Not Worth What I Paid (Or Even What I Didn't Pay)

It hit me again today that I'm going to be having my fifth child. There's just something about that that doesn't quite mesh with my "I'm-still-25-years-old" state of mind. (Unless I had started having kids at age fifteen or something. But that sounds even more foreign!) I had a message on the answering machine when I got home from my health insurance inviting me to join a health management program that I'm eligible for. I laughed at the message a bit-- I've been invited to these programs multiple times now. It's one of those insurance programs that focus on well-being and prevention, hopefully to save them some big bills later I guess. But I've found that having an extra layer of people nagging me about stuff I already know is mostly irritating, so I have no plans to join. For pity's sake, this is my 9th pregnancy. I probably know more of what I'm "supposed to do" than the counselor who would be advising me.

That got me thinking about some things I've learned about myself when it comes to getting ready for new babies. We all have our own family dynamics and way of doing things, so some things that were indispensable for other people turned out to be not at all applicable to my own life. So I thought I'd make a list of the things that I thought I would need when I was getting ready for M that turned about to be a waste of money and space:

1. A bassinet-- OK, I didn't spend money on one of these (I was given one by a co-worker) but it turned out to be utterly useless. When my babies were small enough to sleep in a bassinet they slept in one of three places: a car seat, a baby swing, or on someone's chest.

2. A diaper pail-- I had one of those ones that was supposed to keep the smell locked in, but quite frankly, it just filled up way too quickly while I never got around to emptying it frequently enough. Instead, I always ended up carrying extra diapers to the kitchen trash. By K I started right off the bat just dumping all diapers in the kitchen trash. I rarely even have to wrap the poopy ones in an extra bag first because with a family of six the trash fills up so quickly there's no time for things to get too smelly before the trash has to be taken out.

3. A changing table-- Before I had M I thought this was a required item. And I used it for a little while, but my kids got so big and squirmy so fast it was just way easier to change them on the bed . . . or the couch . . . or the floor. . . wherever was closest. Just grab the changing pad and the wipes and you're good to go!

4. Nursing cover-ups, clothes, pads for leakage, breast pump--- Yes, all the breastfeeding paraphernalia just turned out to be a waste of money. Oh well. Actually, I did use a box of the disposable nursing pads. It took me four kids to use maybe a quarter of the box, if that. I could still have used it for this baby except that after K I chucked it, sure that I wasn't going to need them ever again (hah!)

5. Baby bouncer (the vibrating kind for young babies)-- My kids hated these things. Well, M and J did. Maybe B and K would have liked them, but I didn't even bother to put either baby in one.

Did you have stuff that you thought that you would need that turned out just to uselessly take up valuable space?

Tomorrow I'll share some of the baby stuff I found essential, as well as things I wish I had gotten!