Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Stuff

I'm starting to investigate the "stuff" Cholent will need. It turns out that in addition to the major items (crib, changing table, stroller, car seat) we expect to inherit from friends, there are various little niceties.
I started a "baby registry" at Target for a few treats. If you search my name or Adi's you'll find us.
But basically we'll *try* to acquire as little "stuff" as possible, at least for the first 6 mo...

Thanks to friend Laura H. I have also discovered a fascinating subculture of women who seem to have an obsession with diaper bags. There is a whole yahoo group for them to trade and sell bags and swap advice and information. (There's one for stroller obsessors too, but that seemed too much for me now, even as a mere voyeur.) I wouldn't have thought it such a compelling subject, but I'm starting to understand the appeal. First off, you want a bag that is actually designed to strap onto a stroller, rather than slip down or knock over the stroller. Beyond that you hope for decent organization of compartments and such, like a pocket for bottles that won't tip over and at minimum pockets for clean vs. dirty supplies. And then, why not? An opportunity to accessorize, to express your style. As one the Fleurville diaper bag designers say"...when people become parents they don’t stop being hip or appreciating good things."

I bet it's also like what "The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy" writes about keeping up with your manicures when pregnant: that at least you can look at your pretty nails and see ONE THING about your body that you have some control over. Maybe with the hectic life of parenting, you want to look at your diaper bag and think, "Wow, not only is it organized inside, that's a fly lookin' bag!"

Turns out diaper bags range from simple $30 Target type jobs to $400 designer things. In between, there are some particularly sumptuous bags in the $50-$150 range. The Keccis seem quite popular. They are pretty, but possibly too flowery for my taste. The Fleurvilles are even more up-scale, yummy-looking bags with names like "Mothership" and Daddy-oriented DJ bags in camo. Their site has techy pop-up diagrams of diaper bag interiors. They have the good sense to offer leopard print fabrics, but discriminatingly charge an extra $10 for it!!

And what do you put in your diaper bag? There are some really cute-looking cloth diapers out there, with features you'd hope for like snap buttons. Riqi recommends the FuzziBuns. I would happily try these except that our washing machine only does COLD water, so I'm afraid washabale diapers are not a viable option for us right now.

Then there are the baby carriers. The Moby Wraps site has very delicious mommy\baby pics if you click on "colors" links and mouse over the different colors. I think I'm going to inherit an Israeli version of these from a friend who never quite got it to work.

Another nice-looking diaper bag maker: Skip Hop

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Saw your post and had to comment. I love my Fleurville sling tote - extremely cute, plus I love that the outside is waterproof. And I love my tinokis (Israeli baby wrap) - once you learn how to use it it's the best.
B'sha'ah tovah!
- Sara

Zehava said...

Cool! Thanks for the tips!