During pregnancy, I spent countless hours perusing the baby isles of Wal-mart, Target, Walgreens..
It was my favorite thing to do.
Finally I could gush over baby clothes and actually have a reason to buy them.
I compared car seats, calculated diaper costs, studied bottle styles..
It's just this romantic, dreamy thing to do. It makes the pregnancy feel real. Just by imagining all this stuff filling your home and how you'll use it.
Today, for the first time since the arrival of Sprout, I've taken a stroll down the baby isles again. Sure, I've made mad dashes for our favorite MAM paci's, but nothing like this. Sprout was ready for some new toys and I thought it might be nice to have a long look-see..
Deep in the labyrinth of Retail's version of necessities, I laughed. I realized that there was no sense in walking the isles, we didn't need or use - any of this stuff. Then Billy said something that was perfect and puts everything into perspective for me..
"You're right. We don't use any of this. We're them holistic kinda parents.."
Eureka! Hello! That is what I've been needing to hear!
Screw the labels. I feel like I've subscribed to a magazine and pasted the cover to my forehead when I use those terms. It would look like it feels - ridiculous.
We are a holistic family. I am a (possibly borderline nazi) holistic mother. What feels natural to me is what I feel is necessary to do. You can break it up into a million different pieces and put it into a gift pack, but I prefer simplicity. Mix up all those labels with a touch of booby juice and you have parenting holism.
I never expected to be this way. I honestly believed I would do what you're supposed to do - feed baby from a bottle, buy diapers each week, and spend hundreds of dollars on products with questionable safety without giving any of it a second thought. I know when the change first started happening, but that's a different post for a different day.
People told me through out my pregnancy - "Oh, you'll be surprised at how you'll do things as a parent that you never thought you would."
Wouldn't you know - they were right. ;)
This entry made me smile.
ReplyDeleteI was helping a friend of mine pack her daughter's room and I made a joke that if I ever had a child, they'd only be allowed one toy--and they could donate it if and when they wanted another. Of course, I didn't mean that, but it did make me think about the amazing amount of STUFF people think they need to raise children.
I don't know. I have no children, so we'll see how I do it if I do decide to become a mother one day. (Likely I'll be begging you for advice all the time, but that's another story...)
And I definitely want to read that "different post" sometime. :)