We used to have a much smaller house and a lot more room. We now have twice the square footage and only one more kid, and no place to put anything! What happened?

Part of it, I think, is the retiring of baby and toddler stuff. Yeah, we’re probably done in the baby-making department – the baby factory is closed – but we’ve got all this great stuff. We’ve got the beautiful Italian crib we braved the wilds of New Jersey (TWICE!!!) to get at a killer discount. We’ve got mega giant plastic monstrosities that whir and glitter with toddler friendly noise courtesy of the grandparents and uncles.  We’ve got all kinds of crap that’s fast becoming useless, annoying, or both, but is in good shape and I can’t see stuffing it into landfills.

Oh, and before you suggest it – nobody wants any of this stuff. Charities won’t take anything more than a year or so old because safety regs change faster than the dancers between numbers at a Ricky Martin concert.

Betcha didn’t think you’d be seeing a Ricky Martin reference any time soon, but here I am with the cutting edge references.

I’ve been wrestling with this old wooden high chair we have. We got it for Jake, and used it a lot when he was little. Noah barely ever sat in it. He’s never been fond of highchairs. But it was really nice, a shower gift, and it’s the kind of nice wooden chair that grandparents pull out of their attic when the kids come to visit, so I fee I need to preserve it. Or at least pawn it off on some relative or cousin if any of them get of their butts and start procreating.

I just wish that the baby stuff wasn’t so limited in its usefulness. Everything is so age and weight specific. It’s a drag.  Why can’t the chair grow with the kid. But wait…there is such a chair. Check this thing out. It’s the Stokke Tripp Trapp, and I like the functionality. You can slide the seat around so big kids or even adults can use it. They should have guys selling these things outside the subways in Manhattan.