales and how to provide a quality experience for shoppers. That may be why I want that for myself when I shop. I always knew the owners of the places I worked for too. Why shouldn't we enjoy that face-to-face experience?

Om.