Baby registry....what a nightmare!

Who would have known the amount of anxiety the thought of creating a baby registry could possibly create?! First of all, baby registries and baby showers are NOT common at all in Germany. In fact, any kind of shower, i.e. bridal or baby, is not really common. I successfully avoided a bridal registry because I really wasn’t comfortable with it and because I felt Ben and I already had a lot of the things that people typically ask for on a registry.

This whole baby thing is different. I realize that people want to have a shower and that people want to help us get ready for these babies. And that’s a good thing because I really had NO idea whatsoever of the many things that one supposedly needs to get ready for a baby. Double all of that for us and you’re looking at having to build an extension to this tiny house! That being said, I was willing to give it a shot.

I initially started a registry through Target’s website. Not a good idea. It was hard to see the different things, half of the stuff needed to be ordered online, and I was pretty much just randomly picking things. A couple of friends recommended books, but even that seemed overwhelming. I mean really, is it necessary to read a book to know what to get?! Apparently so and, in retrospect, maybe that would have relieved some of the anxiety.

My second step was for Ben and us to go to Babies R Us. I have to admit that I kind of expected a personal assistant who would literally walk us around and tell us exactly what might be worthwhile registering for. Little did I know, however. A customer service clerk took down some of our information and then handed us a little booklet which had all the essentials (and then some, I imagine!) listed. It was all organized by the store’s layout. That made the experience a bit more managable…..however, how in the word does one decide which bottles, nipples, blankets, onesies, etc. to get?! I was so overwhelmed and frustrated that we probably made some rather quick choices before dashing out of the store. Ben, on the other hand, really enjoyed using the little scanner to scan in all the different items. We ended up asking random people in the store for their advice (best strategy ever!) and went with some of their suggestions. Regardless, after leaving I was ready to write off the whole registry thing!

A few days later, after I had recovered from the initial shock, I took the Babies R Us list, highlighted all the things that we still needed and hadn’t registered yet or previously purchased, and off we went to a local Target store. No talking here, the lady handed the scanner over, and we were on our own. We tried to find most of the other items that were on the huge Babies R Us list and Ben once again eagerly used the little scanner. A couple of hours later we were DONE!

Since then, I have not spent a second revisiting the registries or doing anything with it whatsoever. We were told to pretty much throw everything on the registry so that, if nothing else, we could get the 10% off for anything left on the lists after baby showers and births. I am still not completely comfortable with the thought of a baby shower, but have come to accept that people really do want to help as well as have come to realize that we really do need the help.

In a future life, I might consider actually reading a book prior to registering or maybe taking an experienced mommy-friend along….for now, however, I am so relieved that this step in the process is done and over with and happy to announce that we are indeed registered at Target and Babies R Us!