Member Story: Darby from Washington

Meet Darby, one of our UpChoose moms from Seattle, Washington. She's the mom of Lane who is almost two years old. She joined UpChoose just before Lane was born. You can find her on Instagram @mcdarbster

What’s your name? Any nickname?

Darby McGaffin.

Live in? Grew up in?

Live in Seattle, grew up in Chapel Hill, NC.

You’re the mom of...

Lane, born 4/5/21.

I used to be a doula and became extremely aware that pregnancy / having a small child is a huge industry where many things are sold that are completely unnecessary.  I have also always been extremely interested in sustainability including reusing things / recycling things as much as I possibly can.

I made changes with my son from our baby showers when I was pregnant in the pandemic.  We did everything via zoom so there was no need for goodies / supplies for the party and we had an extremely limited baby registry.  I asked most of my friends and family not to get me anything so I ended up buying most of the things we absolutely needed for ourselves.  Since then we have kept everything extremely limited.
 

What are some benefits you have seen over time, are there things that worked well for you?

My son loves the simple things in life rather than toys / buying a lot.  If he wants to play with different toys we just go to the playgrounds which, here in Seattle, are littered with old toys that he loves playing with.
 
 
 

❝ I absolutely love not having to worry about picking my son's clothes and not having to worry about storing all the clothes or getting rid of them somehow. My biggest concern is what will happen when my son gets too big for UpChoose, thinking about that makes me a bit anxious.❞

Any tips you'd like to share with other expecting parents who just heard about these issues and trying to figure out their first steps?

The most important thing is spending time with your child and focusing on yourself and your relationship with your partner.  If anyone tries to sell you something to "make that easier" or puts the focus on something else, it's likely completely unnecessary.

Can you tell us a bit about the set(s) you received from UpChoose? What did you pick and how have you used the platform so far? 

We started with the biggest set available cause we had no idea what our family would need.  From there we were quickly able to tell exactly what we needed and go with a small set that just included clothes.

Do you already have a favorite outfit or item from your UpChoose set? 

We decided to keep one or two outfits from when our son was first born as memorabilia.  This cute nighttime onesie was one of those choice pieces.
 
 

Lane :)

What’s most exciting to you about being part of the UpChoose community and what are the most important things we can help you achieve? 

I absolutely love not having to worry about picking my son's clothes and not having to worry about storing all the clothes or getting rid of them somehow. My biggest concern is what will happen when my son gets too big for UpChoose, thinking about that makes me a bit anxious.

Favorite activities or games you play with the kid(s)?

I love walking around outside, playing on the playground and kicking his favorite ball around.

Dream place for a vacation?

I would love to go skydiving in New Zealand.

Favorite dish?

I love cooking new things!