Once your babies have all started school and your family is
“finished,” people start inventing the coolest stuff for newborns and
toddlers. My best friend is pregnant with her first child and I love to
look at baby items with and for her. She probably gets sick of hearing
me announce, “They didn’t make this when mine were babies.” I sigh over
one innovative bottle design or a pacifier that doesn’t leave a red welt
around the infant's mouth. Then, there are all of the things I didn’t
have due to budget. I stand with her in the giant overstocked baby
store and push a glider back and forth slowly.
This is how Mom felt when I was having my babies. Every time
I showed up with some “newfangled” gadget, she would tell me about my
babyhood and how they had to wind my swing. I only had to hit a button for my kids.
Our swing had three speeds and ran on batteries. When I was out of batteries,
however, I wished for Mom’s old wind-up contraption.
I know, too, that when my best friend sends her last baby off to school, someone else we know will be pregnant. We will go shopping for a shower gift and she will ooh and ah over all of the things she didn’t have when her kids were babies. It’s like the Retail Theory of Evolution. It’s the nature of the beast.
Here are some great new products from 2009:
The MamaRoo combines the best of the baby swing with that lovely invention, the bouncy seat:
MamaRoo Store
I saw a “teething pacifier” in a store a few weeks ago and may start adding these to my baby shower gift bags:
Available at Walmart
Have you seen the round cribs that seem to be popping up in stores? I absolutely love these:
See them
here...
A diaper bag that fits onto your stroller? No way! I could have used this:
Available at Walmart
A placemat that catches baby’s food when it, inevitable dives toward the floor, is a great idea:
Get it here...
The “Juice Pal” will help keep forgetful toddlers from squeezing those juice boxes and spraying everyone with stickiness:
Get it here....
In the end, someone will always be thinking of something to make motherhood easier. Despite all of the gadgets on the market, what makes the transitions of parenting manageable will seldom be a product you can buy in Babies R Us. What makes the journey simpler is having a girlfriend to share with, even when you don’t have the newest toy and the top of the line stroller. Other Mothers are the best “product” a Mom can have (contributed by Heather A. Truett @
http://www.madamerubies.com)
