July 17, 2000
DOWN HOME:
For the price of a car, you can have a stroller
___Infancy is big business these days. This became apparent not long ago, when Joanna and I helped our friends, Sharon and Bill, with some shopping.
___We had been out to eat dinner, and we weren't ready to go back home just yet. Children of the world probably are shocked to learn this, but parents--even parents who love their kiddoes to pieces--like to get out of the house every now and then. And sometimes, they'reso desperate for a night "on the town" that they'll do really inane things, like help their friends shop for a baby shower.
MARV KNOX
Editor
___So, we polished off our Italian food, walked out to the car, and stalled. What to do? Too full for dessert. Too late for a movie. "Hey," Sharon said, "I need to shop for a baby shower." Hard up for excitement, we tagged along.
___Immediately, I realized I had not shopped for a baby shower in a long, long time. The store was more like a mega-whopper baby department store than a place a guy with teenagers would think to go shopping for clothes with snaps up and down the legs.
___The tip-off that infancy is big business came when I met the loan officer over by the check-out counter. Before you could say, "Dr. Spock," I was trying out baby strollers that cost more than my first car. And better made, too --with shock absorbers, ice chest, convertible hood and brakes.
___Next we looked at furniture. This stuff better fold out into a queen-size bed, because after you pay for the "bed," you're gonna want to give it to the munchkin in a couple of decades --as a wedding present.
___I forget what Sharon finally bought, because by then I was mesmerized by the baby backpacks you can stuff Junior or Missy in when you climb Mount Everest.
___Actually, this trip was good for me. Lately, I've been wanting to have another child. When I have trouble coming up with something for this column (as if you didn't suspect), I sometimes wish for another kid or two. Little tykes look at the world in a sort of cockeyed way, and they generate a story an hour, if not more.
___Every time I'd bring it up, Jo would take on an "attitude" sort of like the pig had when the chicken suggested they give the farmer bacon and eggs for his birthday. This extra-child idea is just a little more of a sacrifice than she's willing to make for more material for a silly column in the newspaper.
___And when I think back on it, I realize every phase of parenthood is a blessing from God. I had a ball with preschoolers, but I'm not sure I have the energy to do that again. And now, our daughters are not only our children, they're also wonderful friends and companions. And they want cars that cost as much as strollers.
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