Monday, September 26, 2005

I thought registering was supposed to be fun?

Ben and I decided that Saturday would be a great day to register for baby items. We headed out the door, naively believing that we were on our way to have a really great time. Fast forward 30 minutes and we were standing in line behind 10 other pregnant women listening to a sales associate give a very fast group lesson on how to use the scanner, how to delete items from our list and how to register for "non-specific" items. I felt like we were entering a race. Little did I know how unprepared we were for this adventure. First item on the list of "suggested registry items": Bottles. Who knew there were so many options! And we hadn't even gotten to the wall o' nipples. We made our first joint decision, we skipped registering for bottles.
Next Stop: the stroller department. Surely it would prove to be a much easier decision to make. The first stroller we picked out was much too heavy and we had a hard time steering it. The second stroller we couldn't figure out how to detach the car seat. I assumed that we would move on to the next stroller, but Ben decided that he was going to spend a significant amount of time proving that he could detach the car seat and reattach it. While I moved along and made a decision on the stroller I wanted, Ben was still sitting on the floor of the aisle underneath the stroller trying to figure it out. Eventually he conquered the stroller and car seat and we were able to agree on a stroller that we both felt comfortable with. Shortly thereafter, we looked at our watches and realized that we had been in the store for an hour and had only picked out a stroller!! We spent the following 2 hours running around the store looking at baby merchandise that we didn't even know existed wondering if we needed to register for it all. Eventually we turned in our scanner, exited the store, and headed home for a nap. Who knew registering could be so tiring!

1 comment:

Caterina said...

When I bought stuff for the baby shower (and birth) of my niece, I was truly amazed at all the things that have been invented and sell for babies. Wow.

Here are a few items that I have seen on several baby registries -
1. Disposal bibs. Which I actually think is pretty cool.
2. Baby wipes warmer. You know, so the little tike doesn't get a shock from the cold baby wipes.
3. A cover for the water spout in the bath tub. I guess this is for safety reasons, but if I never needed one then my baby doesn't need one, ha.
4. A clip that attaches onto your baby and on their pacifier, this way they don't keep losing the pacifier and you don't spend hours looking for them. At first I thought this was such a silly thing to have, but some mothers I know sware they could not live without it.

And some items that I seem to always see on baby registries -
1. Diaper Genie.
2. Lots & lots of onesies.
3. Waterproof mattress pads for the crib. A must.
4. Burp cloths and receiving blankets. Lots & lots of these too.

Obviously there are the big items that everyone needs and wants....like the strollers, cribs, car seats, cradle swings, and playpens. Oh my, I just realized how long this comment has grown to. Sorry.

Anyway, good luck with future baby shopping! :)