27 Receiving Blankets

Recently I participated in a time old ritual many women have shared for generations. Some ladies look forward to it while others dread it...the illustrious baby shower. I have attended my fair share of baby showers since I was small. My mother always brought me along because I loved to get dressed up and ooh and ahh at the pretty gifts. As a child I enjoyed sitting next to my mother as she chatted away with old friends and relatives.

So now it's my turn to be the invited guest. Before I had my children I simply enjoyed the excitement of it all. Now that I have had children and been through the masses of gifts, I can't help but sit back and wish every mother-to-be knows what I had to learn the hard way. You really don't need most of what every magazine pressures you into owning.

Sitting at the shower surrounded by woman giddy with baby excitement I fondly thought back to my first pregnancy. The memories of expecting a child but not being responsible for one yet flooded my mind. As I looked at the sea of brightly wrapped gifts, I remembered going to register for all the wonderful baby items every parenting magazine said we couldn't possibly bring a child into this world without.

It wasn't all that long ago I stood at the entrance of Babies-R-Us with a meticiously prepared list of baby essentials in one hand and a scanner gun in the other. My husband was an involved participant who insisted on control of the scanner gun and perhaps the right to veto anything too corny. Months of reading and planning yielded an inventory of vital infant equipment organized into categories with sub-categories. We were prepared. We knew what a Boppy was and why it was crucial we get it.

So our quest began. We mapped out our plan of attack and let the scanning commence. Our list of critical gear was organized by importance and we criss-crossed the store comparing strollers, walkers and baby-carriers to see which ones were worthy to use for our precious bundle of joy. In a few short hours we amassed a list of over 100 items that leading books assured us we could not survive without. We made crucial decisions on what kind of playyard the baby would need and what type of infant tub would we had to have in order to bath our angel.

Babies-R-Us was a willing accomplice on this neurotic journey. Their displays happily pointed out all the safety features of each item and reason why you absolutely need a bouncer seat and swing. Their signs always illustrate a happy baby surrounded by a house full of gear. Who were we to argue? We were just the parents.

So, after our frenzy of scanning and checking our registry list against the ones we made prior to our journey, we left feeling proud. We registered for every conceivable item that our 7 pound baby needed for survival.

A few months later, I was surprised with a wonderful baby shower with tons of perfectly wrapped presents. I received baby toys, crib mobiles and diaper bags. A changing pad, a baby bath tub and wash cloths galore. I opened presents with zeal for an eternity probably boring most guests and heartfully thanked everyone for helping us bring home our baby to a nursery Kate Gosselin would envy.

We brought our booty home and put it in the nursery. We were given so many wonderful items I could hardly get into my little darling's room. Then reality set it. Where the hell were we going to put all these things? Am I really going to need 27 receiving blankets? And what child needs 102 outfits in 0-3 month size?

The hyperventilation and twitching began and my heart raced as I thought of all the waste. I was ill at the thought of the amount of money spent on things that my mother and mother-in-law told me were not necessary. A baby bath tub-really? What evil money grubbing genius thought of this. It's a glorified bucket that cost $40.00. I had been convinced I needed it between the pregnancy hormones and every baby magazine out there insisting. But as I looked around our home it dawned on me...where would we store one of the most expensive buckets in the world? In the bathtub? Great. So everytime I wanted to shower I had to find a place for this contraption? Uh hello?!?!?! I don't think so. I didn't even have the baby and I knew alone time would become a precious commodity that I would not want to spend on moving a baby bath in and out of my bathroom like I worked for moving company.

I made a command decision and looked through all my treasures to see what we really needed. I took the baby bath and thought about what my mother told me months ago. I would probably bath the baby in the kitchen sink and would have no need for such an item. It would possibly be used a few times, but more likely would spend it's existence decorating our basement. Into the return pile it went.

The next thing I went through was all the clothing. The newborn size is just another money making idea of probably the same baby bath evil genius. Odds were our baby would be born an average size and would have no need for 42 outfits that would fit for a millisecond before she outgrew them. To the exchange pile they went. While I was at it I sorted through all the other clothes and tried to even things out a bit. I took a fair number of 0-3 month clothes and put them away for the baby. The rest I put in the exchange pile so we would have something to put on our child should she want to grow out of 0-3 month clothes...a novel idea, but luckily it worked out. I still wonder to this day why woman insist on only buying 0-3 month size clothes. Do they think the child won't need anything else in life? That somehow they will be able to go off to college in the same onesies they got taken home from the hospital in? I think not.

The next thing I managed to part with was a baby bath robe. What?? A baby bath robe?? What sadist really thinks I was going to get my winter baby to hang out in a bath robe? I thought I'd be doing pretty well if I got her out of the bath, into her towel and onto the dressing table in one piece. Now throw in a bath robe and you are just really asking for a poop accident!

This frugality continued after the baby was born. I learned in Baby Preparation class how to swaddle a baby with a receiving blanket and realized I didn't need a special $22.00 swaddling blanket. Back to the store it went. It stayed there along with the diaper genie-a contraption every mother-to-be thinks is necessary but I think is just a plain waste. What if I have just a piece of garbage to throw away? Can't just throw it in there, so what's the point. We decided to use a regular garbage can and it worked out just great.

I also brought back the JJ Cole Bundle Me. This is a great idea for a product, but I just couldn't justify using it when literally 14 different woman made my baby a handmade blanket. In the old days a blanket was good enough for me, so it would be good enough for my angel.

The streamlining continued and still does to this day. My children have all the essentials that are really essentials. Most of the fluff tends to make its way back to the store. My thrifty side always wants to scream out and take mothers-to-be to the side and let them know what they really need and what they don't. That it's really not necessary to have a baby bath tub. But my rational side knows it's their right and prerogative to register and buy what they want! Good luck new moms and save your receipts!!