New life expected in Dawnmaster's Mansion

[jmervyn]

I found it highly unpleasant to be there...

Parents might as well have their foreheads stamped "sucker" when leaving the hospital; there's a lot of money trying to convince people that they really need to be a better parent by doing X.

One thing worth considering is that you really <don't> need to blow tons of cash on your new... spawn. We bought close to $3000 in "gear" and probably could have cut that in half. One mistake we made was buying a set of furniture from a stolid old American company whose selling point was that all these new-fangled carrying basket/crib/cappuccino makers are more than a little unsafe for your little one, often tipping upside-down and dumping baby on their head, leading to lawsuits that only rarely prove lucrative for you.

Of course, their solution was having not changed their styling since the 1950's, but because we only had the one, the solid-as-a-rock set of stuff did nothing but gather dust after about 6 years (you were able to convert the gear for other purposes, but eventually the kid needs and adult-size bed).

Definitely don't go over the top with toys. Some good quality, sturdy ones will work out better; and you'll find yourself spending far too much time in the toy store in the long run.

[Vivi]

Oh aye!
Better save the money laters to buy her (well...) lots of lego.
And books.

[Dawnmaster]

Parents might as well have their foreheads stamped "sucker" when leaving the hospital; there's a lot of money trying to convince people that they really need to be a better parent by doing X.

One thing worth considering is that you really <don't> need to blow tons of cash on your new... spawn. We bought close to $3000 in "gear" and probably could have cut that in half. One mistake we made was buying a set of furniture from a stolid old American company whose selling point was that all these new-fangled carrying basket/crib/cappuccino makers are more than a little unsafe for your little one, often tipping upside-down and dumping baby on their head, leading to lawsuits that only rarely prove lucrative for you.

Of course, their solution was having not changed their styling since the 1950's, but because we only had the one, the solid-as-a-rock set of stuff did nothing but gather dust after about 6 years (you were able to convert the gear for other purposes, but eventually the kid needs and adult-size bed).

Definitely don't go over the top with toys. Some good quality, sturdy ones will work out better; and you'll find yourself spending far too much time in the toy store in the long run.

Actually, hospital costs are €0, our insurance (which is free via work) covers all hospital expenses, so we're taking the luxury room ^^
Qua clothing, materials and furniture, we're received a lot for free or a very nice price from family/friends.
At the moment, we're only lacking a babymonitor, unisex clothing of various sizes and starter bottles.
I think for all the furniture/gadgets/bath/sheets/whatever we spent around €300-400 (estimated $450-600)

Oh aye!
Better save the money laters to buy her (well...) lots of lego.
And books.

I don't think my kid will run short of toys, I still have loads of toys from my childhood (specifically giant boxes of lego), I have a lot of cartoon dvds, I have loads of books (comics/1950's horrors/real books), I have a lot of family games (slightly more advanced than your average Monopoly game though ^^)
And me and the misses still have stuffed animals from when we were little, I still have my little doggy which was manufactured in 1979, 2 years before I was born

EDIT: regarding the babymonitor, seeing how I'm hobby creator/inventor/tinkerer, I'm actually considering about making a rudimentary one myself

[Vivi]

Most of us grew up without baby monitors and turned out just fine. Never quite know why you'd need one. But then I don't have babies.
In my experience, the less ready made to play with the toys are, the most fun it is. If you have a fragile nativity set though, you may want to consider it temporarly swapping it for a plastic one. And put the baubles up high. I was forever shifting the nativity set, my sister was breaking baubles.
As it turns out, I hate Christmas, and she loves it.

[BobCox2]

Just read the jmervyn you quoted and Vivi and want to point out old baby stuff is the best.

Antique family crib - clean and use - Priceless... or at least thats what they charge for it.

Hand-me-downs can be cool though.

[Leopold Stotch]

You came out of her womb, so it's her who had to provide that malual, right?

Maybe? I was also brought into this world and could be easily taken out. Did anyone else's parents tell them that?

eg:
we went to a child-caring meeting 'kind en gezin', and were expecting info about how to raise the baby the first year after being born
but instead they were complaining about how everybody does everything wrong, and kept showing us pictures of disfigured babies

I found it highly unpleasant to be there...

omg, that is ****ing horrible! Don't go back! lol!

Oh aye!
Better save the money laters to buy her (well...) lots of lego.
And books.

YESSSS!! BOOKS!! I have already bought my nephew two books, gave him two books from my personal collection (The Very Hungry Catepillar and If You Give a Mouse A Cookie) and there's MORE TO COME!!


Language Warning for pic below. But it's truth.

Spoiler

[Dawnmaster]

Personally I've always been fond of fantasy/adventure/sciencefiction, loved them as a kid, still loving them now!

Ofcourse this love has since spread to movies, games, and my hobbys

[jmervyn]

Language Warning for pic below. But it's truth.

Spoiler

Every member of my family has a library of at least two full shelves, Junior included. I have five.

Personally I've always been fond of fantasy/adventure/sciencefiction, loved them as a kid, still loving them now!

Be prepared for them not to share your taste in genre, and don't be disappointed because of it. However, don't accept their claim that the Interwebz are as good as reading either.

[BobCox2]

Just remember to punish when needed.

Spoiler

So your having a baby?

[Dawnmaster]

Be prepared for them not to share your taste in genre, and don't be disappointed because of it. However, don't accept their claim that the Interwebz are as good as reading either.

I still hope they'll do, as a child, there were a lot of things my parents do that I wanted to share, but they kinda took the wrong approach in warming me up for their taste.

I'm merely going to try to spent more time with my kid then my parents did with me, and try to include them more if they're curious what I'm doing.

Also, more importantly, try to give more correct and elaborate answers when my child has questions about anything, my parents were always reluctant (both because they couldn't answer half my questions, and both because they got tired of my questions ^^)
Thankfully, we have the internet available nowadays if I can't answer their questions (I'll still have to explain it in words they'll understand, but atleast I'll have a vast source of information at my disposal!)