Just say no. The expression was taught to me at an early age (thanks, Mom) and I found myself using it once again as I stood staring at rows and rows and rows of delicate, tiny, adorable, soft, cuddly baby clothes. The battle of wills had officially begun.

My sister had not yet found out the sex of the baby and the anticipation was eating away at me. I’d been stalking the baby departments at every major store in my area, and was dying to get my hands on some pink ruffles or blue overalls. I had the same routine every time: I’d walk up and down the baby aisles, laughing at little baby t-shirts, fawning over little baby socks, dreaming about little baby blankets, and falling victim to little baby syndrome.

I needed to buy something for a baby. Any baby! I was desperate to purchase baby items. Then I had a breakthrough.

Books!

I practically ran to my local Borders, and headed straight for the kids section. It was glorious…lots and lots of things that I COULD buy for my sister’s baby. There were no ruffles, but hey, sometimes you’ve gotta take what you can get. I started sorting through the selections and came to a realization very quickly: books are not cheap. I could get two super cute onesies at Target for the price of one teeny tiny book. On the up side, I happen to be a faithful reader of books and know how valuable a good book can be. So I sucked it up and decided to limit myself to three baby books on this particular shopping trip.

I bought five.

It took me one hour, $62.00, and my sanity to choose them.

I purchased two Peter Rabbit books to go along with the theme of the baby’s nursery, a classic book with even more cute bunnies in it called Guess How Much I Love You, a touching book called I Love You Because You’re You, and what turned out to be my favorite, On The Night You Were Born. I stood in the middle of the children’s department, reading these books and crying, looking like an insane and emotionally unstable customer. I loved them so much that I bought Guess How Much I Love You and On The Night You Were Born for myself, too. Hence, the $62.00.

And no, I don’t have a baby. I don’t sweat the minor details.

After the draining experience of baby book shopping, I went home and put the books for my sister in a safe place. I knew I would be adding to that pile very soon, and that my bank account was about to take a hard blow. This kid was already doing damage and he or she wasn’t even here yet! Thinking about my upcoming niece or nephew, I couldn’t help but wonder about my own future children. If I was this emotional over the birth of my sister’s baby without even knowing the baby yet, I couldn’t imagine what my own pregnancy experience would be like. It made me consider the vast array of feelings my sister was likely going through, and I became excited to grow closer to my sister as she matured into a mother.

And before I knew it, I was able to gift my sis with some amazing Fit2Bmom maternity clothing. It was right after we found out that she was having a……………

Related posts:

1. Confessions of a First Time Aunt: Part III
2. Confessions of a First Time Aunt: Part I
3. Confessions of a First Time Aunt: Part V

Tags: baby, baby books, baby clothes, baby gifts, Fit2Bmom, Maternity, maternity activewear, mom, mother, pregnancy

Tags: baby, baby books, baby clothes, baby gifts, Fit2Bmom, Maternity, maternity activewear, mom, mother, pregnancy