How to Survive a Baby Registry Trip (For Men)

All right, fellas. The dreaded day has come. You and your pregnant wife have to go to your baby store of choice (or perhaps several) and create a baby registry. Yes, it will take a while. Yes, you may have to make several trips. And yes, you may miss a ballgame in order to do it. But following these steps can make process imminently less painful.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Keep an open mind. Trust me; you may think that you know everything about being a Dad. But once you get into one of these stores, you will realize that you know nothing. Keeping an open mind will allow you to learn things you previously did not know.
2. Pay attention to clerks. Most clerks in baby stores are baby product experts. Listen closely when they break down your products by must haves, probably should have and can live without. Follow their advice or you run the risk of getting hopelessly confused.
3. Be inquisitive. When you come across a product you have no idea about, ask questions. It can only help you in the future.
4. Check yourself. You will be laughed at by your wife for some of the questions that you will ask. Be prepared for this and take it with a grain of salt. The trip is going to take long enough as it is, getting angry with each other will only worsen things.
5. Crack some jokes. Don’t get crass with your humor or crack personal jokes. But adding a little levity to the situation is always a good thing.
6. Take a few days. If you try and do this in one day, you will go nuts.
7. Be an active part in the scheduling. Try and help schedule this registration trip on a day when there isn’t anything you care about going on. If you don’t pay attention to the day she schedules, you will wind up missing a game or event that you were really looking forward to. Then you will spend all day at the store wishing, hoping and whining about what you are missing. That will only worsen matters.
8. Show some excitement. This is the child that you have created and will be taking care of together. Find some things about the experience that you can get into and show her that enthusiasm. You don’t have to jump for joy at every aspect of registering, but a little excitement about some items will go a long way.

Tips & Warnings

• Try and take breaks often. Maybe register for some things before lunch, leave for a meal and then come back.
• Do not try and register on a day when you already have an engagement. You will need hours and your full attention for this. Trying to squeeze it in between appointments will be a disaster.