Registering

Last weekend I went with my wonderful friend Nicki to Babies-R-Us to register. Who knew that three hours could go by so fast? We wandered through the store; looked at cute baby stuff and she told me about what types of things I would and wouldn’t need. It was fun.

But now, after the fun of all that has worn off, I am starting to panic a little. I started to feel greedy, like if I have too many things on the list people will think badly of me. The lady at the store said to have 5 things on the list for each person you plan on inviting to the shower, so they had lots to choose from. That sounded okay in the store (it still felt like a lot) but I could see the logic. I also know that she is salesperson for the store; her job is to sell after all, so I took her advice with a grain of salt.

But now, I am imaging people going to the store and printing out a huge list and feeling overwhelmed with the amount of things on the list. And then thinking to themselves, wow, she wants a lot of stuff (and if they think I want a lot of stuff that means I am greedy).

And I am also imagining all the stuff in my house. Ummm, where will it all go? Nicki gave me some good suggestions, you know, like under the crib storage for sheets and blankets, which I can see helping a lot. But I am also trying to get stuff out of my house, de-cluttering. And this feels like re-cluttering.

Logically I know that I am way off base here but emotionally it feels…well, still greedy. That people will give what they want to give and that in the grand view of it all there is not that much “stuff”. It’s just that Brian and talked about this before and we both would really like to keep the “items” to the things we need and not just all the stuff that looks cool or we think might be nice. And I also know that I have no idea what we will really need until we need it…so how do your register for that?!!

On a side note, Brian and I went together to register at Target. I would like to point out that taking someone with you who is more clueless then you and really has no interest in trying to pick stuff out is a bad idea. It was okay with the wedding registry stuff, not super great, but okay and at times fun. But this is a whole other ballpark! (Ladies, if you are in this situation and thinking to yourself, really how bad can it be? Don’t do it. Again, don’t do it. Find a girlfriend or go by yourself, it is better than arguing with your honey in the middle of the baby section.)

I know that it is not because Brian doesn’t love me or the baby because he does. I think he feels like I would feel if he took me to the hardware store, stood in front of a row a screws, pointed to one and said, “What do you think of this one?” They all seem pretty much the same to me, so I am sure that Brian was like, how do I know if we want the one with the light up ladybug? It’s a toy for a baby.

The other issue that I am coming up against is that it feels very wasteful to have people buy new items when there are so many gently used things out there that are far from being used up. I put a note on the registries that handmade and gently used items are welcome. (I did this online once I left the store, I didn’t want to be that rude.) Other than that I don’t know what to do. Should I write…Save your money shop Craig’s list, on the shower invitations? (haha, kidding, sort of).

And this brings up another point…who am I to decide how others spend their money or how they feel about spending their money? That has nothing to do with me.

I know…I have to let it go. It is just easier said than done.