NEW!  Jamie Kravitz shares  tips on how to keep your baby shower green. Reprinted from Mothering issue 156, September–October 2009. 6 pages.

"As the birth of our first baby approached, my husband and I decided not to put our names on any store’s baby registry. It began as a challenge to ourselves: How far could we get before buying something new? Then, as we began to realize just how far we might go, it became a personal statement: We don’t want anything new, and we ask that you respect our wishes.

We didn’t think this such an odd thing to do, until we began to note other people’s reactions, which ranged from grudgingly accepting to mocking to openly hostile. The most loving response was probably intense curiosity: Why in the world wouldn’t we want to get all the cute items available for a newborn baby?"