I've been pretty adamant about not wanting lots of baby gear. There's the exersaucer, the boppy, the bumbo, the bouncer, the swing, the foldable packable portable swing, the highchair, the changing table, and the bazillions of other things that some stores will have you think you need. I've been determined that I'm not falling for it. I think it could be due to the fact that I know I grew up without an unlimited supply of educational, motor-skills-enhancing, brain-training peripherals and I turned out mostly okay. It could also be because of a really good book I read a while back, Parenting, Inc., which was all about how good marketers have become at tapping into that primal parental fear that we are not doing everything we can for our children and we just must buy, buy, buy all of these things if we want to give our kid an edge. So when I snicker at the diaper-wipe warmers (sorry warmer-lovers, but I have to), I like to think I'm sticking it to the man (or woman, but
probably man) who found a way to convince moms that their babies would suffer without wipes that are precisely the right temperature. I'm not falling for it this time, wipe-warmer man!I found the carseat by searching amazon and choosing the cheap one with decent ratings, figuring they're all safety-rated anyway. I found a crib in much the same fashion, both choices taking maybe 15 minutes to make, tops. (Perhaps this quick and dirty decision-making was also influcenced by some psychological theory discussed in detail in The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less, which examines the fact that the more choices we have and the more we belabor choosing between things, the less happy we are in the end.)
But... in my internet browsing
and target baby section peeking (I can't bring myself to induce a panic attack by entering the cavernous wal-mart of baby stores), I have found my weakness: clothes. I pour over baby clothes. I spend hours searching for adorable, comfortable things for the wee one. I've fallen in love with Zutano's Itzy Bitzy line, Toto Knits, Cora dresses from Cora's Etsy Shop (almost always sold out, but what a good cause and some good people from Newton, KS who experienced tragedy make these dresses), and almost everything at Baby Wit, just because it makes me smile.So you might find me with a well-dressed baby, or at least a washer full of cute clothes covered in spit-up, six or so months from now. But you won't find a house full of baby gear (or so I say right now). :)
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