It all starts with the hand-painted mural in the nursery and the Dutch-designed oval crib. Next comes, “We considered the Bugaboo stroller, but decided to go with the Stokke Xplory since we felt it was important for her ride higher, where she could really see eye to eye with people and develop her observation skills.” Parents can relentlessly rationalize why they paid the price of a family sedan in India for their stroller, crib or high chair. And they do. Usually its European, “safer” and “more functional,” with some special feature that none of the other products have. Whatever it is, it is not available at Babies-R-Us or Walmart. Never mind that it will be outgrown or out-dated before the rationalizing parents finish their explanation. Never mind that recounting consumer purchasing decisions rivals C-SPAN for entertainment value. These parents want to let you know that, really they’re not the kind of people who just throw it around. Really, its important to have these things. But is it? Of course not. Nevertheless, some of us have been known to occasionally dress our children in rarified “hand-wash-only” clothing or even enjoyed the sleek design and smooth rolling of an expensive Dutch stroller, but lets just admit we like the ergonomic designs and chic color schemes. Then we can try to keep those splurges to a minimum and remember to pass them on to a “good home” when we are done.
Only the Best for Baby
It all starts with the hand-painted mural in the nursery and the Dutch-designed oval crib. Next comes, “We considered the Bugaboo stroller, but decided to go with the Stokke Xplory since we felt it was important for her ride higher, where she could really see eye to eye with people and develop her observation skills.” Parents can relentlessly rationalize why they paid the price of a family sedan in India for their stroller, crib or high chair. And they do. Usually its European, “safer” and “more functional,” with some special feature that none of the other products have. Whatever it is, it is not available at Babies-R-Us or Walmart. Never mind that it will be outgrown or out-dated before the rationalizing parents finish their explanation. Never mind that recounting consumer purchasing decisions rivals C-SPAN for entertainment value. These parents want to let you know that, really they’re not the kind of people who just throw it around. Really, its important to have these things. But is it? Of course not. Nevertheless, some of us have been known to occasionally dress our children in rarified “hand-wash-only” clothing or even enjoyed the sleek design and smooth rolling of an expensive Dutch stroller, but lets just admit we like the ergonomic designs and chic color schemes. Then we can try to keep those splurges to a minimum and remember to pass them on to a “good home” when we are done.
Trunk Shows
A trunk show is a retail event hosted by a friend or acquaintance at her home disguised as a social gathering. The naive and uninitiated mother will discover after her second glass of Chardonnay that she cannot reasonably leave this “party” without spending more money than she wanted to on things she will rarely use, wear, or put on her children. Naturally, there are exceptions. Smocked clothing springs to mind. Kitchen wares, jewelry, beauty products, hand bags, cleansers and lotions do not. Often the cute invitation will say “no need to shop - please stop by for a glass of wine and a nibble” or something friendly and harmless. The well informed mother should know that while her friend may genuinely mean this, the vendor behind the trunk show is banking on the fact that nice ladies might feel a certain amount of pressure to purchase something, anything, once in a friend’s home. Even some free range angora. While everyone likes to be invited to events, the well mannered modern mother should, upon receiving an invitation to such a gathering, check out the product on line and determine whether she has a desire or need for it. If not, a timely and polite response such as “So sorry to miss all the fun!” will suffice. Additionally, the kindly mother who is feeling pressured by someone she knows to host such an event and invite her friends should think long and hard about whether this is a product she is comfortable endorsing. Finally the modern mother who wishes to get her friends together should buy her own invitations and invite them over for drinks and nibbles just for the heck of it. After all, who has ever heard of anyone declining a party invitation because there wasn’t going to be any shopping there?
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