Thursday, May 19, 2016

If I knew then what I know now.......

This is my advice to first time parents, things I wish I had known or are thankful I made the right decision along the way:

I'm sure house home is lovely, it won't be for long.  I would love a new coach or new kitchen table but what's the point.  Something will get spilled or there will be marker or crayon all over your table.  If your furniture is white buy couch covers now and you can take them off in 10 years, it will be like a new couch! I have come to terms with the fact that it will be a good 8 to 10 years before I can do anything nice to my house again.

Get rid of anything furniture that is glass.  We have a glass TV stand, I clean fingerprints daily!

With that said only buy your kids WASHABLE markers, paint and crayons - read the boxes carefully so you buy the right ones.

Do not buy the squeezable bath toys - they never really dry inside and mold grows so easy in there it's just gross!

The sales people at Babies R Us are nice, they are happy for you, they also want your money.  Take someone shopping with you that has kids and can help you be more realistic with your purchases.  I picked out, (with the help of the sales employee) a super nice and very expensive stroller.  Then when it came time to actually use it with kids both baby and toddler stage I started to see all the problems with this super expensive investment of mine.  No cup holder for me or the kid.  It drove really well but was big and bulky and when the baby started sitting in the actual stroller seat and not the car seat anymore they didn't look that comfortable.  When we went to Florida with Mia for the first time at 15 months old I knew there was no way I was taking the stroller on the airplane and have it all beat up from luggage.  I went and bought a Graco stroller on sale for $50 and it was perfect.  She fit perfect, she had a cup holder and space for snack, I had a cup holder and a nice spot to put my phone.  Seriously $50!!  Even better if you get one where the tray opens up so they can climb in themselves as they get older.  

I was at Target when Melody was a baby and this lady asked me to help her pick out a high chair.  She was about to be a first time grandmother and wanted a high chair for her house and she was intimidated but the huge selection.  Her daughter had picked out this chic fab high chair - there is nothing chic or fab about trying to clean off blueberries from the seat of your high chair.  This was where I actually made a good choice - I bought the Graco high chair with wheels because we have all tile and hard wood - and the seat cover is easy to wipe and even folded so we  could store it easier.

Another good choice was my baby swing.  Again thank you Graco - I got the 2 in one swing which plugs into the wall...save yourself the $ on batteries.  The seat of swing comes out and becomes your bouncy seat and vibrates.  The baby would be in the swing but I wanted to bring her to the kitchen - just pull out the seat and bring her with me.  Saves on $ and having even more baby stuff in your house.

Hopefully someone can learn from my mistakes :)