While pregnant with Monkey it never occurred to me to buy anything used. The thought never crossed my mind.
In fact I have the tendency of being a bit of a perfectionist. I might have wanted everything to be just so.
I might have said that I wanted a certain green plaid pack n’ play even though there was a pack n’ play in the exact same brand and style but a different fabric that was less expensive.
I might have decided that the travel system with browns and creams online was much better than the one with brown and green in a store down the street from my home.
I might have thought that I needed all those “things” that every magazine, store ad and commercial said I needed.
It didn’t take long after Monkey was born for me to realize that I didn’t need all this “stuff” and in most cases if I did need it I didn’t need it brand spanking new. Really who needs a bouncy seat, a swing, a rocking chair, a high chair, and a booster seat? Who cares what fabric is covering my pack n’ play as long as it works?(although I do love my pretty green pack n’ play, Thanks Grams!)
There are a lot of products that I had no idea I would love or need so much, usually these were products that I found out about from other moms and not the endless magazine ads and articles, book lists, and store registries. Moms know what they are talking about.
I kicked myself for a while for the amount of waste that my ignorance had fostered. Buying that brand new stroller meant a nice slightly used one was left sitting in a consignment shop, someones garage or in the dump. Let’s not even mention the money that could have been saved.
Consumerism and status drive so much of what we do. Who cares if your stroller is so 2001, it shouldn’t matter as long as it get your baby safely from point A to point B right? Well for some people I guess it does matter, after all it mattered to me and I would be lying if I said that at times it doesn’t get to me now. However, I would definitely recommend looking past the older look of a used item to see if it does the job it is needed for. After all, most people are looking at the adorable little baby in the stroller and not the stroller itself!
It took me some time to learn that consignment shops, garage sales and Craigslist were the place to shop for quality items and save money. It makes me feel better to know that some of Monkey’s things have made their way to new families and new babies. I am glad to know that not all first time moms make the same mistake that I did.
Lesson learned: New does not automatically equal better.
So what do you think, in your eyes is newer really better?
