3 Things I never knew I needed until I became a mom

We have all looked at items in the store and thought, "that's silly, why would I buy that.  That is just a waste of money."  Then you became a mom and realized how foolish you were to think that you didn't need that before.  I mean, as someone who is not independently wealthy, I do not have extra money to waste.  Seriously, I am the person that doesn't like to buy shredded cheese because I think it is a waste of money and doesn't taste as good as freshly shredded cheese.  Then I became a mom...

Here are a few things that I currently own that in the past I thought were a complete waste of money and only for people who had money to throw away:

1. A fruit corer - now you may be thinking (as a cheapie, I don't like cheap skate, like me, can't you just cut around the core?  The answer to that is yes.  However, I do like the corer to do a few things such as core fruit while leaving the fruit whole so that it doesn't yellow before we can eat it.

It also makes for some really cool shapes in bigger fruit like melon.  I'm a sucker for anything that can make food fun and pretty.  You can also use it to create holes in fruit fill them and bake them.  Did anyone say stuffed apples?  Or make holes in cupcakes to fill them with jellies, caramel, chocolate, etc.?  How about stuffing a potato with cheese, bacon and chives just to cut into it to see a wonderfully filled spud?  Cucumber cups filled with goodies sounds good to me.  I could go on but I'll just leave it there.

I bought mine at Target but here is one at Amazon

2. Phone apps you have to pay for.  No only am I talking about the apps that you use to keep your child content and quiet in places such as church or while dining out but also the apps that you use as a parent.  I used an app called Feed Baby Pro to track everything from feedings, diaper changes and naps in the beginning.  It even synced up with other phones if they have your pass phrase, so even my husband used it.  I don't use it nearly as much as I used to but my daughter has picked up some kind of bug and I've been using it to track her temperature and medicine.  It was $4.99 has been totally worth it.  At the time I purchased it I had to justify it to myself by saying that it was less than the price of two tall fancy Starbucks drinks.  There is a free version also.

Feed Baby Pro

3. Frozen fruits and vegetables.  I am the kind of person that is going to buy vegetables fresh as much as possible but that was also before I had to consider how much work it would be to shop with a child.  Even if I'm on my way home from work and need to pick up just one little thing, I consider if it is worth the trouble of actually stopping, unloading my child (who may or may not have fallen asleep), trudging into the store, getting what I need, convincing my child to get back into her carseat, then going home.  What would have been a 5 minute stop before children just turned into a 25 minute job.  I'm not all about that.  I will even go as far as dicing my own potatoes into cubes and freezing them for a quick mashed potato side for dinner.  Some of the other staples that I keep in my freezer: peas, carrots, bell peppers, corn, spinach, broccoli, strawberries, pineapple, mango, blueberries, and raspberries.  

I'm certain there are more things that I've purchased since becoming a mother that I would have never bought before but these are the ones that I have really been using lately that I've been loving.  What are somethings that you have justified purchasing since becoming a parent?