Play-Learn-Grow-Repeat

From Monday Mom – Neetika:
My wonderfully talented predecessor, Melissa, has mentioned a phenomenon known throughout the parenting community as the “mommy wars.” This term refers to the never-ending competition between mothers in the ways they choose to raise their children. No topic is off-limits. Choose to have an amniocentesis in pregnancy? Are you co-sleeping? When are you starting pre-school? Still using pacifiers? Feel free to let us know! And then be judged for it.

Like Melissa, I’m fairly confident in the decisions I’ve made so far in my parenting role. Relating to pregnancy, an area in which other women are not afraid to voice their opinions is the topic of baby gear. A new mom is inclined to listen—the last thing you’d want to do is fail to obtain the very thing that will ensure your child’s healthy and productive childhood! (Or worse, buy a device that moms perceive as detrimental to development.)

My main goal for last week was to get a hold of my uncle’s Costco card (shhhh- don’t tell) so I could buy Kirkland Signature Baby Wipes, which every mom I know swears by. This endlessly amused my 22-year old male cousin. Unable to imagine the difference between brands of wipes, he asked me why it mattered. “I don’t know, okay?” I stammered back, “Something about the absorbency, or like, the wetness, or maybe the thickness? It just matters!” The truth is I’m not sure what makes the Kirkland Wipes a miracle product, but the endorsement from my friends and the online community was enough to get me on board.

Other products I’m more skeptical about. Speaking of wipes, the “wipe warmer” is something I just can’t sign on to. A good friend of mine said she knows it sounds ridiculous, but it eliminates a lot of screaming in the middle of the night. Clearly I don’t want my baby to suffer. Yet I don’t feel I can justify spending money on a device solely designed to ensure baby’s bottom stays cozy and warm through early morning diaper changes. I think a small amount of stress may be a good thing for a baby, physiologically speaking. But ask me again after the little one arrives. It may be the first gadget I buy—if not to soothe the baby, then to maintain my own sanity.

What’s funny about the wipe warmer issue is that in the mommy wars, I somehow believe that I am above the fray. Yet here I am, rolling my proverbial eyes at all of the moms who choose to use the product. It’s easy to get sucked in. I think that’s the nature of raising a child— from baby gear through college applications—you can’t help but compare notes.

Now you’ll have to excuse me—Babies R Us just emailed me about another Recalled Item. Better remove it from my registry before the other moms find out!