Baby Gear

I remember the first time I set foot in a Babies 'R Us store.  I was a single girl living and working in Minneapolis.  I went after work one night to get a gift from my sister's baby registry.  She lived in Austin, TX and was expecting her first baby.  It was raining, dark, and gloomy after work.  I was wearing black pants, black shoes and a black raincoat with the hood up.  I walked in and was greeted with the bright, blazing lights of the store glinting off all things pink and blue.  I felt like the Grim Reaper stumbling into a real life game of Candyland.  I was overwhelmed with the amount of stuff I saw and headed straight to the customer service desk for help with finding my sister's registry.  Then I asked what I should buy from the list.  Now I have a few things I like to get for new moms even if it isn't on the list but I didn't have that knowledge back then.  (Sleep sacks and personalized burp cloths are my favorites).  Finally, I asked for help finding it.  I wasn't ready to venture any further into the store on my own.

After our first born arrived, we re-named the store Zack's 'R Us since it felt like I was there all the time.  I was no longer afraid to look for things on my own and navigated the aisles with ease.  Recently, I visited Babies 'R Us for the first time in quite awhile.  I was trading in our old car seat and looking for a stroller base for the baby's new car seat.  What still gets me every time I walk into that store, whether it was that first visit or now as a veteran shopper, is the amount of stuff!  They are so tiny and they have this giant store stuffed to the rafters with gear.  Do babies really need all this stuff?