Thursday, May 21, 2009

Everyone Has A Right to Change Their Opinion

Once upon a time, about 9 months ago, I was shopping off a baby registry for a very dear friend (we'll call her Meg, because that's her name). She was having her first child and had EVERY thing ever imaginable on the registry. If it was made and produced with a baby in mind, it was probably on her registry.

As I said, I was shopping and pondering with another friend (we'll call her Candace, once again, because that's her real name) of mine who was also buying for Meg. Together we laughed and giggled at the site of her registry list. So many things that weren't really necessary, but, you know, if ever planning to run a day care these things would come in handy. Meg had mentioned she still didn't have a Bumbo seat and really wanted one and sure enough, Bumbo seat and tray accessory were still on the list.

Candace and I laughed and giggled over the thought of who in the world, having their first child would need a Bumbo seat. The things are pointless and stupid and why place your child in a pint sized chair when you could actually hold and cuddle your sweet new babe.

To this day, I still hold strongly to that thought. If someone is having a first child/only child/ second, third, whatever child MANY years later (we're talking 15+ here), there is absolutely no reason in my opinion why you need one of those stupid contraptions. Just stop what you are doing and HOLD your baby when they need to be held. Even if they only want you to hold them for the purpose of them sitting up all over your lap while playing with their toys. Lets face it, this is probably going to be the ONLY time you'll ever get to hold them that much in their lives and when they learn that mom and dad are truly lame and hate spending time with their lame-o parents, you're gonna miss those days when you could have held your baby but didn't because the seat was so convenient.

Neither Candace nor myself bought her the Bumbo seat.

Lets face it though, we all have the right to change our minds and, well, I've changed my mind, slightly. I've had it in the back of my mind lately that one of those things just might come in handy on days where Kyra wants me to read 30,000 books to her AND Lydia.

Lydia, lets just say, is a wiggly ass worm. Any time you try to set her in your lap she immediately arches her back, exaggerates a grunt and wiggles until she slides out. And then gets PISSED because she is no longer included in the activities at hand.

Yesterday we found a Prince Lionheart thingy (very similar to the Bumbo) at a consignment shop. And Lydia likes it. And I like it. Because now I can read to Kyra with Lydia right next to me and both children can enjoy the same story together.

It's also kinda cute when you set her inside. She instantly thanks you with her arms spread wide, a great big grin and a shiny stream of drool to boot. It's her way of saying she appreciates the things you do for her.
Then she looks down and notices that there is this clean, slobber free object in front of her.
That, as far as she can remember, is NEW and has never been TASTED and SLOBBERED on before.
So she finds it to be her civic duty to not only taste the new object, but to shove it as far into her mouth as humanly possible just so she doesn't miss a corner or make one side of the toy feel more loved then the other.
'Nuff with the cute kid, back to my point...

While I may not see why a parent of an only child needs a Bumbo seat, or their counterparts, I can now see why a parent of multiple children, children who still desire their mother's attention as well as the accompaniment of their sibling AT THE SAME TIME might enjoy the convenience of having one of these seats.

Lydia may not be listening to the story we're reading as she happy chews on her new found toy, and even though Kyra may not realize Lydia could care less about the book at this point, she is happy to have both her mother and sister at her side. In these certain cases, I accept the damn Bumbo seat.

And who knows, maybe Meg was simply preparing for her future children, or daycare, and Candace and I were utterly unaware of this thought process. Farther fetched things are possible, right?

6 comments:

  1. I'm insulted. I had one and offered it to you!

    And only child at home or not, they rock! And.. And.. And.. *sticks tongue out*

    Figure they're not different than swings, bouncers, etc?

    ReplyDelete
  2. hahah right on. I never bothered with a seat cause I have a walker which is heaps better cause they can move! and that means you can get your shit done! except maybe when both girls REALLY want to help with laundry but one can't cause she's underfoot until you give her a sock or some undies to play with and only then will she roll away happily. (so awesome!)

    ReplyDelete
  3. cailey is still squeezing her fatty thighs into our bumbo at age 10m months at my moms as a high chair and neveah used it as a booster seat at age 24 months haha they do come in handy and i hope our next child which if i have my way will be concieved soon witll use the same bumbo haha.... i loved your gifts better then all that stuff on my registry cailey still loves her baby

    ReplyDelete
  4. Well, I only have one child, as you know, and we loved the bumbo seat. I think it is perfect for the independant baby who doesn't want to be held all the time, and the mom who actually has to cook supper, put a load of clothes in the washer, scrub the refrigerator, etc... ( not that you don't, but it seems Lydia likes her carrier and you can get that stuff done with her attached to you.)
    I liked it beause it allowed her to sit up way earlier than she ever would have been able to on her own, and it was so easy to carry from room to room so she could sit and watch what I was doing and I could talk to her. Especially since she LOATHED the carrier.
    So what I'm saying is YAY FOR BUMBO! It's awesome.
    Also, your kid is cute. =p

    ReplyDelete
  5. I never seemed to need one for Kyra, though, could be because they didn't make them when she was born. And she learned to sit up by 5 months which I think was due more to her exersaucer and us propping her up with our jackets around her in high chairs at resteraunts. But I also never minded one bit to put the dishes and dirty oven aside when Kyra wanted to be held because, who wants to race over to clean something. Obviously not me, as I posted before!

    But I have to say, it has seemed to come in handy with Lydie Kate.

    Oh, and Lisa- it probably cost us the same amount of money to buy it used then it would if you were to have sent it. And you're working on saving money to buy a house, right? Besides, I might need it when/if I ever get to come visit you!

    ReplyDelete
  6. lol, they are the next best thing to sliced bread :) I had a chance to use one while we were in CT, it was perfect for putting Miriam on the counter while I was chopping veggies and such, not that anyone should do that, put their babies on the counter, uh-oh said too much and the meanies are going to say bad things about me, lol. It is late and I should go to bed, or watch a mind numbing movie

    ReplyDelete