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First of all - we are sodding a generous portion of our yard tomorrow, 3500 out of 5300 possible square feet of planned grass area. (front and back) Trust me, even the planned 5300 square feet of grass still leaves large areas for a garden, flower beds, and a kid's play area. Who's idea was it for such a freakin' big yard anyway?!! I'm sure we'll love it when it's all done, which will be in a billion years of so. For now I'm thankful for the immense amount of work Trevor and my dad have put in this past week to help prep, and to our friends helping lay the sod tomorrow!
I have two friends having babies this month and I've been stricken with a case of envy. It's that nasty materialism that our society loves to breed and nourish coming out. One thing I really wanted when I was expecting Sierra was a fancy stroller/car seat system. We had to stretch our money so we bought nearly everything used, including the stroller system. It actually didn't bother me at the time because I had no idea what was all out there and we were just proud of our thriftiness. After a little buying and selling I have a decent, lower end Graco brand system now which is nice enough, and last fall we bought an awesome jogging stroller at 75% off for a cool $100 - this stroller I love.
Friends' and acquaintances parents are buying them $600 stollers without the car seat, or the crib they want, or all sorts of other things and that twinge called envy has reared itself. Now I love my friends dearly and think the gifts they are getting are great. My close friends are also not rich so what is not given is also used or carefully purchased.
Trevor's and my parents combined spent $300. Now I know it's not all about money and things and I'm super grateful for the relationship my parents have with Sierra which I consider to be the most important. In part I think it's because I thought by the time we were expecting out second child we would be in a better financial place (Trevor - teaching job). We would be able to afford a few more things for the next baby. Here number two is well on the way and we are so not in that place. Does it really matter and do the kids care? No. It's just me being silly and petty and worldly.
And honest about how I feel right now.
I have two friends having babies this month and I've been stricken with a case of envy. It's that nasty materialism that our society loves to breed and nourish coming out. One thing I really wanted when I was expecting Sierra was a fancy stroller/car seat system. We had to stretch our money so we bought nearly everything used, including the stroller system. It actually didn't bother me at the time because I had no idea what was all out there and we were just proud of our thriftiness. After a little buying and selling I have a decent, lower end Graco brand system now which is nice enough, and last fall we bought an awesome jogging stroller at 75% off for a cool $100 - this stroller I love.
Friends' and acquaintances parents are buying them $600 stollers without the car seat, or the crib they want, or all sorts of other things and that twinge called envy has reared itself. Now I love my friends dearly and think the gifts they are getting are great. My close friends are also not rich so what is not given is also used or carefully purchased.
Trevor's and my parents combined spent $300. Now I know it's not all about money and things and I'm super grateful for the relationship my parents have with Sierra which I consider to be the most important. In part I think it's because I thought by the time we were expecting out second child we would be in a better financial place (Trevor - teaching job). We would be able to afford a few more things for the next baby. Here number two is well on the way and we are so not in that place. Does it really matter and do the kids care? No. It's just me being silly and petty and worldly.
And honest about how I feel right now.
6 comments:
Its hard not to be like that, I totally get it. But you are right, the kids dont care & dont know the difference. Thanks for the honesty!
i like the honesty and agree with kashoan. its hard to not be that way, especially with a baby...because they are so new and cute and you just want them to have the best. but they really dont care.
i wanted a lot of fancier items when lucy was born (specifically a Stokke highchair) but i didnt get them. looking back, i dont feel like i really missed out on anything by not having the fancier things. it didnt matter at all.
but i get where you're coming from and i totally understand. :)
Thanks! You help me feel better about how I feel and know that I will get over it.
Carla I totally know how you feel. I was super jealous when I was pregnant the very first time at the same time as Kelly and she was painting her baby's room and doing and buying all kinds of fun things. I went home and looked at my crappy spare bedroom in our rented house and felt so sad and envious I couldn't join in on decorating and buying all things cute and wonderful for the baby. Once Eva came I realized how unimportant those things are, so we actually didn't buy ANYTHING for Isabella. Not a thing. Some people were going out and buying brand new $300 bedding for their second even though they were having the same gender and their oldest was in a toddler bed...I just can't justify it! God didn't create us to acquire "stuff", or to have stuff "bigger and better" than other people's. I just had to let it go. And Bella is perfectly happy with her playpen, stroller, carseat, high chair, etc that her big sis used :)
Kin - when it comes down to it I'm now sure I could really justify it either. I'm too darn practical and I'd rather spend money on things the kids will actually appreciate when they're older.
Yes exactly!! I don't want Bella to forever be the "hand-me-down" girl, but at this point in her life she doesn't know the difference! I'll get her her own stuff when it matters and she's old enough to care :)
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