Baby Needs New Shoes Stroller

My daughter needs a stroller. Actually, it’s daughter 2.0 who needs it, the busily-gestating little person whose itinerary includes upcoming birth. Apparently, 2.0’s transportation requirements include multiple strollers (one to hold carseat, one for jogging, etc.) As I was looking over this and 2.0’s other listed requirements, I wondered what the going cost of child production is these days.

With a quick “baby cost” keyword search on Amazon books, I had the answer. Actually, 4,542 answers. The very first one looked promising: “Babies and Other Hazards of Sex: How to Make a Tiny Person in Only 9 Months, With Tools You Probably Have Around the Home” by Dave Barry. But I realized I’d already read that one—hilarious, but not quantitative. Moving down the page slightly, I spotted it: Callie’s Tally: An Accounting of Baby’s First Year (Or, What My Daughter Owes Me).

Rosie Amber’s Friday Five challenge is to take ONLY FIVE MINUTES to browse an unfamiliar category and select a book based solely on the cover art.

---

Book blurb:

When Betsy Howie became pregnant, she realized a frightening truth: She was about to lose control. So, she itemized her concerns: Can I physically handle it? Do I have the patience for the job? Can I have my career and take care of a baby? Will I be able to sidestep my own neuroses and negativity enough to raise an at least slightly healthy human being? And, of course: Do I have enough money?

Only the last question seemed answerable. “How much does a baby really cost?” she wondered-and began saving receipts. The result was Callie’s Tally, the real-life, day-by-day diary of her daughter’s first year of debt.

In this deliciously engaging and irreverent memoir, Callie’s expenses-Pampers, formula, York peppermint patties for Mom’s postpartum blues-mount as Howie searches for a tiny corner of order in a world otherwise lost to sleepless, timeless mayhem. Part Bridget Jones’s Diary (after Bridget snags the boy) and part Operating Instructions (for the fiscally obsessed), this is a wickedly funny and fresh story of shifting relationships within a modern American family.

BUY LINKS:

AMAZON US | AMAZON UK

• Book Title: Callie’s Tally: An Accounting of Baby’s First Year (Or, What My Daughter Owes Me)
• Author: Betsy Howie
• Genre: Parenting
• Publisher: Tarcher (September 15, 2003)
• Price: NOTE: out of print. Paperback avail used from $0.01/ £1.00
• Reviews: 15 for total of 3.9 out of 5 stars (with 60% at 5 stars)
• Pages: 352

My Analysis: I get it. All of a sudden, the pennies you tried to save by making the stirfry combo deal at home instead of getting takeout are irrelevant compared to the sure and certain knowledge that if Baby doesn’t have the correct stroller/shoes/plastic toy giraffe teether from France, s/he will end up an axe murderer and you’ll all be on CNN (or at least your remaining pieces will be…) So yes, you’re going to spend every penny you can go into debt for. And I get the urge to track those expenses. You’re not really going to expect payback (although I did demand a refund for that Bat Mitzvah the first time my daughter ordered bacon at brunch), but you would like the kid to keep in mind what you spent on them when they’re making decisions about which nursing home to stash you in. A look at the reviews for Cally’s Tally shows that people either loved the concept or were completely repelled by it. Personally, I love the idea that someone goes a step beyond the big ticket items included in calculators like the one from Babycenter above. Besides, I’ve already done those calculations myself for Daughter 1.0, Daughter 1.2, Son 1.0, and Daughter 1.3. [See Okay, kid: that’s $278483.15 you owe me. I’ll take a check. Or maybe a grandchild…]

BUY or PASS:   PASS –I liked the look of the cover but sadly, a look into the “Look Inside” just came off a tiny bit too whiny and self-centered to appeal to me. Even at the basically free cost of the used copy, I’d pass.

---

Here is Rosie’s Friday Five Challenge. It only took five minutes and a couple more to write up, and was a ton of fun. I hope you’ll consider joining in. All Rosie asks is that you link back to her original post here so we can all join in viewing your challenge results.

AUTHORS – You often only have seconds to get a reader to buy your book, is your book cover and book bio up to it?

My Friday Five Challenge is this….. IN ONLY FIVE MINUTES….

1. Go to any online book supplier,
2. Randomly choose a category,
3. Speed through the book covers, choose one which has instantly appealed to your eye,
4. Read the book Bio/ Description for this book, and any other details.
5. If there are reviews, check out a couple,
6. Make an instant decision, would you BUY or PASS?
7. I’ll be back next week with another Friday Five Challenge, do feel free to join in.