Baby Furniture: Are You Scared Of The Cost?
by Amy Johnson
Baby furniture is a must. There are some pieces of furniture that you just need to have. There are others that you don’t have to have but probably would like to have. If you are looking forward to baby’s arrival and are wondering what in the world you are going to do to afford all of this furniture, don’t worry, there are solutions out there that are both going to provide you with the help you need but are also going to be cost effective for the budget. Together, you’ll have the product that fills your needs!
What Do You Need?
There are many essentials to baby furniture that shouldn’t be skipped. The most important is that of a crib for the baby. The right type of crib not only is a place for your child to sleep, but is a safe location to place baby when you can’t have them in your hands. Although most people don’t realize it, there are standards for cribs that are set by the government in an effort to keep your child safe. For that reason, never purchase a product that hasn’t been approved, especially a crib.
One way to lower the cost of this piece of baby furniture is to consider the long term use of the bed. If you purchase just a crib, that crib will need to be replaced several times from a toddler bed into a single bed for when they are older. But, there are now models of cribs that actually grow with your child. With a few tools, you can change the layout of the bed to change from a crib into a bed safe for a small child and one that’s eventually safe enough for them to sleep in as a child in school. That’s money savings in the long run and usually these are high quality beds that will last you that long, too!
In addition to your child’s crib, there are other pieces of furniture to consider. You will definitely need a place to store their clothing. You may also want to consider a changing table. These are important pieces because of the function that they provide. Yet, you don’t have to purchase a specifically baby style dresser. You can purchase an inexpensive dresser instead. As for the changing table, you can create your own by adding finely sanded and painted pieces of wood to the top of a low rise dresser. You should make sure there is enough stability in these pieces as well as making sure there is nothing that can hurt the child. Padding is required! Even still, you don’t need a changing table if you can’t afford one. You can change baby on the bed.
In some cases, purchasing the entire baby furniture set can be advisable. This can considerably lower the costs of getting each piece individually. But, if you don’t need all that’s in the set, it can make it more expensive in the long run. Safety and function should be your main goals when looking for furniture for your baby For more observations about bunk beds from Amy, click the link. Amy Johnson may be contacted at http://www.j2jnetwork.com
Baby Memory Book: Remember The 'Celestial' Days
by FamilyLearn Inc.
I think there are certain "watershed" moments in the life of each family. Ours happened in June of 1995 when we finally got our last child potty trained. I sat down and punched a few numbers: we had gone through over twenty five thousand diapers!
While potty training our kids, my wife would sit next to the child for hours and read them story books until she got them to tinkle. To celebrate, she would clap, cheer, and give them chocolate--the exact same things that Oprah needs to sustain her fragile ego and mercurial waistline.
The whole process took place on a cute little plastic potty-chair that had endured the onslaught of our six well-fed little porkers. So, I called the family to gather in the back yard. We formed a sacred circle around the potty chair. In solemn assembly, I uttered a few reverent words about how that little chair had served us so well. I then passed out the golf clubs and we proceeded to beat the potty chair into about six thousand pieces.
Babies are so stinking cute--especially when they are breast fed. Usually breast fed babies are fat, healthy, happy and they just smell good. I'm always surprised when I hear a new mother announce that she isn't going to breast feed. I think, "Jeez lady, you've been packing those things around for twenty seven years. They have a purpose besides ornamentation you know!" Although, as ornaments, I do feel they are unsurpassed.
Most people go to church, I suppose, to hear the Word: "Blah, blah, blah...and here are five thousand more reasons why you're going to Hell! Blah, blah, blah!" When I go to church, I like to hold someone's baby. I've always felt that if you want to see the glory of the sun, you don't look at the sun. You look at what the sun illuminates: a beautiful red sky at sunset, or a verdant mountain. Likewise, if you want to see God, look at that which he illuminates. When I look at a baby, I feel like I'm looking at something celestial. Babies laugh when I wiggle my ears, and they don't see my weaknesses. They're not compiling a list of five hundred reasons to send me to Hell on judgment day.
The saddest thing about raising babies is that often times, the parents are so tired that they forget how awesome their babies are. Last week I was sitting in church and there was a handsome young couple sitting four seats apart with three kids trapped between them. The babies were as cute as Reese Witherspoon triplets, but the poor parents were exhausted. The mother was staring off into space obviously too tired to even dream of Cancun; and the poor dad looked like he was trying to emerge from a six year coma.
Isn't it amazing how kids mold their parents? When I was a kid there was this stuff called Dippity-Doo. It was basically petroleum jelly mixed with super glue. My mom would line me and my three brothers up in a row and slather Dippity-Doo all over our heads. After she combed our hair, it would set up as solid as Hoover Dam. Do you remember Barbie Doll and her gay brother Ken? Well, mom would march us to church looking like the four pre-pubescent, developmental stages of Ken. When we got to church, she would line us up on the pew and tell us that she would kill us if we talked during church--which we always did. So every week after church, it was the same thing: mom would give me a knife and tell me to go cut a big switch off of the willow tree so she could tan our heathen little backsides. We brothers would run up stairs and put on two pairs of pants, but that strategy only led to mom thumping us over the head with her wooden house slippers that weighed about as much as the Spanish Armada. If it wasn't for the Dippity-Doo hard hat, I'm sure we'd all have brain damage.
The irony of this 1,000,000% true story is that my kids think I'm making it up! When I take the kids to see grandma, they gather round her feet and hang on every syllable that emanates from her angelic lips like a bunch of pilgrims at the Sermon on the Mount! I try to tell them that their sweet little grandma is not the woman who raised me: "The woman who raised me, whipped me and called me a damn little shit!"
"Ah Dad," they reply, "You're just making that up. Grandma is a lot nicer than you are." Like I said, I love babies, but I haven't said a word about teenagers. I sure am glad we kept a baby memory book for each of our kids, so we can remember their 'celestial' days. FamilyLearn Inc. helps you strengthen your family and marriage by inspiring and enabling you to preserve, search, share, and learn from life's stories.
Start your Baby Memory Book for free. FamilyLearn Inc. may be contacted at
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