Week 24: The registry

This past weekend Blake and I decided to tackle the daunting task of registering for Baby Dobson. The pressure was on as my mother reminded me that the shower invitations are going out this week, and all of our aunts, grandmothers and other family members are just itching to get their hands on the registry. As we headed to our local Buy Buy Baby, I could barely contain my excitement. Shopping and picking out the tools that would help us raise our little babe was going to be so much fun! Or, so I thought.
We were greeted by a very friendly, grandmotherly sales associate. She gave us a scanner and decided she would show us around the feeding section, her specialty. While I am incredibly grateful for her expert advice, I must admit that the guided tour of the aisles full of bottles, nipples, pumps and other accessories left me feeling less prepared and more overwhelmed. What was all of this stuff, and would I need all of it!? As we followed her around and listened to her recommendations and comments for about an hour, I kept getting flashbacks of that “Friends” episode when Rachel doesn’t know what any of her baby shower gifts are for or what they do.
I assumed registering for the hoard of baby gear that we will need might freak Blake out. I couldn’t have been more wrong. With scanner in hand, Blake was like a kid in a candy store. I was surprised at how much fun my husband was having—after all, this guy is not a happy shopper. It was like we switched roles. My excitement had been replaced with worry and confusion.
We wandered around the store, me with checklist in hand, carefully going through each section. How can something so small need this much stuff!? And the options are seemingly limitless to the point they are overwhelming. You can’t just walk over to the section with the crib mattresses and scan one at random. We pulled out our phones and exhaustively researched product descriptions and reviews to determine which one of the 40+ options would best suit our little girl.
After about three hours of this, I was hungry, my feet hurt, and I clearly needed a break. We checked back in at the registry counter and gave our thanks to the grandmotherly consultant before heading out the door. Later that night, I logged on to our registry from the comfort of my own bed. I was pleased to see that we had actually succeeded in registering for all of the important stuff. Instead of stressing about it, I decided to leave the registry alone for now. After all, I reminded myself that we can always go back to get anything we forgot or didn’t know we’d need. We’ve got time.