Change In The Equation

Back in high school and college, I used to spend a major part of my money on eating out and dresses.

A little older, and I was spending a chunk of my money on books and dresses.

I got married, and the largest part of our money started going to books and travelling.

Since Bubboo’s arrival, though, this equation is all set to change. Now, it seems, the chunk of our money will be going towards the buying of kiddie stuff, particularly dresses.

I have discovered the wondrous world of goodies available to the girl child of today, and it is no less magical to me than Alice’s Wonderland. Hordes of gorgeous, tiny, cutesy dresses in all shades of pink, apart from those in several other colours to choose from. Booties and socks and bibs. Bodysuits with quirky slogans. The smallest of pillows. Feeding pillows. The tiniest of combs and brushes. Cute nail cutters and scissors. Pretty blankets. Funny caps. Gloves and woollen cocoons and what not. Why, recently, I even found a nail starter kit (including four shades of nail polish and nail polish remover – now, why an infant would need nail polish I fail to understand!). And then, there are thousands of other things waiting to be bought when Bubboo grows up a teeny-weeny bit. This is just for now.

To make life simpler for home-bound moms like me (I’ve been forbidden to go out anywhere for at least a month), there is the wonderful avenue of online shopping. Just one click and I can buy anything and everything for Bubboo! So simple and so addictive.

I have been trawling kiddie shopping websites of late, discovering new stuff every day to ooh and aah over. The mother is my partner-in-crime in oohing and aahing over the said stuff. Every evening, the OH is shown a list of products that are interesting, which I cannot stop drooling over.

We have bought a few clothes for Bubboo online, for her upcoming naming ceremony. There are a still a lot of things that we have discovered and would like to get for Bubboo, but not yet bought.

Going off on a tangent, most of the clothes Bubboo had been wearing so far were bought by the SIL when I was in hospital and the baby desperately needed something to wear. Plus, there were a lot of lovely clothes worn my cousin’s kid, preserved by him with a lot of love and care for Bubboo. We didn’t buy anything for her before I went into labour – I didn’t want to tempt fate by going against tradition (the rebel in me refused to comply in this case). I always dreamt of dressing up my daughter to the hilt, if and when I had one, but I have been unable to do that so far. There’s lots of time for that yet, I guess, though.

Getting back to the point of this post, I can’t wait to buy little silver anklets for Bubboo next, something I have always loved seeing on little baby feet. Amma says that can wait, that she is too tiny for anklets yet, but I don’t think I have that much of self-control in me. Next on the to-buy list are tiny bangles.

The more I look at the variety of things that are on sale for Bubboo and her counterparts, the longer the to-buy list grows. Day after day, I am turning into a little kid in a candy store.

God save us!