My baby shower was on Saturday.
While it is always lovely to see friends and family again, let's face it:
This kind of event is about the stuff.
It is amazing how much stuff one gets at baby showers and wedding showers. It is such a godsend to know that that shower is out there as you are strolling through the aisles of Babies R Us, choking back the vomit because the stuff you need to get is endless. You think: 'my god, I need a second job just to get the stuff!'
But, you know that the baby shower is coming; it's out there; and it is going to save your butt. So you do a little routine called registering. It's essentially a primal scream to the stuff gods.
So once you've registered, all of the elders gather together to get you the stuff that your young, "still-makin'-yer-way-in-the-world" self needs.
It is definitely a generational phenomenon. It is at the shower that we know that we really should respect our elders. Sure, your friends may come to the shower. Sure, you are invited to showers from time to time. But, we all know that you and your friends cannot afford any of the big ticket items on the registery, nor do you have the wherewithal to organize a group gift--our young, busy, crazy lives are too young, crazy, and busy to orchestrate such a thing. So it is mom, grandma, and aunt Sue that get the crib, the car seat, the breast pump, etc. And your friends bring a cute baby bib and a rattle, a bag of diapers here, a receiving blanket there.
Ultimately, when the shower was over, I felt that immense sense of relief. Ahhhhhh.
My infant won't sleep naked in a box next to her 8 year-old sister's bed.
I think this shower ritual is great....
and, it made me think:
why don't we start a "Going Into My Fourth Year of College" shower?
Eeeh. What do you think?
3 comments:
Mandee,
Again, I love reading your blog. Your writing is great. I'm glad you had a great wedding shower.
And about the college shower, my mother threw me one when I left in August; she gave me a scarf and a cannister of strange, cranberry, baked goods.
I LOVE it, Mandee! Yes, we need an "I'm going into my last days of graduate school shower" too!I wonder what we would get? Antidepressants? Extra strong espresso? A year's supply of housecleaning service? I like the last one-I need it.
I enjoyed reading your post. I agree baby showers are great, especially when you get a three year supply of diapers. My wife and I have not had to buy many diapers as a result of our baby showers and we have two children. I know this is a somewhat separate topic but I have thought about standing next to the panhandlers that you see at every intersection near shopping malls, with a sign that reads “College Student Needs Money”. But then I realize that the panhandler would probably beat me up.
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