Sunday 6 November 2016

Baby Showers

Today I am going to a baby shower. I am now at the stage where I am attended showers for babies produced by friends' children! (Did you follow that?) I knew the father of this baby when he was just a toddler running around and being put to bed early.

I have a couple of standard items that I almost always include with a baby shower gift. They are items which were 'life savers' for me when I was a new mom who didn't know anything and was just trying to get through each day.

The first is penaten cream. My own mother used this and the tradition was passed on. It works so well for those raw, nasty diaper rashes that occur at teething time. The staying power is tremendous and heaven help you if you got some on your own clothes before heading out to work and dropping baby off at the daycare! I tried other diaper creams, but this was hands down the best.

source
I also like to provide a tube of Lansinoh cream, if I know that the mom is breastfeeding. I know breastfeeding is the most natural thing in the world, but it didn't come easy for me as a first time mom. One thing they don't tell you is that breast feeding can hurt! (Yes, if done properly, it shouldn't hurt... but ask around, it is a learning curve for many women). This stuff was wonderful and really the only thing that provided relief.

source

A third item that came in handy was Gripe Water. At one point we dosed our baby daughter up so much with this stuff, she smelled like a dill pickle! Gripe Water is handy for those babies who are going through a rather fussy, possibly gassy stage.

source
Back in the day, baby showers, as well as bridal showers, had a predictability about them. A group of women and their daughters would gather in a circular fashion in someone's livingroom, or perhaps at a community centre. There would be a couple of silly games to play, then the mother (or mother-to-be) or bride would commence opening the gifts, one by one. Usually there was a girl, or a best friend sitting beside the celebrated woman, pen in hand, writing down the type of gift received on the back of the attached card so the bride could keep track and send out thank you cards later. All the other attending women would oooh and ahhh appropriately as the gifts were opened. A light lunch would follow, goodbyes and best wishes would be said, and the whole thing would be wrapped up in about two hours.

Now there is so much more to a shower. I attended a bridal shower where there was a digital slide show complete with sound track of the bride from infancy onward. I see ideas for baby shower games on Pinterest that are nothing like the old fashioned ones we played. A bride was usually covered in her own bows by the end of gift opening time, or a tray of assorted items would be passed around for all the ladies to memorize and then covered with a scarf after which all in attendance were made to write down as many items as they could remember. Sometimes a small sticker was attached to the bottom of a teacup and the bearer of that cup would go home with a special gift. New games involve drinking out of baby bottles, waiting for your tiny plastic baby to be released from its ice cube in your drink, writing funny messages on diapers, placing a paper plate on your head and drawing a picture, and the ever popular guessing what kind of chocolate bar has been melted in a diaper to look like baby poop. Each to their own, I guess.

Have you been to a baby shower lately? Do you have favourite gifts that you like to give?

17 comments:

  1. Our group of friends were having the same thing. We were having to have baby showers for our friends children, birthdays etc. We decided it was time for the grown children to have their own showers. I am having a new granddaughter in Feb. that I just found out about. It's a long story, shocking, but she will be a blessing. There are problems with the placenta and genetic tests; baby has a 1 in 16 chance of one of these including Down's Syndrome. We are hoping for the best. Seems the placenta can test positive and the baby is fine. So, we'll love her whatever the case.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, I'm sorry to hear that there may be future problems for this new baby. There were no such tests, of course, when our own mothers or we were pregnant with our children. I'm not even sure if I would want to have the tests. The worrying and waiting must be incredibly hard.

      Delete
  2. Good grief. I'm glad we don't have this sort of thing here. Silly games are not up my alley. I used the same nappy rash creme here and so did my daughter's. It truly is great

    ReplyDelete
  3. I haven't been to a baby shower since...I don't even remember when! None of my friends' children have kids yet, so the opportunity hasn't risen. I do hear that it is very different from when we were young moms and perhaps one day I'll get to experience it. These are all great gifts you are giving! You don't realize how important they are until you get down to the day to day of caring for a baby. Some of my favourite items were onesies, swaddle/receiving blankets, burp cloths, washcloths, bibs, socks. Having many of these on hand saved on laundry time. Babies go through them very quickly! And lotions, shampoos, diapers, wipes, etc., I really appreciated items that were practical. Anyhow, have fun!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ha ha, the other part of this gift that I am giving is a set of four onesies, as well as a rattle type thing with lots of little finger hold spots. The other new tradition is that instead of buying a card to go along with the gift, you buy a book and put your name in the book. That's a new tradition that I think is great!

      Delete
  4. I haven't been to a shower in a long time. I think I'd be amused. I like your gift basket.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I must be much older than you are...my daughters are the mothers of toddlers and their friends are now starting the second round of motherhood (guess that means more showers in the offing).
    Baby showers have indeed changed from when I was a mom-to-be. Some of them even invite the dads and have special "guy" activities!
    I particularly like the new trend of a book for baby instead of a card. The wide variety of books makes quite the great beginner's library!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Jenn, I never heard of these products...but they sound like a blessing for young moms. I am sure the mother will love these items as much as any cute outfit...I know I would have. LOL. Blessings, xoxo, Susie
    p.s. love the new header photos.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Susie, I'm back from the shower and she got a TON of things, many clothes, bibs, booties / shoes, pretty items for the nursery, beginning toys, the list goes on and on. There were a lot of people in attendance. The wee babe was a little over a month old.

      Delete
  7. We used to dip our oldest daughter's soother in the gripe water! Hahaha!
    Enjoy your week Wendy...
    Cheers!
    Linda :o)

    ReplyDelete
  8. I have never been to a baby shower. Thanks for the ideas. I don't have kids, so I don't know what a person would need.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I like the idea of a book with the gift giver's name in. I haven't been to either a baby or bridal shower for a quite a while, no one I know is either getting married or having a baby, although these days it seems we are doing the baby shower first ... I will say no more :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ha, that's definitely the case here. In fact, I don't think marriage is even in the cards. The mother is the same age as my daughter in university (cringe). Regardless, she seems to be a wonderful mother to this little fellow.

      Delete
  10. Thanks for these very good and timely ideas. I may well be showering soon for our daughter in law who is due in February. These are fun, kind of off-the-beaten-path ideas. I've never seen the products before -- I'll have to check online!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I haven't been to a baby shower in awhile which is fine with me. A slide show of the bride since infancy? Sounds like a snore fest. I could have used some of that gripe water for my #1 and now for my Mister. Have a great week, Jenn.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I too attended a baby shower this weekend, for my nephew's new little baby girl Ellie...
    So much fun.
    My mum used the gripe water when my brother was little, and oftentimes when he was first teething, I didn't know it was still available :)
    ~Jo

    ReplyDelete