Here is the deal. Babies really don't need much. They basically eat, sleep, and poop for several months. Baby really only needs a place to sleep, a way to eat, and a place to poop. (And probably some clothes, but if your kids are like the A Team, they won't like clothes, so save your money and don't buy any) You decide where they sleep, how they eat, and where they poop. That is about all you will have control of from now until forever. Enjoy those three decisions... If you believe this, stop. Your baby will totally have a say in some of this, but you can at least tell yourself you have control over these decisions when you are filling out the registry.
Beyond the crib, feeding needs, and diapers there are 5 things that are essential for all parents to stock up on before their little bundle of joy
5. Fruit snacks: No, these are not for your sweet toothless wonder, they are for you! You will find yourself hungry at the most inconvenient times, like breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Honestly, when you are a new parent your schedule is so off you don't have breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the typical times. You might have breakfast at 4AM, lunch at 10AM, and dinner at 4PM or some other strange combo. Sometimes you won't be able to eat when your stomach says it is time to eat. Sometimes you just don't have time to eat like a normal person. Sometimes you just need to eat right now, no matter what. Eat a pack of fruit snacks and you will have super human powers to last at least 10 more minutes. This just might hold you over until you can a real meal. Fruit snacks are the best. You can fit a pack in your pocket or your purse. It is the snack you can sneak eat. No one will even know if you are new parent hungry because you have these magic snacks. Trust me, you will want them on your registry. LOTS and LOTS of boxes.
4. Dry Shampoo: I didn't have this for A1 or A2, but it was an image savor when I had A3. Let's face it, once you have kids your free time will be given to your kids. And yes, showering is considered free time when you have a screaming little one who needs to be fed, burped, or changed. This will be especially helpful those first couple of weeks when you have well-wishers dropping off diapers and casseroles. You can use this stuff and look freshly showered.
3. Bandaids: You probably won't need these until your little sweetie is a little older, but since we don't have "Toddler Showers" and Toddler Gift Registries you might want these one your baby registry. Bandaids will be magic cures. They will stop tears when those boo boos that can't be seen to the naked eye ruin the perfect skin of your tiny tot. They even become stickers when you are cooking dinner and someone sneaks off discovering a brand-new box under the sink. This may or may not have happened in real life... I can't even begin to tell you how many boxes we have gone through in our 10+ years as parents. Just today we used 4 bandaids on A3. You do the math.
2. Baby Wipes: These are not just for tooshies any more! You find countless ways to use these magic little clothes. During desperate times they are great bathing substitutes. Remember number 4? When you are pressed for time, grab a baby wipe and freshen up! Sometimes we still have "wet-wipe washes" for the girls. The number one rule of the WWW is, don't tell Nana. She wouldn't approve of us skipping bath nights and opting for a wet-wipe washing, but sometimes when the schedule is way too hectic we just have to. Other than personal hygiene, wet wipes are amazing at cleaning up spills, marker on the table, and pencil on the wall. You will most likely get some of these as shower gifts, but go ahead and register for 100 boxes.
The number one essential item needed when baby comes:
1. Spoons: I know this seems weird, but trust me on this one. Tuesday we had all the dishes clean and put away. I went to get spoons for the girls' healthy cereal and realized we were down to 3 adult spoons and 2 kid spoons. Where have all the spoons gone? We are not alone in this troubling mystery. I have heard many parents cry out for their missing spoons. Parents everywhere have a drawers full of forks and knives, but NO SPOONS. Where could all the spoons be? Mac thinks this is part of an evil plan our children have cooked up in order to take over the world. In our short time as parents we have gone through 16 spoons. That may not seem like a lot, but seriously, we had 8 spoons that never went missing during the first 5 years of marriage. Then the kids came and the spoons started going missing. Slowly at first. Then more rapidly as time went on. It became a huge pet peeve of Mac's. The missing spoons were interfering with our happiness. I bought him replacement spoons as an anniversary gift. Those 8 spoons created a few years of happiness, until a couple weeks ago and the spoons started slipping away again. Then we had 3. Mac went to buy more and ran into a friend. Once she saw what Mac was buying, she realized she was having disappearing spoons too. THIS IS A REAL THING! While you are completing your Baby Wish List, add several sets of replacement spoons. It will save your marriage.
Trust me new parents, the A Team has taught me a lot of things about what is really important, what babies really need, and what parents really need. Most importantly, they need love. (and a crib, diapers, food stuff, fruit snacks, dry shampoo, bandaids, wet wipes, and spoons!)
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