Registry hassles

Like most people expecting their first child, we have a baby registry. Two, actually - one at Target at one at Babies R Us. The reason for the two registries is because of the lack of shopping selections here in Pleasantville. The nearest Babies R Us is about a half hour away, so I wanted to have a small Target registry here in town, too. The trouble with Target, though, is that the return policies at that store are awful. I remember hearing horror stories when I was planning my wedding (people weren't allwoed to return things or received multiple duplicates of items, for example), and the stories have continued regarding baby registries. I didn't have much of a choice, though - Target is the best in-town option.

The registry process is overwhelming, although it's completely different than it was for our wedding. A wedding registry generally contains a lot more items than a baby registry, so it can be overwhelming from that perspective.

A baby regsistry is much different. With a wedding registry, you have to make SO many decisions that it can feel like too much at times. If you make a wrong decision, though, it isn't dangerous for anyone. That isn't necessarily true for a baby registry, though. Safety is a concern with baby items in a way that just doesn't come into play with a wedding registry. There aren't nearly as many items on a baby registry, but each one feels like a major decision. I bought this book to help with the process, and it has become my Bible for picking items. Every decision feels like it matters so much. With a baby, you end up wasting a lot of money on things the kid doesn't even like, so I want to spend as much time up front as possible in an attempt to avoid that situation.

I should be clear here, too: I haven't set up these registries expecting our friends and family to fund our family expansion project. While we certainly are grateful for any gifts, the registry is as much about organization as anything else. I've used the registries as a way to keep track of all of the things we need to get for this kid, so we're probably going to end up buying everything on them that we don't receive as gifts. Plus, with a registry, you get at 10% completion coupon to use to buy everything that remains on your registry as you approach the baby's due date. That coupon alone is enough to make it worth it.