The Purple_Kangaroo Method of Baby Registry
I've been reading through some things I wrote around the time my first two babies were born, and some of them are pretty funny. It's so nice to feel like an experienced mom this time around and not be panicking about things like baby registries.
In 2000 when I was pregnant with A (my first), several people had asked me to register for what I wanted in preparation for baby showers. But I had no idea what to register for or what a baby would need.
I was so confused.
How many bibs will I need? Do I really need both drooling and feeding bibs? What do you dress a baby in every day, anyway? What *is* the difference between a t-shirt and a onesie, and are they interchangeable or does baby wear both? What is the purpose of all these clothes???
Will I need an umbrella stroller and something sturdier, or just the lightweight stroller that converts into an infant stroller, or what?
How much of this stuff do I really need and how much is just extra fluff with lots of great salesmanship to make me think I want it when I really don't need it?
And, most importantly, HOW am I ever going to fit a playpen, swing, exercise saucer, high chair, and all that other stuff into the dining/living room area of our apartment and still have room for the couch and dining room set?
Here's a post I wrote 11/7/2000:
The Purple_Kangaroo method of baby registry.
1. Read lots of books and magazines telling you what you need to get. Make a list of what you already have. Forget to take it to the store with you.
2. Go to the store and look at baby stuff. Get overwhelmed. Leave.
3. Take your mom to the store to help you register. Get overwhelmed. Register for a bunch of stuff you didn't really want, or too many of everything, because you can't decide between the options or because your mom thinks it's cute and hands it to you to look at/scan. Get tired and more overwhelmed. Decide to put off decisions on most of the big stuff until you see what they have at the other baby store in the area.
4. Go to the other store the same day. Scan a bunch more stuff. Try to remember what you already scanned at the other store. Compare the lists of what you supposedly "need" for the baby from the two stores, and panic because they vastly disagree.
Try to think of everything you might possibly need for the baby in the next two years. Scan things like baby food, because what if when the baby is a few months old she suddenly decides to stop nursing, and you don't have any baby food to feed her? (Never mind that you live 2 minutes from a grocery store anyway, and the date will probably be expired by the time you use any baby food you buy now.)
Scan a potty chair and toddler clothes, even though you live in a small apartment, will be moving when the baby is a few months old, and won't be using any of this stuff for at least two years anyway.
5. Go home totally exhausted, planning to go back and finish registering later. Realize that the second store (the one you registered for the most important stuff at) is at least an hour away from most of the people who will be buying you shower gifts, and they all make a habit of shopping at the other store anyway.
6. Get online and look at the two stores' web sites. Try to make a list of what you want to remove from and add to your lists. Pick out a bedding set. Abandon the idea of a bedding set because $250 is way too much to pay for a crib sheet and bumper, a ruffle that will just get ripped on the let-down side of the crib, and a comforter you can't use in the crib anyway. Try to figure out why you registered for 15 blankets, a bunch of seasonal clothes that will be gone after next month, and no baby t-shirts.
7. Cry on your husband's shoulder. Let him hold you and remind you that you can always return things or buy things you forgot to register for, and that the registry is not set in stone.
8. Call both stores and tell them you want to erase the whole registry and start over.
9. Go back to the first store (the one all your friends shop at) and register for everything you want there. Buzz through in a record time of a couple of hours because you already did this once, and this time you know what you do or don't want (maybe?). Stand in front of the disposable diapers for a while trying to decide which brand to get, then just register for a small package of each so you can try them all. Ask people with infants what they wished they had registered for and what they didn't use. Ask people in the baby care aisle what kind of baby bath and lotion they use. Register for that kind.
10. Return to the second store on a different day and register for just a few things they didn't have at the first store, or that you don't mind getting duplicates of.
11. Go home triumphant!!!
In 2000 when I was pregnant with A (my first), several people had asked me to register for what I wanted in preparation for baby showers. But I had no idea what to register for or what a baby would need.
I was so confused.
How many bibs will I need? Do I really need both drooling and feeding bibs? What do you dress a baby in every day, anyway? What *is* the difference between a t-shirt and a onesie, and are they interchangeable or does baby wear both? What is the purpose of all these clothes???
Will I need an umbrella stroller and something sturdier, or just the lightweight stroller that converts into an infant stroller, or what?
How much of this stuff do I really need and how much is just extra fluff with lots of great salesmanship to make me think I want it when I really don't need it?
And, most importantly, HOW am I ever going to fit a playpen, swing, exercise saucer, high chair, and all that other stuff into the dining/living room area of our apartment and still have room for the couch and dining room set?
Here's a post I wrote 11/7/2000:
The Purple_Kangaroo method of baby registry.
1. Read lots of books and magazines telling you what you need to get. Make a list of what you already have. Forget to take it to the store with you.
2. Go to the store and look at baby stuff. Get overwhelmed. Leave.
3. Take your mom to the store to help you register. Get overwhelmed. Register for a bunch of stuff you didn't really want, or too many of everything, because you can't decide between the options or because your mom thinks it's cute and hands it to you to look at/scan. Get tired and more overwhelmed. Decide to put off decisions on most of the big stuff until you see what they have at the other baby store in the area.
4. Go to the other store the same day. Scan a bunch more stuff. Try to remember what you already scanned at the other store. Compare the lists of what you supposedly "need" for the baby from the two stores, and panic because they vastly disagree.
Try to think of everything you might possibly need for the baby in the next two years. Scan things like baby food, because what if when the baby is a few months old she suddenly decides to stop nursing, and you don't have any baby food to feed her? (Never mind that you live 2 minutes from a grocery store anyway, and the date will probably be expired by the time you use any baby food you buy now.)
Scan a potty chair and toddler clothes, even though you live in a small apartment, will be moving when the baby is a few months old, and won't be using any of this stuff for at least two years anyway.
5. Go home totally exhausted, planning to go back and finish registering later. Realize that the second store (the one you registered for the most important stuff at) is at least an hour away from most of the people who will be buying you shower gifts, and they all make a habit of shopping at the other store anyway.
6. Get online and look at the two stores' web sites. Try to make a list of what you want to remove from and add to your lists. Pick out a bedding set. Abandon the idea of a bedding set because $250 is way too much to pay for a crib sheet and bumper, a ruffle that will just get ripped on the let-down side of the crib, and a comforter you can't use in the crib anyway. Try to figure out why you registered for 15 blankets, a bunch of seasonal clothes that will be gone after next month, and no baby t-shirts.
7. Cry on your husband's shoulder. Let him hold you and remind you that you can always return things or buy things you forgot to register for, and that the registry is not set in stone.
8. Call both stores and tell them you want to erase the whole registry and start over.
9. Go back to the first store (the one all your friends shop at) and register for everything you want there. Buzz through in a record time of a couple of hours because you already did this once, and this time you know what you do or don't want (maybe?). Stand in front of the disposable diapers for a while trying to decide which brand to get, then just register for a small package of each so you can try them all. Ask people with infants what they wished they had registered for and what they didn't use. Ask people in the baby care aisle what kind of baby bath and lotion they use. Register for that kind.
10. Return to the second store on a different day and register for just a few things they didn't have at the first store, or that you don't mind getting duplicates of.
11. Go home triumphant!!!
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Posted by purple_kangaroo at 1:09 PM[Permanent link]
3 Comments:
"Go home triumphant!!!" is encouraging. I'm a terribly indecisive shopper, trying to pick out the best of what's available; I can drive myself crazy. I often end up making a mountain out of a mole hill.
It extends to any decision, I suppose: I want to do it perfectly the first time, to save myself work later, and I sometimes end up spending twice as much time researching and debating as I would have if I just made a decision and fixed it later if necessary.
Ah, well. It's nice to know I'm not alone. I'm glad you're not torturing yourself this time around. :)
LOL, I have always had a hard time making decisions too. It does seem to get easier as I get more practice/get more confident or whatever, though. :)
LOL
We have just too many choices in the states and that makes life way more difficult & overwhelming at times.
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