FFFC 12/7

fatmonica

*not always flame free*

DuchessOfCambridge

I'm not sad BRU is gone. Their registry website was crap and so frustrating! I have no feelings about Toys R Us either. My memories of that are going in and my mom telling me everything was too expensive 

eatinwatermelonseeds

@DuchessOfCambridge I don't particularly care about BRU but I do miss TRU. I never got to take DS and I have good memories of it as a kid. But my mom also worked there for a while, so that's probably why 😂

laeberge3

On an everyday basis, BRU was overpriced so I don't miss it (though, they had some awesome deals -- I got two Graco4Ever seats for just over $200 total).  Totally agree about their website not being user friendly, though!  

expandcontract

I agree about BRU. I've NEVER seen an exceptional sale there.  The only time was when I saved $150 on my daughter's convertible car seat during their Going Out Of Business sale.  Haha,  thanks,  losers. 

ETA: I have a love hate relationship with Amazon.  I love their 2 day free shipping with Prime, I love their selection of items, and  I can find just about anything there! But hearing all this talk about how they treat their employees and shit is tearing me up inside.  I want to quit them but I can't give up the convenience.  

kvh22

Getting the % of money people spent on your registry at BRU as a gift card was AWESOME but otherwise, I didn't get things from there unless it was on clearance or a great sale (crib and dresser/changing table we bought, glider our parents bought while they were having big furniture sales). The perks at BBB and Target aren't as good for a registry so that makes me sad, otherwise, I don't care.

misskimsue

I DO miss BRU, but only because we now have no baby stores in our area at all. The closest Buy Buy Baby is four hours away. Target and similar stores only have a small baby section. I used to go BRU to look at all the stuff then buy online and I definitely miss not being able to see stuff in person before buying. TRU I miss because of my own childhood memories and because my kids thought it was awesome (we rarely bought anything there, though). TRU/BRU was horribly mismanaged and the stores where I live were totally outdated, but there's not much left to fill the void.

peachy13

My friend is having her baby next week and her mom is basically moving in with her for a month to help and I'm a little sour about it. Just in general, I get bitter when I hear about parents helping out significantly with the new baby – more often than not, it’s the new mom’s mother. I love my mom but we don’t have that kind of relationship. I didn’t expect to get any help but I guess I was surprised to actually get zero help when I had DD. Maternity leave was super hard.

eatinwatermelonseeds

@peachy13 I feel that way too. I feel bad for it, but my mom lives across the country and my in laws live 2 hours away. We get no help. And going to nursing school with an autistic 3/4 year old, with my husband working part time and going to school full time for engineering, having no friends here and no family close (or involved) was really really hard. I had a boss while I was working and going to school who would complain so much about being a mom and how hard it was to work and be a mom but then tell me how her sister lives with her and gets up with the baby all night long and cares for the baby all day while she's working and I was just like "um. Yeah, that must be really difficult" 🙄

kvh22

@peachy13 Ughh I'm sorry, that's got to be hard. My mom will fly out for 2 weeks around the due date but otherwise, we don't live close to any family or have people who would bring us food of any kind (literally no one did with DD). I can identify with the being away from any help part, and what helped me the best was getting out every day and joining a mom's group (which gets a bad wrap and I've heard bad things but mine was/is amazing). My mom works so it's not like she could come for more time but I'm thankful for when she will be here. SIL does not have a good relationship with her mom so my mom also went down to see them around delivery time, but not for as long. I think there's a sense of stepping on toes, even if the relationship is good. When SIL's mom went to visit them, she went to the bar and drank for hours the first day as if it was "vacation" by herself instead of helping SIL with the baby while my brother was back at work. She gave her a talking to and the next few days were better but she was texting me saying she wished my mom was there instead.

lovelybabybumpz

@kvh22
Wait, what? I didn't get a gift card for registry purchases!

kvh22

ETA tag @lovelybabybumpz Hmm I only had DD about 9 months after yours (from your ticker). I couldn't remember the exact percentages so I went and found it from one of the registry comparison "mommy blog" posts: You also get 5-10% back in the form of a gift card for any item purchased from the registry, whether you purchase it or a gift-giver does.

You get 5% on your first $300, and 10% on anything over $300; for example, if you spend $1000 you’ll get $85 back in giftcard form. You’ll receive the giftcard approximately 10 weeks after the baby’s due date.

lovelybabybumpz

@kvh22
Yet another reason BRU sucks. They probably kept my 10$ and the universe punished them with bankruptcy. Unless I'm having extreme pregnancy brain, and totally blanking, I'm so shocked that I didn't know that existed, because I'm hella cheap, and would have been hounding them daily for my money. I knew there was a discount on unpurchased items from the registry, like 10% or something, but that's not as good as cash!

I guess, it could have been worse. I could have been counting on the money like these folks and never received it    https://time.com/money/5211874/babies-r-us-registry-liquidation-rewards-program/ 

k2k2tog

If any of you are reeeeeaaallly missing BRU and TRU, just come visit me. We still have them. But you probably can't use your gift cards here. And I think you'll find them way more expensive because everything in Canada is more expensive.

k2k2tog

Ooh, I have an actual confession! We put up our tree two weeks ago. Let our kid hang as many ornaments as she could. Left the rest of it. I'm so lazy. She actually did a really good job, except for the fact that she can only reach about two feet up the tree.

sleepy33

I never have any confessions. I think it's because my narcissism refuses to let me feel guilty about anything.  Kidding. Slightly. 

expandcontract

I threw up so violently this morning, I woke up everyone in the apartment and my throat still hurts very badly. 

knarlytaurus

Oh @expandcontract what a sucky way to start the day. I started the day with my usual morning vomit, too. I thought we were supposed to be done by now! 

expandcontract

@knarlytaurus for realz, I have to stop at random places and dry heave. Never had to do that 1st tri or all of last pregnancy.  

beccaneu

I’ve never once been to a TRU in my life.  We didn’t have one in the smallish town I grew up in and even if we did I’m pretty sure my mom would never have let me go in one knowing we wouldn’t have been able to afford anything there.  So no real childhood memories for me there and I’m only a little sad that that BRU is out of business because it means I’ll have to go to buy Buy Baby and I hate everything about the name of that store and have never liked Bed, Bath and Beyond as a store either.  I really wish there were some smaller non-chain baby stores around me but I haven’t been able to find any which is annoying because I hate the shopping experience at places like BBB - even if they do have a lot of selection.

@expandcontract. That sounds horrible.  I hope you feel better soon.

@peachy13 & @eatinwatermelonseeds I’m in a similar situation with my family.  Both of our families live in different states a plane ride away, so while I’m sure they will come out for a bit when the baby is born, I’m not expecting to having much of a support system.  The same is true for our close friends, all live far away from us.  I’m normally not overly bother by how isolated we are from family and friends, but this is one time where it really would be nice to have some people around us we could count on, even if it was just to help out with small things.

DuchessOfCambridge

@beccaneu my issue with BBB is it's soooooo expensive!

fatmonica

The only options I have for baby gear are limited to stores like target and khols, and those are an hour away.  The only thing closer is walmart and that is still a 40 minute drive.