Oh, baby!

I have to go to a baby shower tomorrow.  Naturally, tonight at 9:15 I headed out to Target to by the baby gift.  

The mom-to-be didn't register at Target, but the nearest Babies 'R Us (where she did register) is close to forty-five minutes from my house.  I figured I could surely find something that would be acceptable at my favorite store -- a store that is also ten minutes from my house. 

First I looked at infant clothing.  I remember being grateful for all the onesies and sleepers I received as gifts when my kids were born . . . in the last century.  Things couldn't have changed that much, could they?

Well, apparently they have.  I found lots of onesies and lots of sleepers, but what I didn't find were appropriately neutral onesies and sleepers for parents who have elected to wait until their child's birth to find out if baby is a girl or a boy.  All of the clothing I looked at was distinctively pink or blue.

What happened to the pastel yellows and greens?  I couldn't even find anything in a boring unisex beige.  Ideally I would have loved something with bright primary colors that would cheer up even the most colicky infant or sleep-deprived parent.  No luck.  : /

With clothes out of the question, I looked at blankets and "lovies."  Great idea, but same dilemma -- with the exception of one blanket that was mostly white, everything was pink or blue, butterflies and kittens or race cars and lions.  Seriously, does everyone know the baby's sex in advance or do people just wait until after the baby is born to decide on nursery decor?

At this point I was beginning to regret my resolve to save gas and mileage by shopping close to home.  I wandered up and down the baby aisles, hoping for inspiration, when I spied the toys, rattles, and teethers.  Yay!  Every baby needs toys!

I found several soft toys that seemed as if they would be fun -- colorful and stimulating.  Most of the toys featured different textures and intriguing sounds.  I felt like I was picking out a cat toy for Penny!  Crinkle, jingle, shake-shake-shake.  These were toys that would capture a baby's attention and keep her entertained.

What captured my attention was the fact that every single toy I looked at was Made In China.  : ((   I really wanted to buy something that was American Made.  How hard was that?  On this night, at this store . . . impossible.  Rats.

To make matters worse, none of the toys were machine washable.  I may be old, but my memory isn't totally gone.  I remembered my kids' much-loved toys; they were sneezed, coughed, and spit up on with regularity.  And on a regular basis, I tossed them in the washing machine and washed the snot, germs, and food away.  These 21st century toys bore tags that warned against immersing them in water.  That ruled out any sort of sanitizing beyond spot cleaning.  Yuck.  Additionally I didn't see any assurance that the plastic components on the toys were BPA free.  And the more I thought of it, Made In China seemed like it was probably code for "most likely contains lead."  Arrrrrgh!      

Majorly frustrated and running out of time, I had just about decided to settle for a Fisher-Price monkey with a curly tail and a cute as a button nose that played a song and jungle noises when you pushed it, until it hit me . . . BOOKS!  I would give the baby books.  What. A. Great. Idea!!!

By now it was half an hour until closing time.  I was going to have to choose some books with no dilly-dallying, no agonizing.  Fortunately Target has a nice selection of children's books and especially baby/toddler board books.  In a few minutes I picked out three board books that I think will please both mom and baby.

Why didn't I think of books first?