It is amazing to me how quickly I have transformed from being completely freaked out by even the thought of having a kid to calmly shopping for baby stuff. Due to very generous friends who have older kids already there’s now a room in my house with a crib, changing table and rocker in it, not to mention other little things like a bottle warmer, sippy cups, pacifiers, etc. A year ago I wouldn’t have been able to handle that.
I went to visit my good friend Tam in Ft Myers this week, partly so she could coach me on what to buy. There’s just not a lot of options for baby gear in this college town, so I wanted to go to a Babies R Us to look at stroller/car seats (or “travel systems” as I now know to call them). As we approached the store she told me she couldn’t handle going in there until after she had her first baby and to let her know if I felt overwhelmed and wanted to leave. It wasn’t that bad…although my mind started to glaze over once an employee started going over features on multiple stroller setups. I took notes on a few of them and we had to leave to pick up her son at daycare. We went home and I did some online price shopping, read reviews and made a decision. Better to get it over with now and cross a big item off the list!
I returned to the store alone in the evening and wandered the aisles awhile before buying the stroller. I have to admit the only thing I had a hard time looking at was the breast pumps…yeah, can’t handle that thought yet. Otherwise I’m pretty proud of myself.