Babies Are BIG Business

I knew babies were a billion-dollar business, but the fact never really sank in before I went shopping for baby items the other day.

For one thing, I didn't know there was a "Babies R Us" store, an offshoot of "Toys R Us." We had to go to the one in the Almaden area of San Jose to get some feeding supplies for baby Joey.

We were given specific instructions as to what kind of feeding bottle my son and his wife were using, including brand name and descriptions.

So there we were at Babies R Us, when I spotted this cute little parking designation indicator painted on the pavement - you know, like the "Handicapped" ideograph. I had to laugh, because it reminded me of other relevant signs, like "Trespassers Will Be Eaten" at Wild Animal Park, or "Drive Carefully, Grandparents At Play" at my mom's retirement community.

We found the baby-feeding area and holy moley, if we didn't know what we were there for, we would have left there in a daze. The wall was covered with every variety of bottle, formula sleeves, nipples and other appurtances strictly devoted to feeding the suckling baby.

The last time I had to buy bottles and nipples, there were only a few to choose from. There now must be hundreds! And despite the notes we had, I still had to call the new parents to present them with some options.

I think I won't have any more babies. It's too complicated these days.

P.S. You should see the stroller section.