Baby Registry....DONE!

A few weeks ago I posted about my miseries in trying to establish a baby registry. For all those who think it simply involves the click of a scanner gun, be aware! Registering for baby is not for the faint-hearted and weak stomachs.

It involves a complicated process of looking at product reviews, checking safety recalls, and of course deciding between price, color, model, and brand. For each item, it takes me about 20 minutes of reviewing all the information, sometimes more.

For example, I wanted to register for a stroller. I looked at strollers, checked out the ones that all the required features, looked at those with the highest reviews, checked safety recalls, and finally narrowed down by price, only to discover that the stroller I want isn't even available through Target. All that took 45 minutes.

Maybe I am a baby registry overachiever but we plan on having multiple children and the stuff we buy, we want to it to not only be safe but last more than a few years. My time as a preschool teacher has also led me to have a certain attitude about what things are appropriate and necessary. Returning to the stroller concept, in experience, rear-facing strollers are better for children. They provide better bonding opportunities, reduce anxiety, and increase language acquisition. Therefore, the standard stroller wont do. Call me a baby merchandise elitist, all those years learning to be a teacher have forever cursed my outlook on child rearing.

Aside from choosing quality and safe stuff, there is the problem of sorting through absolute baby junk. All the buying guides insist that you buy a diaper stacker or a wipe warmer, or some other useless piece of crap. A diaper stacker is a hanging cloth tent that stores diapers, convenient for diaper changes. $20 later and a few months of frustration stuffing the damn thing, may cause the diaper stacker to lose its appeal. Baby buying guides are specifically geared towards first time moms who have no experience with baby stuff and prey on our emotions and sensitivity convincing us that we need all this CRAP. So after weeks of deleting the most unnecessary stuff, I finally narrowed down to what I actually need, what I want, and of course, those cute little extras like fuzzy socks.

After a month of torture, spending my evenings off scrolling product reviews I am pleased to announce that we have completed our baby registry! You can find us at Target, online or in store, just search our names and our long list that was proudly put together can be viewed for your pleasure. Or follow the link: https://www.target.com/registry/baby/2VG2RY1JPOSYZ

I look forward to reporting more about this whole baby registry process, because I am sure that in a year's time I will be complaining about the POS stroller or play yard failing to meet all of my high expectations, or cursing every time I have to use a cold wipe in the middle of a Montana winter on my crying baby's ass (thinking to myself that I should have gotten the wipe warmer, of course). In any case, I hope to further study the issue and maybe one day create a baby registry that meets every parents needs in a safe, efficient, cute! and cost-effective way.

Enough of my rant.

PS Target apparently doesnt let you register for most clothing items, books, and nursing apparel, most likely because their selection varies so much store to store. This is another frustration I plan on fixing!