Better to Have and Not Need, than to Need and Not Have...

I recently saw this quote used in a tv commercial for car insurance and the first thing that came to mind was "so true, so very true".

Before getting pregnant, my husband was in a terrible car accident. By terrible I mean Awful, and by awful I mean Horrendous. It was one of those moments when you feel your world collapse and only strong faith can pull you through. His car was mangled and, in insurance terms, a total loss. But as they say, when it´s not your time... my husband walked away scared but with nothing but a few bruises and a deep cut on his right index finger that severed his tendon but was thankfully able to be repaired. We did not have car insurance, but I could have cared less about the car, we did however have health insurance and let me tell you that made all of the difference in terms of our peace of mind and in fixing his prominent hand.

It was a year after that accident that we conceived Hannah. I can now joke that the reason he walked away from that accident practically unscathed was so he could give me the greatest gift ever (and I say it jokingly, but I truly believe that was the reason) and with the blessing that is Hannah also came lots of gifts. I had two baby showers thrown by close friends and two by co-workers. Four felt like a lot to me since I consider myself more anti-social, but in Guate it is customary to have what sometimes seems like an endless amount of baby showers. I can´t say if it´s the same way in Houston. My family was not very social. We never went to a wedding, a baby shower, a quinceañera,... come to think of it, I don´t think I every attended a formal event with my parents.

Quinceañeras weren´t something I was familiar with because I attended public schools but in advanced placement programs (ie: very few Hispanics, and this despite the fact that we are talking about TEXAS people!). From third grade on I just always seemed to relate more to "gringos" but it wasn´t on a conscious level nor was it really ever something I thought about until high school where I remember getting some flak about it from a Hispanic guy who was into me and whose smart idea for getting my attention was bullying me about how I thought I was too good for Hispanics. I remember being very annoyed, but that was when I realized I didn´t really have one close hispanic friend. After high school I moved back to Guate and my sister gets a kick out of the fact that only I could have moved to a hispanic country and managed to find a BF that looks more "gringa". Hmmm... does that mean I need therapy?

Anyway, on to the reason for this post. I wanted to make a list of the baby gifts and products that I got or bought that I did not need and things I did not have, but now that I bought/got them, realized they are nice to have.

Have and Did not Need:                                                            
-a crib (and all of the bedding and accessories)
-a changing table (all of our diaper changes at home are done on the bed)
-three diaper bags (I only rarely use one)
-baby bottles (and all of the related accessories)
-pacifiers (my mom went pacifier crazy and sent Hannah 10 and she has only used one, and really only chews on the clip strap!)
-baby wipe warmer (when would I use this?! Especially with the hot weather we´ve been having, Hannah loves the feel of a nice cold baby wipe on her tushy)
-baby talcum powder
-Gerber baby food jars
-baby food storage units (what was I thinking when I bought these?!)
-cloth diapers (and all related accessories because, yes, I did fantasize about being a cloth diapering mama until reality hit and it was just more practical to use my good ol´ trusted +Huggies diapers, but now that Hannah is 10 months old I started to give the cloth diapers a turn in rotation)
-baby towels (I got her 4 and she outgrew them all by month 4!!)
-more than one grooming kit (yes, I got several and you only need the one)
-lots of baby clothes (she lives in pjs when it´s cold, and in bodies when it´s hot so all I really needed was 3-4 of each, but I have to admit how much I love seeing her in all of those adorable outfits)

Did not Have but is now a Nice to Have:
-Gerber Graduates Finger Food
-Sippy cups / snack cups
-Plenitud bed protectors (I use these for co-sleeping and for diaper changes)
-More than two pairs of washable breast pads
-Sassy Bumble Bee nail clippers (I wouldn´t have cut Hannah´s tiny finger if I´d had these before)
-Sophie the Giraffe

And if there was a fire and I could only save certain items, what would they be?
-Sophie the Giraffe (now purely for emotional value)
-Bear lovey blanket (Hannah loves it, and when her little flamenco hands get going as she is trying to fall asleep, it gives her something to occupy them with and helps her settle down faster)
-one bodysuit and one footed baby pijama
-my packed diaper bag (diapers, diaper rash ointment, baby wipes, baby oil, baby shampoo, flannel blankets, socks, extra bodysuit and pj, baby grooming kit, baby first aid kit ´cause I learned my lesson, and toys)

My boobies would be no.1 on that list, but those are attached to my person so no need :) That is what my BF and I were talking about the other day, how much the parenting style you choose directly affects what products you will need, so I guess the best advice would be to decide what your parenting style is going to be first and then shop for articles that will complement your choice. For me it was attachment parenting (thanks Mayim Bialik) and so co-sleeping and breastfeeding practically cancelled out a long list of baby products that I now have to decide what to do with... my mother thinks I should save them for second baby, but first we shall see if there is going to be a second and if so, I´d choose attachment parenting again. I love sleeping with my baby!

Tags: attachment parenting BF breastfeeding Faith Flamenco Guatemala Huggies Mayim Bialik Mommy Sophie the Giraffe Texas

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