Dad's Diary: Overwhelmed by Registering

By Scott
BabyBlogAddict.com

When you're a first-time parent there is a lot to think about between finding out that your wife is pregnant and the due date. Will we find out what it is? When do we tell everyone? Which room will become the nursery? How do you change a diaper? Are we even qualified to be parents? While exciting, it can also be a frustrating experience. Some of the most frustration, for a dad-to-be anyway, comes when it's time to register for baby gifts. One of our stores of choice was Babies-R-Us, which should be outlawed. Way too many options. To help us wade through the array of possibilities we enlisted the help of one of my wife's college friends who had two young children. I highly recommend bringing along someone familiar with the experience.

It took us almost a half hour to get started because the lady who was helping us sign up thought it was time to chit chat and giggle instead of register. When the mission was finally underway it was clear I was there for one reason: to help with the big stuff. I could handle the car seat, stroller, pack'n play, bouncy seat, swing...and a mirror, of course. Any child of mine had to have a good car mirror. But my influence quickly waned when the subject turned to The Pump. We registered for something called Pump in Style. They make it sound like if you're pumping with this thing, there's no one out there doing it better. For the price, it should feed the baby for you.

I didn't get to register for a very comfy chair and ottoman that afternoon, but it briefly served a valuable purpose. At least we got the best pump out there. But future dads should prepare themselves; no man should ever have to see his wife actually use the pump.

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