Power Mad with Blogging...

Okay, okay.... I know that I opened this blog by indicating how much more Austin was going to post than me, but now that she is too sick to post I am drunk on the thrill of online publication :-)

So today my thoughts are centered on sheer number of items that are available for babies...

Last weekend, Legacy Park, a very large and somewhat affluent neighborhood near where Austin teaches school held its annual communal yard sale. This event is apparenly known far and wide for its veritable treasure-trove of high quality lightly used baby loot, so we both decided that though we are months away from needing most of the items in question, it would not be wise as cost-consious parents to skip it.

I think that the trip was a successful one... as we picked up a jogging stroller, bouncy, Baby-Bjorn, and Pack-and-Play for veritable peanuts... my only problem is that I have no real idea whether these items are useful or not.

While doing our yard sale rounds I was struck by two things: The first was that there are a whole lot of baby items out there that look like they cost a lot but that don't look like they were ever used. The second was a comment from the woman that we bought our jogging stroller from when we were looking at her car seat. She was an athletic and alert looking woman who struck me as a bit of a friendly type A triathlete. "Eight weeks along!" she said,"Well then I am sure you have read that book on all the baby items that you actually need." Austin and I nodded knowingly while she went on to describe the reasons why car seats that hook in directly to the floor are much better than the "death traps" that just use a regular seat belt around them. In truth, we had no idea what she was talking about.

So my questions to anyone who is reading are these... What is this mythical book she is talking about? How will I know that I have the book that is steering me around the crap that I don't need and not the one that is a marketing ploy to direct me right to it? and In the absence of said miracle book, what are some items aside from those mentioned above that are indespensible to parents to be? On the opposite side...what are some that are completely useless?