I got to buy baby stuff!!

[klmno]

And it's not my or difficult child's baby!! (TG!)

My young neighbors just had their first baby (boy) this weekend and brought it home today. They have lived there a year and I''ve never seen any friends over. They have had a few family members over but none with any kids so I figured they were about as green as I was when I had difficult child. I didn't have much money so I put together a gift bag (designed with a puppy dog and a snail ). I just got a pack of side-snap T-shirts, a pack of 2 pacifiers that are shaped like the newborn's mouth, a pair of warm, soft booties, and a plaque for them to do the first hand and foot prints.

I usually try to get expectant and new parents a book from the "What to Expect..." series but I wouldn't have been able to afford the other stuff and didn't know if they already had it so I just recommended it in the card.

It was so much fun! I was almost in tears though reading those cards about little boys being born and growing up thinking about where difficult child is now. At least they are perfect and innocent and precious when they are babies!

The father answered the door with baby in hand - I had seen the light from the tv in the window so knew it was a fairly safe time. The baby is 8lb 11 oz and has huge feet! I don't think those booties will fit. LOL! But he was fussing and didn't have a pacifier in his nouth so maybe they can use those.

 

[donna723]

Isn't it fun buying baby stuff?!?! I'll bet your neighbors were thrilled to get it. Maybe they have no family living near them that are close enough to visit.

My first grandchild was born on May 1st. I started buying little baby things as soon as my daughter found out she was pregnant. Every time I went in the store I'd come out with a package of crib sheets or little t-shirts, or another pair of baby socks. And a complete set of rubber duckie bath toys and a little Winnie the Pooh! I bought the clothes in white or yellow or green. Then in early December they found out he was a boy, so I started buying more blue clothes and "boy stuff". None of it cost much money and I did it over the course of several months. And at Christmas I wrapped up each little item in either pink or blue tissue (over 50 little packages), put it all in a big gift wrapped box, and mailed it to them. She said they had so much fun opening up all those little things - it took them forever to unwrap it all and it gave them a good start on all the baby things they needed to buy for him.

 

[susiestar]

How fun!! I hope that you can find time to visit with them occasionally. maybe bring them a casserole every week or two. That will give you time to play and love that sweet baby! Babies are just so special, aren't they? Even if it is just a plate of sandwiches or cookies or whatever, they will really appreciate it. being a new parent is exhausting and terrifying and amazing and beautiful. It just wraps around your heart, doesn't it?

Donna - are you my mother???? Well, we didn't live far away when Wiz was born. From the time my mom found out I was pregnant she started buying baby stuff. New and used. for the first 7 years of his life I spent less than $100 in clothes for him. My mom could not go and get gas, or pick up food from a drive thru with-o buying a shirt or toy for him. It is NOT a joke. We did move when he was 3 and then we got a paper box (the size copy paper comes in) crammed tightly with clothes, toys, etc mostly for Wiz. These boxes came every 3-4 weeks. Sometimes 2 at a time!

It sure was a budget saver for us.

 

[donna723]

No, unfortunately my only grandbaby lives 630 miles away from me! I wanted to be there when he was born but it just got too complicated trying to arrange to be off work, not knowing when he was going to come because they kept telling her she'd never make it to her due date. So I decided to wait - and he ended up coming three full weeks early! I drove down there when he was a week old, to give them time to get home and get settled, and stayed a week. So he's now 4-1/2 months and I haven't seen him since he was 15 days old! I'm going to have a great time shopping for him for Christmas though - it's been years since I shopped for toys! My son and I are going down there for the holidays. I wouldn't miss that for the world! I sooooo envy people who live near their children and grandchildren and get to see them all the time.

 

[DammitJanet]

KLMNO...if you know for sure that they are amenable to the prospect and would like to do it since you have some free time...plus you are cleaning out your house and might like to get rid of some of your junk, try looking for baby stuff on freecycle plus putting your junk on freecycle to get rid of it. Kill two birds with one stone. I used to get some amazingly wonderful nice bags of baby clothes and some stuff like baby swings, bouncy seats, toys...etc. on freecycle. You can always take the cloth seats off and wash them. Oh...found a great high chair on there.

 

[klmno]

I have never checked freecycle- I will look into it. I try to give difficult child's clothes that he's outgrown to a veteran organization that helps their whole families. I'll have a whole wardrobe this year since difficult child won't fit into anything by next year.

Donna: that sounds like a fun "project"- I bet they were VERY happy! I bet you have a great Christmas this year!

Susie: Thanks for the idea about taking some food over- now that I'm just cooking for myself I usually have stuff left-over. I could easily plan ahead and take stuff to them. I thought I'd wait a little and let them get a little more comfortable with me around the baby before I offered to babysit. I think I scared them to death when the man asked me where difficult child was and I told him the truth. And I told him why- I figured the truth was better than letting his imagination run wild.