Registration Fun

Today we registered for baby stuff, which wasn’t nearly as bad as I expected. No one at Babies ‘R Us was injured while I was there, and Tim and were still speaking when we left. The pregnancy books warned that salespeople may use all sorts of tactics to push unnecessary items on us, so I thought it would be like buying a car. In actuality, the salespeople were far too swamped to bother us.

It was still somewhat overwhelming, though we were armed with Baby Bargains, a list of equipment my Moms group recommended, and advice from family and friends. We faced walls and walls of seemingly identical items. That confusion aside, we’re actually very lucky. As the last in the family to have kids, there is a ton of hand-me-down items that my brothers- and sisters-in-law are generous enough to share with us, which meant we had to register for less.

Today’s biggest sticking point, believe it or not, was the diaper bag. The bags I selected were too girly, while those he picked out didn’t look like diaper bags. I don’t know why I want something that looks like a diaper bag, but here we are. We left that for another day.

We also encountered plenty of items that no one needs, such as special plastic bags to dispose of diapers (they look like plastic grocery store bags). They even come with dispensers that look suspiciously like those found on dogs’ leashes. Do we use those when we’re out for a walk?

My absolute favorite was the Weeblock, a little athletic cup that is used when changing little boys’ diapers. When a baby boy piddle in the middle of a diaper change, the results can be disastrous for the person changing them, especially if he or she is running late or wearing dry-clean only clothing. For the person who wants to protect themselves, there is a whole line of Weeblocks, all with pithy sayings on them.

I think, for everyone's safety, we’ll just cover the baby with an extra diaper during changes.