At home
I look forward so much to being at home it’s almost embarrassing. What do I do there? I watch TV, read mysteries, knit a three-foot square blanket that I hope will be done in early Jan. I have spent close to 5 hours knitting over the past couple of days. It can’t last–my shoulder will give out soon. But I’m happy with my progress.
I was telling a colleague yesterday that while I’ve always liked sofa-lying, pregnancy has magnified that behavior. It seems like Nirvana to be lying on the couch. I love it. It’s better than eating, though I’m pleased that I don’t have to choose.
Not that I’m not eating–I’m still eating my way through the lasagna and over the weekend I bought Pigs in Blankets from trader J’s. I LOVE pigs! When I told my co-workers today they gave me a TON of shit for eating PIB when just last week, when a co-worker offered to have her husband cook me something post-baby, I graciously said, “please, no white-trash food.” He makes weird things like tuna casserole. Hot tuna? Not food.
I have all things baby on the brain. I am obsessing about changing tables this week. The ones I like are too expensive…I need to talk with normal people to get the low-down. There’s no justification for spending $300 on something that I use a few times a day (ok, 8 times a day) for 2-3 years.
I can see that I’ll be contending with the “champagne taste, beer pocketbook” syndrome for the next umpteen years. Me and all my friends.
November 11, 2009 at 5:23 pm
I don’t know if this helps but I never had a changing table. I found the bed (mine), the crib or the floor worked just as well. Save your money for diapers. Those you will need.
November 11, 2009 at 5:27 pm
I have a dresser that I can use the top of. I was thinking of clearing the top drawer and the top of the bureau and having that be my changing table.
But then I got sucked into consumer hell when I saw this:
http://www.potterybarnkids.com/products/ultimate-changing-table/?pkey=bchanging-tables
You’re right–i’ll probably do as you say.
November 11, 2009 at 4:33 pm
No! Don’t do it! That’s too much money for a piece of furniture you’ll use a short period of time. Cribs are better because if you have a serious clean up job and need to get more reinforcements, you can just pull up the side and they won’t roll out or unbuckle themselves, etc., and fall off. The crib is the best baby-containment device known to man.
Things you probably won’t ever need: baby wipes warmers. You will go through those things too fast to remember to ever refill it. You also need wipes with you wherever you are so the warmer isn’t much help when you aren’t RIGHT THERE.
November 11, 2009 at 4:37 pm
No, I won’t do it. Especially because it’s the illusion that I could be that organized that I like and not the furniture particularly. And I intend to register for a crib–I’ll probably buy this for the first few months:
http://www.amazon.com/Arms-Reach-Mini-Co-Sleeper-Bassinet/dp/B000HKY1GM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=baby-products&qid=1257975352&sr=1-2
November 11, 2009 at 4:41 pm
That looks good. I had very little baby-related furniture with Dusty because our house was so tiny. I had a borrowed crib and that was about it. Never got a swing due to space. I didn’t know about co-sleepers until it was too late. I just had each baby in the bed with me, on a waterproof pad and towel.
November 11, 2009 at 5:01 pm
Another no vote here. We had an old dresser that was a little beat up and I didn’t care about too much. We bought a contoured changing pad that had screws on straps on the back to screw onto the back of the dresser and a couple of terrycloth covers for it. It was great. We went through a few covers, but the pad held up for as long as we needed it. When he was out of diapers, we took the pad off and presto! Instant dresser. We didn’t use a co-sleeper since our room was so small and the crib was so close, but I probably would have if we’d had room. I say you can take or leave the swing — Andy loved it. But the bouncy chair was a godsend for a fussy, wakeful, tired baby. They’re good because they don’t take up much room and can easily be stashed under a bed or in a closet.
November 11, 2009 at 6:44 pm
that’s good to here–i like the voting process.
November 11, 2009 at 11:34 pm
I cannot believe how expensive baby stuff is. Wow.
November 12, 2009 at 9:09 am
I like the sleep-in thingy. Neither of the people I’ve worked for had a changing table for their kids – one used a dresser (as did my sister for her five kids) and the other uses their dining room table because it’s the most centrally located piece of furniture in the house. Babies don’t care where you change them…just that they get changed when they need it.
Also, I think infant/baby trappings are marketed very seductively…and with a little hint of guilt. Resist!
November 12, 2009 at 11:45 am
i totally sympathize with your desire for that lovely clean white organized changing table, and everyone is right that you don’t need it. The worst of it is, after you’re done with it you’ll have nothing to do with it, and it will sit down in your basement for the next 16 years rebuking you for the money you shelled out. Harriet’s dresser idea is much more practical, because eventually you really will need a dresser. A basinet is nice, but doesn’t last long. But it is quite useful.
November 12, 2009 at 11:49 am
The bassinette is necessary for me because I want BabyX to be in my room for the first 3 or 4 months (in the bassinette) and then in her own room in a crib after that. A lot of people in my neighborhood sell lightly used bassinettes for $50. So in the Winter I can keep my eyes peeled (it’s too soon now even though I saw one for sale just this morning).
November 16, 2009 at 9:24 am
Oh, and the best thing about changing diapers on the floor is that if you have to step away, and they roll over, they don’t fall off anything. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to chase a bare butted baby crawling away from me. They do not lie still. I know those tables have straps but they are often annoyingly in the way and not 100% safe.