The Christmas holidays are over. It's 2008. And with what do I start the new year? An ever-growing pile of baby stuff.  

Babies take up a lot of space. I mean, they are obviously small little creatures, and by any stretch of logic they should fill only a comparative amount of physical space. But it's what comes with them that starts to bury you; their stuff. Toys (you want them to explore and have fun), books (you want them to be smart), clothes (they can't traipse around naked), diaper bags (you've got to carry all this stuff somehow), strollers (yes, the word is intentionally plural), baby carriers (because you don't want to always push your baby around, sometimes you want to carry them; and yes, another plural), and on and on it goes.

My wife and I try to be very selective when it comes to what we buy our daughter. For example, we try to make sure the toys are as multi-functional as possible. If a toy does only one or two things—say, a rattle that only, well, rattles—then we avoid it. Toys should do more. But we can't control what family and friends want to give as gifts, and it's hard to live up to our own best intentions most of the time. In the end, the avalanche of stuff comes—some useful, some fun, all overwhelming.

The old stereotype about babies and toddlers ignoring new toys for the boxes they came in exists for a reason: it's true. This makes the whole thing that much more maddening. As my daughter delights in the wrapping paper and the sturdy cardboard packaging, I sigh as I notice the shiny new Fisher Price school bus sitting tossed to the side, its little plastic passengers wistfully looking out their little windows, aching for little toddler hands to help get them on their sing-songy merry way.

In the end, my wife and I do our best to provide some sort of balance for our daughter so that neither she, nor we, are overwhelmed. But who am I kidding: being a new parent mostly means being overwhelmed. But it's all good. Oh, sorry, but I've got to go now... I'm being summoned and I need to gather the baby sling, refill the diaper bag, and load one of the strollers into the car so the three of us can go shopping. Here's hoping I don't come home with more stuff.