Will eight crib sheets be enough...

...Or am I under estimating the amount of waste two infants can expel? So far we have a room. Its not quite a nursery, since Ryan wants to move yet again, before the boys arrival. Its more of a room with nothing in it but 2 car seats, a double stroller, a pack'n'play, boppy pillow covers (I took their boppy, its the only thing helping me get comfortable at night - I know, check mark in the 'terrible mother' column for me), cases and cases of diapers (Ryan likes to be prepared), burp clothes, baby scratch mittens, cloths...you get the idea. There is so much stuff in this room I wasnt sure what else we could possibly need beyond the obvious - 2 cribs. Oh how wrong I was. We ran into Target just to get an idea of what we needed to put on the remains to be purchased list and I almost fell over simply walking into the bathing isle. Bathtub, wash clothes, water thermometer, towels small enough that they dont get smothered. Holy Lord, lets just say this was just the start. By the time we made it to the breast feeding section I sat down on the floor with all the potential breast pumps around me reading the pros and cons of each and wiping the tears of pure frustration out of my eyes. Why is preparing for the arrival of two babies so darn time consuming, frustrating and expensive. Does the CEO of Gerber sit around at night dreaming of novel useless items that Meghan Holligan MUST have in order to raise two well adjusted boys to age two?

While I proceed with registering I cant help but think that my mom raised 4 children without a water thermometer all of whom survived their daily baths without burns. But why is it impossible to walk by the thermometer and trust the senses God gave me that I, fully equipped with 29 years of bathing myself as well as countless children, could bathe my own two babies without the fear of scalding them? Why is it that parents have trusted me to bathe their children for years and never handed me a thermometer to test the water yet fear of being a terrible neglectful mother makes me depend on a three dollar gadget?

Why are we so dependent on what marketing and other mothers say you 'must have' to raise our children. I could have every baby neccessity known to man but Linc and Mac are still going to fall, cry, scream, scratch their faces, pee the mattress and somedays be crabby unsettled little boys no matter how hard I try to keep them happy. As I am laying here typing, far removed from the Target baby isles, I am thinking that I should have let my mothering mentality revert to pioneer days - Will this item provide my babies with shelter, warmth or sustinance? If yes, put in cart, if no, put back on shelf. That way I could be laying in bed singing a song or reading a book to the boys rather than stressing over the remaining items others have raved "oh, I never would have survived without (insert useless piece of crap here)."