Furniture Shopping, Round 1

After a nice, relaxing lunch today at a Cordova eatery (Fox Ridge Pizza, if you must know), Leah wasn't really in the mood to go home. After all, it was absolutely beautiful outside, so the idea wan't a hard sell. We paid a visit to the Tennessee Sports Zone, and then--sitting at the intersection, pointed westward (toward home)-- came a "where did that come from?!" suggestion.

"Let's go to that Kids Furniture place and look at baby furniture." No prob. How bad could it be? After all, this would be a great information-gathering session. Boy, was it ever.

Shortly after Leah and I got married, we bought a 5-piece bedroom set. I suppose that at the time, I probably thought that it was the last major furniture investment that I would be be making. Time for a reality check, dude. Obviously there are a TON of furniture manufacturers (our book Baby Bargains, for example, says that there are over 100 companies in the U.S. that make or import cribs), and it's probably like anything else--How much do you wanna spend? But I quickly realized that for a solid wood crib and dresser (the most popular of which can be used as a changing table), we're probably looking at $600-$1000. And Leah want's a glider-rocker (which, I must admit, I'm pretty fond of--ask her grandmother). People who don't know any better might say, "Just go to yard sales", but that's a big no-no (especially with cribs) given current safety regulations and the like. Obviously quality furniture for Junior (or Junior-ette) will last a long time (it better!), but it was definitely an eye-opening experience.

My boss recently joked that the child tax deduction isn't nearly as much as it should be. I think I'm starting to see why. It'll be fun, no doubt about it. But expensive nonetheless (and we haven't even bought diapers or formula yet).

I'm sure there is more to come on this subject, so stay tuned....