Being Dad: Day -10

The Marketplace of Mothers

To round out our online baby shopping, we got a dresser which will double as a change table. We’d ordered one new, but delivery had been delayed so it was now time-critical. Luckily, the perfect one turned up on Facebook Marketplace.

We’d been buying lots of things pre-loved.

The first was maternity pillows, when bump became particularly hard for my partner to sleep with. This involved a short drive and PayID transaction on a quiet side street. The previous owner was a warm young mum who my partner wished she could befriend.

Next was the bassinet, and here we were invited into the very lived-in terrace house of a family of four. Baby number two had grown out of it in eight weeks, which made me kind of nervous our bub mightn’t get much use out of it either.

The third major purchase was a bedside sleeper, collected from a dad at a construction site near our house. Their baby had only used it a handful of times before they switched to co-sleeping. It looked brand new, except for one small but distinct stain.

With every interaction, I was struck by how enjoyable these people were to deal with.

None more so than the young mum we collected the dresser from.

She pulled into the driveway just before we arrived and had the instant energy of someone who knows how to get shit done. It felt earned. The next thing we knew we were at the back of their house examining the goods, which were in perfect condition.

Soon this supermum and I were carrying the deceptively heavy dresser to our car. She showed me how to adjust the seats so it would fit.

There was a tinge of sadness in her face, which I’d recognised from each Marketplace mum we’d encountered. It was obvious these items held sentimental value. But the emotion most evident was the genuine excitement and affection they had towards us as soon-to-be parents.

My partner was greeted like an old friend, or new best friend. The bond these women share is inspiring. They had a connection it felt like I, along with the rest of the world, wouldn’t understand.

I’d never trusted online marketplaces before, assuming they were the domain of scammers and tyre kickers, but what I found was a secret community of mothers who, with open arms, eagerly welcome new parents into their world.

I’m already looking forward to one day paying this forward.

Looking back, I now realise this was the final entry in the Being Dad series before it became my book Becoming Dad.

If you'd like to continue the story, you can order Becoming Dad now for $22.49 from Booktopia using the code “BECOMINGDAD10’.

Thank you for being here and sharing these final days before parenthood with me. It's been one heck of a ride. And the best bit, what’s to come is every bit as fun.