Gimme, Gimme, Gimme

That's kind of how I felt while we were starting our baby registry...

I mentioned a few post back...sorry – I totally meant to get to this one sooner!...that we started our baby registry. We had a free weekend without the kids and no big plans to speak of, so we made a date night of it and instead of seeing a movie after dinner, we headed over to Babies R Us. Yes, I know that there are other places that I could register, but BRU has the biggest selection all in one place...easy, peasy.

And just like with our wedding, B wanted input on most items that went on our registry. I don’t know why I thought that this would be any different...I mean, he had an opinion on every SINGLE thing that went into making our wedding special...so why wouldn’t he also want a say in which stroller/car seat, swing, bottles or baby bedding set that “we” registered for? Ok, so I’m exaggerating...but just a little bit – he actually didn’t have an opinion about what type of bottles I selected. But he did want a say in almost everything else...which made it fun.

This was a new experience for me. When I had my daughter, I went with my moms, step-sister and aunt to BRU and registered. My step-sister had already had her oldest daughter, and my mom hadn’t been around baby stuff in several years, so the smart money said for us to combine groups and make it a joint effort. It was SO much fun! My ex couldn’t have cared less what we selected or anything...maybe that should have been a warning sign? I digress...

But doing things this way was also a LOT of fun! We spent the evening in BRU (thought not the whole evening) roaming around the store with our gun, shooting things right and left...in fact, I think that B got a “little” carried away with the shooting stuff...I found several items on our registry later when I went to edit some things that I don’t remember ever even looking at! But it was fun. We “test drove” the strollers around the store...I picked up every single infant car seat, trying to find the lightest one that was the most comfortable for me to carry...and in the end, we had a registry that was pretty much complete.

You might think that already having two kids, that we would still have some stuff, right? WRONG! His son is 12, and my daughter is almost 8...that stuff was sold off in a garage sale a LONG time ago! So we pretty much need everything...and believe me there is everything that you can possibly think of for babies these days. A lot has changed since my daughter was born, and that wasn’t that long ago. We have to start from the ground up...so by the end of the night, I felt like maybe we were a little bit on the greedy side.

I mean, do you really need a bouncer, a swing AND a vibrating chair? Do you need a high chair and a travel high chair? Yes, the shopping cart cover would be “nice” to have...but it’s expensive! And why is an extra base for the infant seat $50?!?! That’s outrageous. I honestly left the store almost feeling like a beggar. Like my registry is saying, “Please buy me this” and “Please buy us that.”

Oy...and why is everything priced at just under $100? That’s a LOT of money! Why $80 and not $40-$60? I just don’t get it. And typically the store will give you a "guideline" of what to register for...luckily, having already had a baby, I had some idea of what I really needed and what would be "nice" to have.

But what prompted this whole excursion was the offers for showers. My family is throwing us a baby shower back home in East Texas towards the end of May, and two of my besties also want to throw us a shower closer to home for friends sometime in July. And it’s possible that B’s family might want to do something for us too...so that could mean three baby showers. In the end, having showers means that you need to have a registry. And having two or three showers means that you need a decent registry so that Aunt Kay can get exactly what she had in mind, and Cousin Bessie can spend just what she needs to spend, and it’s still a thoughtful gift that you’ll cherish and use.

Wouldn’t it just be easier to put the whole store on there? I kid, I kid. And BRU isn’t the end all, be all for baby registries. Yes, there are items in Target that I like...but their return policy is so...difficult. (They really need to work on that, because then Target would be the BEST store around!) And then there are the online shops, like amazon, JCP, and babysupermall or something like that. I know that we made selections at BRU, but now I’m trying to be a savvy shopper and look elsewhere for the items that we selected at cheaper prices. I mean, I like saving a buck, so why wouldn’t our family and friends?

In the end, it all boils down to this whole process being a little more time-consuming and mind-altering that I had originally envisioned...but it will all be worth it in the end, I’m sure. And when the day comes to a close, and we’re still missing items that we feel that we “need” that’s when you go to your good old stand-by...Criagslist!!!