I have always heard that being a grandparent is the best thing in the world….foreign words to me…I don’t really understand it, but I am glad to say that I will finally get to join the club next year! I think it must revolve around over indulging….and the shear joy of watching little ones grow without the responsibility of parenthood and being able to return them to your own children to undo all that you have done over a period of time.
Last week, I went to Louisville to visit my daughter who will deliver around Valentine’s Day (which just happens to be her birthday). She hops in my car and off we go to do some shopping for maternity clothes…or so I thought…she suddenly asked if I would mind going with her to register at Babies “R” Us!
Register?…. Yes, that’s what Mother’s To-Be…like Brides To-Be do. She seemed to be somewhat overwhelmed as we zipped down the street toward the baby store…as a mother I’m thinking….How hard can this be?
Little did I know….Oh My Goodness! We walked into the store which is like walking into Costco’s for babies…directly to our right was a large horseshoe table with three girls behind it, a set of commuter monitors and 5 chairs for Mother’s To-Be with a waiting line…the only thing missing… Take a Number!
My daughter filled out the application and a girl proceeded to share all of the benefits of this registration as well as the process of selecting items for the registry. We were given directions on using the barcode scanner, adding and deleting items and before you know it we are one step away from the scanning extravaganza! We look at each other and the list that my daughter has in her hands….one advantage to having a baby after all your friends is the advice they provide on must haves, might want to consider, a few don’t buy and those frivolous items that are too cute to pass up!
First Stop… breast bumps and baby bottles! Nothing like 36 years ago….Today about 6 different options for bottles…a choice for single or double ELECTRIC breast pumps….a luxury that I would have loved over the red rubber bulb I had to use…even the manual pumps look better! Remember sterilizing with a pot of boiling water? No more….Now you just purchase a sterilizer that goes in the microwave…we scanned our way thru this section in stitches…onward to the strollers and car seats.
My daughter knew what she wanted and after looking thru 30 different strollers we finally found the one she was looking for….a new mother today has the Internet at her fingertips to research, compare and critique any baby item to ensure the safety and well being of the baby. She could tell me why this was the one…even demonstrated the functionality and ease of opening and collapsing….this may be the one I purchase….on to review Pack and Play!
Hey, I wonder if I could get a registry? How come grandparents don’t have baby showers….the dollars are adding up!
Now the car seats were another story….she had narrowed it down to two choices…as we tried to pull it down we couldn’t separate it from the base…a cute, expectant mother…due any minute showed us how to release the seat from the base. We learned something too….the base is a separate price and you have to purchase a new car seat after five years of use!
We had the most fun with gowns, outfits and little caps….as we are scanning right and left my daughter looks at me and said…”How long have we been in here?”
Looking at my watch…Over two hours! We looked at each other and decided we had had enough! We returned to the desk where it all began…turned in our barcode scanner…and headed out the door.
Little did I know what an afternoon at Babies “R” Us would be like….as my daughter said in the beginning….OVERWHELMING…and she was right…we laughed as we walked to the car about the entire experience. I do believe that I just had my initiation to THE GRANDPARENTS CLUB!
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