I'm Not Crazy, I Just Plan A Lot

A Look Inside My Brain Before Baby Bargains

I am a researcher and a planner by nature.  I've never made a decision in my life, except the decision to move to Atlanta, that wasn't strategically planned and thoroughly researched.  My friend Jane loves to make fun of the fact that I researched breeders of Golden Retrievers for several months before finally deciding that the dogs at Goldenway in Nashville, Tennessee, were worthy of parenting my sweet little puppy.  Now let's be honest, Brad and I love our dog very much, but he is, for all intents and purposes, just a dog.  I just had to know as much as I possibly could about him before I could commit to him for the rest of his life.  I like to be knowledgeable when making decisions, and so, I plan and research.  I just can't ever seem to make a 100% commitment to anything unless I feel like I'm a relative expert.

You can probably see where I am going with this and you can probably see how this little personality quirk can be both a blessing and a burden in life.  Well, this has proven especially true during the past two weeks.  Do you have any idea how many decisions expectant parents have to make these days when planning for their little bundle of joy???  I'm sure those of you who have had a child, especially in the last ten to twenty years, are emphatically nodding at this point.  Talk about overwhelming!!! 

When I think about it, I guess the decision-making actually started back in July, on the day we found out that I was pregnant.  The first two major decisions I committed to were which hospital and which doctors would deliver my baby.  I spent only about three or four hours on those two.  More recently, however, we have had to start deciding on baby paraphernalia, specifically, what to register for and what to purchase on our own.  These decisions include, but are not limited to the following: child care provider, crib, crib mattress, bedding, changer/dresser, infant seat, convertible car seat, stroller, high chair, swing, and portable crib.  Don't even get me started on which diapers or bottles we'll choose!  If some of you are thinking to yourselves as you read this, "slow down, you've got plenty of time," well you clearly don't know me that well.  The one bit of insight that is keeping me sane in my quest for the best for Peanut is that mothers and fathers have raised perfectly healthy and well-adjusted children all over the world since the beginning of time without many or even all of the above items.  The bad news is, I'm me and I live in present-day America.

The hardest part about making all of these decisions is that we obviously want what is best, and most importantly, safest for our baby, but everyone seems to have a different opinion on what exactly that is.  So, how do you figure out who's right without getting caught up in all the marketing hype and brand wars out there?  I've found that word-of-mouth, consumer reports, and product reviews on various websites were somewhat helpful, but not exactly what I was looking for.  Thank goodness a couple of friends suggested I purchase the book, Baby Bargains.  Getting this book in the mail just might have been almost as good as eating a coconut cupcake from Kelly Kakes.  It is the most amazing and helpful thing I've read so far!  It is 600+ pages of data on the latest and greatest in baby gear.  The way that this book differs from anything that I've read before is that it guarantees that you get the most bang for your buck and it is updated every two years to ensure that the data is up-to-date.  Instead of listing which products were most commonly purchased by parents-to-be, it provides ratings on those products by people who have actually purchased and used them.  It also provides lots of helpful tips, lists of websites, and, you guessed it, bargains!  It is exactly what an obsessive planner and fanatic researcher with a limited baby budget like me needs!

http://www.babybargains.com/