Baby Dumpling's Poppa

Baby Things being Recalled

My wife and I have been preparing the list of things to buy this past week and she was going to go out this weekend shopping to make the purchases.  Cribs was on the top of the list then I read the story released about noon today about baby crib recall.  The CPSC has issued a recall for unsafe baby cribs.  I started thinking about all the baby/child stuff recalls that have been issued over the past few months and wondered how any parent can keep up with it.  You can't buy jewelry, toys, mattresses and now cribs for reasons that range from fire hazard to lead poison.  The crib recall is because of faulty design.  It seems that if it's not correctly assembled a space develops between the drop down side and the mattress that allows babies to get stuck and suffocate.  Wonderful news.  As a parent you are already not getting enough sleep, you have a lot of worries and now you have to worry that the bed you bought for your child will actually kill them.  So what the real question is, "What is a parent to do?"  Do parents have to check daily for products they bought on the product recall list?  Or is information so readily available that we just find out about things a lot faster or more complete when it happens?  I guess in the old days there may have been unsafe things but our parents didn't know about them and they just took their chances the baby won't get sick, hurt or worse.  Maybe I should just do what was done 100 years ago, make all the baby things by hand myself.  That way I'll know what kind of paint is put on the toys, I'll know how the things are designed and I'll know who the made it.  In today's world very few actually have the time for all that, so I guess I'm stuck just like everyone else checking the CPSC website daily for the stuff I buy my child.  That list will get very long very fast...

Shopping with Pregnant Wife

My wife is starting to show signs of the emotions kicking in, it's very slight but I am noticing the heightened anxiety.  This is normal, says the people who are suppose to know.  I also notice that it's time to take my wife shopping certain body parts are getting larger.  Like a lot of men, I don't really care for shopping.  I feel strange hanging around Victoria's Secret while my wife is looking for the correct fitting undergarments.  What am I suppose to look at?  If I look at the undergarments or at the women shopping I'll get strange looks as if I were a pervert or something.  In the past, I've tried to take an active part helping my wife with her selections, I'll ask the sales person to help with size measurements and look for the styles that both look good and are functional.  My advice to men who are dragged kicking and screaming to the mall with their wife or girlfriend is be nice, be supportive, be patient and try not to look bored and don't suggest things that you may have seen elsewhere.  If you feel the need to make suggestions, choose your words and suggestions wisely.  Don't suggest things that are too big or things that barely cover, if you do this you'll most likely be in the dog house for the rest of the day.  Instead, watch what styles she's looking at then help her find the size that she wears.  If she's having trouble making up her mind suggest other racks or walk her around looking at the displays.  Make color suggestions,  ask if it's for normal everyday wearing.  If she's looking for normal everyday then stick to just saying what colors you like.  When she asks, "what do you think?" unless you completely hate it say that would look good.  Sometimes she may ask your opinion on something that really looks great, don't be afraid to say that looks great.  Don't say that'll look great on you, just that looks great.

There's no easy way, but one thing has saved me many times.  If you're not sure, just smile and say that's a nice color or have you looked over here yet.