Maternal instincts
Updated below…
The baby gear has begun to roll in, thanks to that behemoth known as Amazon.com, thereby keeping me away from the brick-and-mortar hell of Babies-r-Us.
I bid farewell to baby gear like the Bjorn and the Boppy when one of Tacy’s daycare teachers became pregnant about two years ago. But it was last May, when we loaded all remaining baby gear into my father-in-law’s truck, and he delivered it to Kyle’s older brother and his new family, that we really cleaned house. Bye-bye infant car seat and Snap-n-Go stroller frame. So long Exersaucer and high chair. Hello reclaimed storage space.
Three weeks later, as you’ll recall, I started falling asleep at odd hours of the day and began wondering which would be the more disruptive cause of this sudden desire for sleep – narcolepsy or pregnancy?
Now, in another three weeks, we’ll be bringing home a new baby. And while I still haven’t finished organizing my CDs and disinfecting the kitchen cupboards, I have started to re-gather the requisite baby gear.
Thanks to Cool Mom Picks and some generous friends, I’ve already got a boatload of goodies (and more to come!). But the basic necessities make for boring shopping. I remember when I was pregnant with Tacy, my mother asked me what I needed, and I replied, “A breast pump.” Not surprisingly, she stuck to splurging at Neiman’s instead of plunking down the same change for a pump.
(The pump. That’s another item I hung onto. I may not be working full-time outside the home, but you can bet that I’ll be milking myself anyway so as to skip a night feeding or two.)
Four of the most important items for newborns have arrived in the past week:
1. The biggest box of newborn diapers I could find. (I’m sorry! Just think of all the Viva paper towels we use!)
3. An infant car seat stroller frame.
4. A swing.
And as relieved as I am to have all of these items in house and ready to go, I’m wondering if it might have been smarter to have left them in their boxes for another two weeks.
Because Friday night I came home to find Webkinz in the car seat. A Bitty Baby in the swing. And CJ riding in the basket of the stroller frame while Tacy pushed it around the house. I’m sure that if I had opened the individual packages of diapers, those would be fastened haphazardly around all the dolls and stuffed animals. Newborn diapers make even better playthings than cartoon-character bandages.
I told the girls – rather tersely, I’ll admit – that these new goodies were for THE BABY IN MY TUMMY. I mean, I’m planning to USE that stroller basket to hold the Hylexin the Grey Goose the homeopathic infant gas drops. And I’m told that swing has magical mystical powers where it comes to getting babies to stop wailing long enough for a shower soothing fussy little angels. In the interest of preserving my own sanity, I NEED THESE THINGS.
Granted, we’re only starting to re-accumulate the gear. A high chair will once again collect Cheerios in our kitchen. A new Exersaucer will be fouled by spit-up and sticky fingers. Drawer and cupboard space will be cleared to hold formula and bottles (I don’t kid myself that this baby won’t self-wean just as the girls did) and baby spoons and four million jars of organic spinach applesauce. There are more changes coming than I’m willing to let myself think about just yet.
But I have to admit that it’s heartening to see the girls so excited. I know they won’t always be enthusiastic about the baby – particularly when he wakes them repeatedly with his cries and when they are unsuccessfully bidding for my attention and I simply can’t give it to them. There will be times when they’ll tell us that they wish he wasn’t here. And I’ll understand that they’re longing for those relatively easy times that we share now.
Because while having all of these things – both the boring old basic necessities and the fabulously fun extras – makes life easier, it will never be the same again.
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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was featured on 60 Minutes last night. While I still haven’t restored my Facebook account for reasons outlined in previous posts, I was hoping to come away from the interview with a more positive impression of Zuckerberg and his team.
Did I? Go read my guest post at League of Maternal Justice to find out!
January 13th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
You’re a lucky lady, both to have such great friends but also to have kids who are so excited. I can’t believe you’re due in just a few weeks!
January 13th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
It seems like just yesterday that you announced your pregnancy, and now the little boy will be here in three weeks! Wow!
It’s true, life won’t be the same, but it will be better.
January 13th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
Can I tell you I’m so terribly excited for you? I remember being in shoes about like yours now three years ago. Three years. I look at our ’surprise’ and can’t imagine any different.
Mom and I got that swing for my sister, and she can vouch for the magical abilities. I had one that was side swinging as well, and loved it.
January 13th, 2008 at 6:57 pm
HAHA. I’m still laughing at the thought of those two girls racing around in that thing.
January 13th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
I think they’re going to do laps around the house with the baby in the stroller! Just hope he’s in the seat and not the basket.
We can forgive you for the Pampers…since a sheet of Viva costs almost as much as one diaper.
January 13th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
FireDoggie (not a real dog, mind you) is always swinging in LittleBrother’s swing. BigBrother insists even though he is NOT ALLOWED TO TOUCH IT.
“How did FireDoggie get there, BigBrother?”
“Climbed.”
Mmhmm.
January 14th, 2008 at 6:09 am
I tried keeping my 2 year old away from the baby equipment for about twenty minutes. It seems he can’t help it. He’s short and only 23 pounds, and he can climb into her exersaucer, and he loves to sit in her swing (though the motor really struggles to move him). And I think he sits in her bouncy chair more than she does. It’s comfy. Only once has he climbed into her bassinet. I told him he looks ridiculous scooting around the house in her walker, but he took it as a compliment.
Heck. I’m just glad he doesn’t resent her using her own stuff. He’s still in that blissful “I love my little sister, she’s so cool” phase. What can I say? She can’t play with his toys yet.
January 14th, 2008 at 6:44 am
Although N is resentful of his baby sis when he wants my attention and I simply cannot give it all to him, he has never wished her away. She’s just too darn fun to harass. Now in another 8 years, when she is the pesky little sister, he just might wish she was not there.
I cannot believe you are 3 wks away!
The image of the girls racing around the house is hysterical.
January 14th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
You mean you’re not used to the whole “your things are everyone’s things” philosophy of those under four feet tall yet?
January 14th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
Only a few weeks!!!! Wowza…time flies too, too quickly. So excited for you!
January 16th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
So that’s what it’s for! A grey goose holder! Duh. Thanks for clearing that up for the childless.
I too, cannot believe you’re due in three weeks. Wow!