There is so much CRAP out there you can buy for your baby. I subscribe to this weekly update through a website called BabyCenter so I can see how the baby is growing each week. Well, because they have my email address, I also have to put up with the occasional email full of "helpful" tips for new moms. Today I got an email about how much I can expect to spend on my baby the first year. The average mother who visits BabyCenter.com spends $10,000 in the first year. TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS. I wanted to throw up.
I also visited the Babies"R"Us website today, and there are plenty of opportunities to blow 10 grand on a bunch of junk.
Exhibit A: This baby cage is $70, and it really really depresses me.
Exhibit B: A shopping cart cover! Seriously? For the bargain price of $40.
What.In.The.Hell.
No apologies to any readers out there who bought either of these items. I am not judging. I'm just saying, it's ridiculous. Ok, I'm judging. Sorry.
9.16.2008
What tha?
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12 comments:
I throw up in my mouth a little bit over stuff like this.
(I am fairly certain that qualifies me as judgemental. Eek.)
At least you admit the fact that you are being condescending to those who choose to spend their money in a manner differently than you.
hey there cousin!...saw you had this site from your facebook...I totally agree with you! :) and wait till your baby starts getting toys...we have so many toys and they play with boxes, or in the cabinets...ridiculous! though i will admit...i thought the idea of the bumboo seat for $35 was a waste!! however, all deacon did was cry, cry, so i found one on ebay and he loved it! he was able to sit up and interact with the kids a little more because he was more at their level.
joey, in the words of the joker... whyyyy soooo serious????
hilarious post, beast. i think those items are probably owned by the same people who walk their kids on leashes.
Careful newbie, Ive seen many a Mom eat their words in due time!! That shopping cart gizmo is exceptional!! I would buy it!! LOL Aunt P.
Aw, Honey, did I traumatize you by making you stay in a playpen all the time when you were a baby? You loved it!!! You and your brothers spent hours playing with each other in one, and wore out 2 of them. You would sit in the playpen, throw all your toys out, and Nick and Joey would put them all back in. Then you would repeat this for hours! It was so entertaining for you and kept your brothers so busy. Back then, you loved a clean work-space! Joey could crawl in and out, Nick didn't quite have the legs to get out, but you did love it. It was the only way I could get anything done around the house and keep my children safe, to keep all 3 of you contained. If I had access to this larger "cage" you sure would have had one!! Please forgive me if you have bad memories that have marred your life :)
okay, I have the shopping cart cover that also is a highchair cover for restaurants. When you see your sweet, clean, healthy baby gnawing down on the nasty shopping cart handle (which, by the way, carries more germs than a public toilet seat, according to studies, you may wish you had a cover too!
I don't have the cage though. So, there's that. I did, however, have an exesaucer that substituted as a cage and I was devestated when he outgrew it because I had no way to take showers in peace anymore.
But babies are better off in a germy environment than an overly sanitized one.
Wouldn't it be easier to just carry a little box of disinfecant wipes in your purse to wipe down the gnawable parts of the shopping cart?
Ash, you know I love you. I'm sure your shopping cart cover is much less ridiculous-looking than the one I posted here. I DID pick the stupidest looking picture I could find.
To each his own!
And mom, no, I have not been traumatized by my history with the playpen. Adam actually pointed out to me that this baby cage is just a glorified playpen, which is absolutely true. Something about this particular one though just looks so wrong. Maybe because it looks so much like an animal pen.
no, I believe mine is way more garish than the one you posted. It is not fashionable in the least, red and purple to be exact. But I wasn't worried about that, I was worried about the GERMS, I tell you, the GERMS. In theory, I guess it is best for the baby to get used to living in a germy world and build up immunity to it, but when you can physically see the rhotavirus germ licking his lips at your babies' delicate little immune system, you use the red and purple shoppign cart cover. You just do. (dramatic much?) love you too!
It's all about balance. You do not need all the gizmos and gadgets to provide a nurturing, safe environment for your kids. For myself, it is the fear-based idealogy of parenting that prompts me to dislike that stuff, not the actual items, tacky as they may be in themselves. I mean, I'm not plopping my kids down on gas station bathrooms to change their diapers, but I don't want to put them in a bubble, either.
As convenient as playpens, excersaucers, bumbos and all that admittedly are, there is a point where the deluxe versions, with all the bells and whistles, just go too far. I've had plenty of those items, and loved 'em- but I think (despite Joey's opinion) that it is fine to be critical of them when they go overboard. Who needs a gold-plated highchair, you know what I mean? But, I guess Joey is right in that people may spend money how they wish-- but that doesn't mean you can't have an opinion on it.
Oh, and you may eat a little crow, as Mom mentioned-- we all do. But it may not be as much as you think. You've got a good head on your shoulders, and though you are inexperienced now-- it doesn't mean that you'll be completely off-base. Don't let your inexperience make you insecure. Better to have a plan, and be flexible enough to alter it as you go, than to have none whatsoever because you don't trust yourself.
Anyway, that's my two (hundred) cents. Ha.
Laura, congrats on the baby boy! I apologize for not checking in to your blog more often...
I had to comment on the baby cage. It TOTALLY looks like a dance floor or roller rink. Try to think of it that way, it might not make it seem THAT bad. Get some colored flashing lights and borrow your Aunt's disco ball, and wheel the little guy around in there!
Love ya, Libby
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