So, I had started this post several weeks ago, but stalled (and Ashli was happy to hold off on the topic until I finished up). Now that we’ve had our first shower, I took the time to finish up and post it.
Let me just tell you. Outside of my perfect woman telling me that she would spend the rest of her life with me (and being able to return the favor), the post-nuptials, and the Jamaican honeymoon, my favorite part of getting married was quite possibly registering for gifts. So, of course, outside of all the gloriousness that comes with being a new father and having a beautiful, healthy baby, I couldn’t help but be excited about our return to the scanner gun. Talking about epic fail…it was nothing like I remembered.
The scanner gun was still a blast, but the experience is vastly different. You see, when we registered for the wedding, the stuff was for us…Ashli and I. We knew our tastes, we knew what looks and styles we were going for, and with china as a possible exception, we knew what we were doing. Baby registering is a whole different beast. The big things: the crib, the dresser, the rocker…although we spent a lot of time trying to decide exactly what we wanted, we were able to whittle things down and buy them ourselves. Then, we got to the big ticket items of the registry: travel system, stroller, high chair, exersaucer, bouncer, etc. There were several, but a finite list, of options, we typically picked mid-level items that looked like it would fit with our color schemes, was listed as a “Parent’s Top Pick”, which apparently doesn’t actually mean “Top” pick, but just in the top 50% of items., some we had heard about from other parents (of course everyone has an opinion on the perfect item), and basically whatever we liked. However, take the exersaucer for instance…have you looked at these things? How are you supposed to know whether baby is going to like the little star that makes noise or the little monkey that makes noise. The activity center was probably even tougher…This one has 34 items and is listed as Parents’ magazine favorite toy and that one has 32 activities and was the best new toy of 2008 by We Know What Kids Want publication. I digress. We got through all of these larger items and thought we had done well and made all of our decisions.
Wait a second….there are six more aisles. First, we get to the breast aisle. Now, believe me, I love breasts as much as the next guy…but breast pads, breast cream, there are these things called nipple shields that actually come in small, medium, and large. “Happy Baby Shower…here are those extra large nipple shields you registered for”…really, someone thought this was a good idea. OK, so we didn’t register for those, but did get some other wonderfulness for when Ashli’s breasts are no longer just for fun, but actually have a real purpose L Then you move around the corner and there are bottles. So many bottles, so many nipples (can someone count how many times I can get away with saying nipple in this post?). Apparently, this BPA thing is really bad, because every package says BPA free. OK, that’s step 1, but now what. Once again, people have some strong opinions on this topic. I can imagine loving whatever we end up with, because, basically it will fulfill it’s purpose and we won’t know anything else. Then you have your pacifiers. Little did we know, there is actually a debate as to whether you should even use one or not. Also, turns out I didn’t know there were different binkys for different ages of babies. Then you have different brands, colors…just crazy. Nuk apparently is supposed to be “the best”, but once again, isn’t the best whatever actually pacifies the baby. Then you have first aid kits, baby baths, thermometers, soaps/shampoos, little toys…we’re tired at this point and we’re done. Here’s an idea for the baby registry, how about the parents can just say they want some bottles, some pacifiers, some stuff for the boob, something to clean the baby, just everything on the checklist that every baby store gives you. Then all those parents that have strong opinions on what is best, or even those that don’t have strong opinions can just pick out what’s worked for them. That’s the key really…We don’t care what brand or style of things, just whatever works for baby.
Finally, you get to the clothes. Now, I absolutely love that we’re not finding out whether Snowball has a penis or not, but let me just tell you, finding small unisex clothes is difficult. Especially since the only ones that are really unisex have ducks on them…nothing but white or yellow ducks. Which is completely fine for one or two items, but not Snowball’s entire wardrobe. Then you have socks, hats, gloves, onesies. Obviously we need these items, but how many? How much do we buy now and how much do we wait for after the big reveal? Once again, we’re fine leaving it up to the “experts”, but there’s no option for this on the registry form.
So, if I wrote about this when I wanted to, I would probably have some more specific stories. However, as you can tell, we had TONS of fun at Babies R’ Us, Target, and for a VERY short time, Pottery Barn Kids. I’m not sure when the next time I’ll get to use the scanner gun, but I sure hope that it’s for something I know about.
