Thinking about our nursery and baby registry gave this idea more immediacy. It seems so daunting to start from scratch in terms of taking care of another living thing! It's hard to know where to start...and recognizing this feeling as the same one I had before we got married and set up our first home, I decided to again turn to registry guidelines. Friends, these can be never-ending. [I also seemed to forget that heeding them meant that I ended up registering or 7-8 serving platters...I have no idea what I was thinking. I blame the registry gods.] This time I quickly started panicking about 1) moolah - baby things are expensive! and 2) space - and this is just after we moved into a new place with a room for the baby.
But it turns out that there are also a reassuring number of articles out there promising you that "your baby doesn't need as much as you think she needs"...or something to that extent. I've decided to cling to these like a lifeboat. And the effect is instantaneous; it's turned preparing into a sort of game. In my mind, I win by keeping our house (and specifically, the nursery) as streamlined and free from extra "stuff" as possible. Darcy would probably argue that I could win any game by dropping more food on the floor for her. What was I saying? Oh right - as I attempt to wade through the necessities vs. non-necessities (ex: I think we'll pass on the wipe warmers), I'm also trying to be smart about buying good-quality things that will outfit multiple babies. But since I'm hoping to get fewer things overall and items that will last, I don't mind if I'm investing a little more now.
I just realized that the initials (ending in a "D") could make it look like this is our baby's room. It's not. That room is filled with boxes we haven't put away and so far from looking like this that it's laughable. This is from Pinterest, and the simplicity makes me happy.
This book was unearthed by the move, and I wish I had been reading it every week. In back-tracking and trying to catch up, I came across a section about the Nativity. The author talks about the simplicity of Jesus' birth, and implies that Mary, just like all mothers, also wanted to provide what was best for her baby. However, instead of fixating on material provisions, she knew that obedience and closeness to God was paramount.
That definitely put my desire to provide for my baby into perspective (which I thought I was doing in part by picking wooden toys over plastic - gold star, Anna!). If having fewer things can help reorient us and make us more open to God's presence in our lives, then I think this will be a very worthy undertaking.
[These posts by Hannah and Mary Beth are also inspiring me to keep it simple!]
I love that nursery, too! And it's so true, the baby doesn't need much and I love a calm, clutter-free nursery (especially during those middle of the night feedings)! A good investment: a good, comfy rocker ;)
ReplyDeleteBest wishes!
Lisa
Yes! I'm still on the hunt for a good rocker that would be cozy enough to fall asleep in, but doesn't break the bank. Any suggestions? :)
DeleteThat's such a lovely article! It made me relaxed just to read it. And I like your tip of making sure the chair works in the rest of the house too...I've been on the lookout for one small enough to fit in our living room!
DeleteHi Anna, just stopping by from Mary Beth's link up (though I haven't managed to write a blog post yet this week, I'm enjoying reading other people's posts!) This post very much resonated with me - I am expecting our first baby, and my husband has helped to keep me very grounded in terms of keeping things simple. He has been all for buying as many things second hand as possible, so we actually have very little that is brand new for our baby. Every time I think about resisting this approach, I remember that the baby will never know the difference, (but our wallets absolutely will!) and love is the most important thing, which you cannot place enough value on!
ReplyDeleteSomething else that has helped is that I have been able to find some really lovely things at nearly new sales and children's second hand shops, for tiny prices : )
I loved your reminder about Mary knowing that obedience and closeness to God were paramount, far and above material needs for Jesus - thank you for that!
Enjoy the journey of preparing for your babe : )
I love her link up! And I can't wait to be able to get off the couch and take advantage of the secondhand stores in the area...for now I just write "hand me down!" on pictures of my sister's twin baby girls :).
Deleteanna, i love this! it reminds me of a book i'm reading now, Happier at Home by Gretchen Rubin. She talks in her chapter about Possessions a lot about locating the type of surrounding that makes your home really work for you. She even rejects simplicity for some people (gasp! the horror!), and challenges her readers to think beyond simplification for it's own sake, and get to questions like, what does our family need? What reminds of us our family and loved ones? What makes this home? What is functional? I think you definitely hinted at those things in this post by your desire to reject excess. And really, I kind of just want to send you a ton of baby essentials from Germany because, man, they do it right. So yea, that was a lot, but keep on! Can't wait to see what you come up with for the nursery!
ReplyDeleteMary, that makes SO much sense. I like the distinction that simple doesn't always equal the best for some people! My parents' home is definitely not as streamlined as mine, but full of acquired treasures that all say "family" to me. This helps me realize that I might tend more in that direction someday...when we're not in such little spaces :)
DeleteAnd I'm seriously trying not to be jealous of the awesome finds you're getting in Germany! So good :)