Killing Pooh, one purchase at a time.

January 13th, 2012 |Published in babies, family, nursery, style | Link to this Post| 3 replies

The week before Christmas John and I met some friends in the pub for Wolf’s birthday drinks.  It was a lovely pub all dressed up for the festive season and I stopped crying just long enough to dress in something bright and cheerful, a dress that said “I AM ENJOYING THIS”, even if inside I wanted to crawl under the table and stay there for six months.  I even put a statement necklace on, and nothing says ‘LOOK UP’ like a giant sparkly thing around your neck.

There were a lot of young single folks out to celebrate, there were also two families, each with a two year old and a ten month old, and somewhere in the middle sat John and I, literally between our old life and our new life, feeling pulled by both, not a little confused.  The families were in chaos, two year olds climbing on and off seats, needing to be stimulated, challenging and questioning their parents.  The ten month olds clinging and reaching, just old enough to know that there was something beyond their parent’s arms.  Conversation was almost impossible, and I really felt for the mums and dads as they tried to join in with everyone else, just a couple of drinks and a bite to eat seemed a logistical disaster.  Not that these children and babies weren’t a joy in their own way, they brought a lot of life and laughter to the afternoon. 

When the families had left, someone across the table looked at us and said ‘does it make you excited?!’.  I thought for a second, the evening was just getting started for those around me, wine bottles and other afternoon detritus was scattered along the table, more people were turning up to change the night from a quiet afternoon in the pub to a full on party.  I was confused, it felt like my connection to these people was fading away, I was headed full steam ahead to destination ‘we’ve got to be home for bathtime’ and all I wanted was to be the girl with the streaked mascara nipping out the back for a marlboro light.  I tried to glance at John, but neither of us could look at each other, the answer to the question evaded us, we simply couldn’t say what we were thinking, that no, it doesn’t make us excited, it makes us terrified that this grand experiment is doomed to fail.

We left the pub feeling overwhelmed, and then we realised, we were looking at this all the wrong way!  We were two first time parents with no idea what we were doing, watching established families with toddlers and ten month olds trying to wrangle a day out, we had gone from zero to terrible twos in a couple of hours!  This was no way to look at it, we needed to remember that parenthood may be the biggest change in your life, but you don’t give birth one day and have to choose primary schools the next, we needed to remember to take it one step at a time. 

John looked at me, ‘we need to see a baby’, he said, ‘we need to see happy, new parents, with a small happy baby, we need to call Jules and Martin’.  We quickly picked up the phone and called them, we tried to dial down the tremors in our voices as we asked, super casual like, if they were about and fancied a little visit, as we were in the area…  We were in luck, they had just got home and if we got there quickly we would be in time for bathtime.  WE DROVE LIKE THE WIND.  If anything was going to calm us down, bath time with new baby Matthew would sort us out.  

This is usually the bit where I tell you about how we got there and Matthew had gone rogue, that Jules and Martin were screaming and throwing things at each other, that within minutes of our arrival I threw myself out of the window while John put his head in the oven. 

Well not this time my friends, this time we got lucky.

When we got there the flat was warm and calm, the baby was being fed and cuddled near the christmas tree.  Jules and Martin welcomed us  in and we happily sat and chatted about all things baby until it was bathtime for Matthew.  Bathtime was a dream, he gurgled and giggled, he splashed and played, Jules and Martin were, basically, the happiest people in the whole world, and John and I let out huge, sighs of relief.  Maybe, just maybe, everything was going to be ok.  Matthew’s chubby cheeks and gummy smiles were exactly what we needed.

Which is a very long way of saying we ordered the travel system.  Because Jules and Martin are The Happiest People In All The Land, we copied them, and bought the 2012 uppababy VISTA travel system, in black naturally. Stockists for Uppababy are actually quite thin on the ground but we bought it from Groovystyle, which I think we can all agree, is the world’s worst name for a baby equipment website.  Babies are many things, they are not groovy. 

The VISTA system won Which? Best Buy of 2011, which means not only are we buying a slice of someone else’s happiness, but we’re being very sensible, everyone’s a winner.

While having a look around Groovystyle (groovy is one of those words which makes me want to pronounce it with too many ooo’s, which in turn makes me feel like Phil Collins, which in turn makes me want to self harm) I found a moses basket I like, FINALLY!  And because I was on an ordering roll, I went for it.  I ordered the Izziwotnot Moses Basket in dark whicker.  A random choice perhaps, but the description claims it is ‘reminiscent of fresh snow, or fluffy clouds’, which is adorable.

Most importantly, no where, NO WHERE, does it say ‘Winnie the Pooh’, and that, hands down, won me over.