Sunday, October 9, 2011

Don't just pick the pretty...

I was reading a book of things I should be doing at this stage in the pregnancy and I'm failing. According to this book, I should have started the baby registry at week 20. Fail. So, I decided that I better go scope out Babies 'R Us and get this train back on the track. I am not sure if it was the florescent lights, the aisles jammed with carts from which screaming children were hanging all over them, or the amount of junk they had crammed into 5000 square feet, but I couldn't not handle it. I had a full on Babies 'R Us induced panic attack. I literally walked from one side of the store to the other and walked back out. Yep. This was not the place for me. I wish I knew this before I drove 20 minutes out to the suburbs (and those who know me, you know that I don't leave a 5 mile radius without good reason). So if I couldn't handle this excursion, why should I expect others to endure the same experience to get registry gifts? Answer: I don't. I will be finding places more in my comfort zone. I am actually trying to register online... so very comfortable to not have to leave the house... we'll see how it goes. Did you know you can register on Amazon!? So nice.

I also realized that I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to selecting the correct items to put on a baby registry. Typically, when purchasing something I think "oh that's pretty, I'll take that." I mean that's how a wedding registry goes... you know you need plates, you pick the ones you like aesthetically and you move onto silverware. It's a cakewalk. This is a totally different game... It's not about what's pretty... it's about what is the safest, the most durable, the most functional, with the highest consumer report rating. This takes an insane amount of research. Therefore, I tapped into the BEST resource out there... my friends who are new mom's, and they are amazing. I asked them for recommendations on what things they would put top on their list, and what to not put on the list. The advice I got has been such a value I cannot even tell you. I still feel out of my element, but with some solid guidance. My goal is to have this registry complete by the end of the upcoming weekend.

Through this research, I've also come to realize that babies are not free (shocking, I know). Sure purchasing little things like a pacifier are manageable, but the second you put wheels on it or batteries in it, you better get out the credit card. Don't even get me even started on day care. I'm tackling one battle at a time, and much like the birth I'm pretending like day care is not a part of the equation....yet... For now I'm focusing on function and not just picking the pretty.... hard words to get a designer to live by, but we're working on it. Registry onward!

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