The Tyke's New Clothes

It's strange how you've never paid attention to any baby thing before and now that you're enceinte, you need blinkers every time you go to the mall else you end up at shops selling teeny tiny stuff. Ever since I bought the first two sets of clothing in n/b size December, I can't, simply can't keep myself from being drawn into such shops. First it was Sis and SiL's impending motherhood that had me scouting for stuff. And the first trip to Mothercare. I did a whole lot of reading and researching on the Internet, browsed through any and all baby shops in the malls we visited...and that's a lot of malls in the emirate that has a whole festival planned around shopping! That was before DSF even started. And then came DSF and the whole shopping/whopping discount mania that ensues. The whole of DCC was on sale, crazy sale...we of course had frequented Mothercare enough times already before any sale was announced and when eventually it was announced, went in too late to get any good bargains. But I'll let you in on what we did get...absolutely jaano stuff from Zara Baby, Adam's, Carter's and some basics from BabyShop.

It's a whole different type of obsessive-compulsive shopping that I've gotten hooked onto. Anything tiny and I want it, clothes, shoes, socks, bibs, blankets, vests, towels, pillows you name it, I want it. And all that is when I have a whole list of essentials in my bag all the times, that and a time-line of the tyke's age in 0-3, 3-6 and 6-9 months onwards in months, just to be sure I don't end up buying fleece jackets for a 5 month old and pray it snows in July! Has all that planning helped? Hardly, I have my side of the wardrobe taken over by teeny stuff...not that I have anything that I can actually wear these days to hang in there. So while Amma has to make do with just three joras through her last trimester...the tyke has clothing it can wear when it's 6-9 months, InshaAllah! Actually it's just one tee that I had to get.

The problem is with all those hormones raging inside you and a wait that lasts eight months, you have to do something to keep busy, asides lashing out at Abba and waddling and pottering around the house...and complaining of various aches and wishing some of all that you're going through, not all, just some, let's say 10%, pays a visit to Abba for not a month, but just a week so that he has an idea of what it's like to become a mom...and so that he appreciates his mom more. I know for a fact that now I love Ma more than anything...I may still fight with her and resent her at times, but all the same, thinking she went through all this to get to me and then my siblings later on makes me admire her more than ever.

Mostly during the day when I have nothing else to do, I go to the wardrobe and take out little clothes and measure them against each other (how short is a n/b size when compared to a 3 month size...and how do sizes at Mothercare and Carter's stand up etc.). After Z failed to show the required enthusiasm when I was showing him things he'd seen and bought with me for the 5th time, I decided NOT to include him in my game lest he dampen my spirit with his insouciance. I know the clothes can not have changed overnight in teh wardrobe but need he point it out so?

Now for reviews. When it comes to basics in clothing or even the layette, nothing beats Mothercare in terms io variety, comfort and sizing. It may be dearer than BabyShop but I stil find myself gravitating towards Mothercare. For other essentials, BabyShop is the place to go, be it items like push-chairs and car-seats to changing pads for teh li'l spills that would dictate the better part of next few years of your life. In terms of clothing, I found it boring. Yawn inducing boring. While at Mothercare I may go round and round in circles trying to figure out what to actually get, at BabyShop all I do is wonder why would anyone want to limit their child's dressing from the very beginning, thus damaging its sense of style for the rest of its life.

When it comes to dressing up the baby, Zara Kids, Adam's, Woolworth's and even BHS are good options...but my heart is set on Carter's. Of course it helps that there was sale at these places last month but the kind of clothing they have makes it worth teh while to spend all that money (Abba and the tyke's shopping at Zara amounted the same; teeny stuff costs more...and it needs more creativity to design small clothes you simply can't say no to...)I found myself going bonkers on learning that it was the last day of sale at Carter's two days ago. No other shop can make me drag myself to the mall and back in a cab these days. It's a small cubby-hole of a shop they have here at SCC but enough to make the mind reel. It also helps that their sizes are generous and roomy.

I talk as if I'm an expert in clothing and dressing babies. Honestly, when you look at all the brats and babies around, you can't be sure if they've got their dresses from Carter's or CarreFour...but it gives the parents a sense of well-being and providing well for the kid, I guess, when they frequent such up-scale shops. The tyke may grow up and decide it does not want to be branded by brands, just as its Amma doesn't care much for them. But quality is one thing I am not compromising on and so far, I've only known these retailers and their quality. Once the tyke's a bit grown up and out-grows clothes at a rate more than Abba's paycheck and raises, we'll have to re-think its wardrobe...At the moment Amma and Abba find it fun shopping for the tyke. OK, so Amma finds it more fun, Abba just indulges Amma lest he be subjected to another emotional outburst and a rankling that would spoil his weekend.