7 Things a First-Time Parent Doesn't Need - Focus On Your Child (Focus on the Family)

Last year, when my wife Angela was expecting our daughter, we were like most first-time parents, so very vulnerable to the hype that shouted with every product ad and commercial, “You’re kid will die without this.”

Since then, mostly through trial and error, we’ve realized that little Grace Marie would survive just fine without some of those seemingly indispensable items. Here are seven things we most certainly learned we could live without:

1) Baby Mozart, Baby Eienstein, etc. I think they even have Baby Bill Gates and Baby Brett Farve now. Seriously, these CD=s/DVD=s/Videos hit such a nerve with us because, of course, we want our little prodigy to be enrolled at Harvard by the age of seven. But in reality, studies show that they have little or no effect on the development of a child.

2) The Diaper Genie. I know some of my friends swear by these, but it took us more time to try and figure the thing out than it was really worth. By the end of the week, the room smelled of rotting diapers and I was left with a giant “poop sausage” to deal with.

3) Tips on Losing Baby Fat. One lady told my wife too wrap her stomach in old bedsheets to flatten her stomach. She wasn=t amused. I tried it on myself and it hasn=t seemed to work.

4) A Wipe Warmer. One father of three lectured me to get one of these. We registered for it and never got it. Lo, these many months later, Grace’s little behind is doing just fine with cold wipes. How in the world did the cave-parents ever make it?

5) A College Fund. I know, I know. If you save $14.50 a week for 20 years . . . You=ll have just enough money to pay for three textbooks. In those first few months, you’re just trying to figure out how to afford diapers, wipes, and the mortgage. The college planning can wait at least until their six months old.

6) Every Child-Raising Book and DVD. By the fifth week of Angela=s pregnancy, I was cramming like it was finals week in college. Then I realized that I’d have nearly two decades to learn. If my entire philosophy on dating wasn’t established by her first birthday, I would be okay.

7) Every Matching Accessory. You walk into the baby store and you pick out this really cool matching ensemble for the room. Then you look at the price tag and realize that the entire set is more than the price of a Hummer. Pick out a few things you can afford. Trust me, your sleeping child won’t be any less loved if her lamp was picked up at a garage sale.