Baby Showers

[LadyBarbossa]

Well, 'showers' in general, but I've always hated baby showers especially. Maybe because they tend to be hen-gatherings, as I call them, where dozens of women of all ages will gather round and gab non-stop about labor, diapers, etc ad-nauseum. Or the fact that most of the time it's "No boys allowed, teehee!", which makes no sense to me - why should men be excluded from this event, as it kind of takes two for this to happen, in most cases. It's excruciating to sit there for sometimes 2+ hours while the Mom-to-be opens baby item after baby item, each of which must be passed to EVERYONE in the room and 'Awwww'-ed by every single guest. After the third dress/outfit, this gets old. And heaven forbid you are one of the people who gave Mom a practical gift like diapers or wipes, which is politely dumped - er, dropped in a corner.

And then there are the games. Oh my god, the GAMES. I'm sorry, but melting candy bars inside diapers and then passing it around, asking guests to touch, smell, TASTE the contents of said diaper and see if they can guess what candy bar it is . . . this is fun HOW?

I'm thinking these things would be much more tolerable if it were simply a gathering of everyone, not just women, without the games. And also if gifts were just placed in a corner to be opened later rather than making a spectacle out of them. I'm sure there are people who enjoy baby showers, but as for me . . . no thanks. I've been invited to one on St. Patrick's day and both the mom and her sister (who I work with) keep asking if I'm coming and I keep stalling my way out of it saying I'm not sure. I doubt I'd go to the shower if it were someone I was really close to, but this person is none other than Her Tardiness, who caused me a great deal of stress and anger when she was my co-worker, and I can't think of a place I'd rather be less.

[BlaqueKatt]

I've been invited to one on St. Patrick's day and both the mom and her sister (who I work with) keep asking if I'm coming and I keep stalling my way out of it saying I'm not sure.

No.

The above is a complete sentence(and a link to an article ), and you are not required to elaborate on why, as it is none of anyone's business.

M/S-"are you going?"
you-"No."
M/S-"why not"
You-"I do not have to/wish to explain my decisions, end of discussion."

She keeps it up you can claim harassment.

[guywithashovel]

When my sister was pregnant with her first baby, the baby shower thrown for her was open to both men and women. I went to it, and it was actually kind of fun.

However, I did think some of the games were kind of annoying. Most of the games are meant to "zing" someone, and to me, that kind of humor is annoying. For example, they made my brother-in-law play this game called "Multi-tasking Daddy" where he had to hold a baby doll, fold clothes, and talk on a pretend phone all at once.

Then they gave all the guys a balloon, had them blow it up at big as they could, put it under their shirt (so as to look like they were pregnant), and then try to tie their shoes. Just what the world needs, ANOTHER wisecrack about men not knowing what it's like to get pregnant. That never gets old, does it?

[ExRetailDrone]

I'm not a fan of the traditional baby shower, either. I luckily haven't been to many baby showers, but most of the ones I've been to were obnoxious. The best one I went to was for an old co-worker of mine. It was at a mutual co-worker's house, who was amazing at making cakes and had made the cake for the shower. Men were invited, so it wasn't just a hen party. There was delicious food that guests had brought. And, best of all, there was booze! Obviously poor mom-to-be couldn't have any, but there was plenty of other beverage choices for her and she didn't seem put out by it in the slightest. Overall it was a really fun day where we all just got together and bitched about work and talked about other things, many of which had nothing to do with babies. It was a nice change.

[anakhouri]

It is increasingly common for men to be invited to baby showers. At mine 2 years back we had both men and women, though the men quickly retreated to the other room (excepting my husband).

We didn't play games; I forbade it.

If you don't want to go, don't go. Simple as that. If they ask why, say you had prior plans. No need to elaborate.

[blas87]

I was just at one recently.

Sorry, being around a bunch of girls, unless we're dressing up or shopping, or drinking and dancing, isn't fun. I hate being around "hen" talk, men gossip, and talking about babies and kids. Yuck.

I'd rather talk about violent movies, naked men, and Clay Matthews.

[DGoddess]

I was just at one recently.

Sorry, being around a bunch of girls, unless we're dressing up or shopping, or drinking and dancing, isn't fun. I hate being around "hen" talk, men gossip, and talking about babies and kids. Yuck.

I'd rather talk about violent movies, naked men, and Clay Matthews.

I've only attended one baby shower (couple of summers ago - for the daughter of one of Mom's childhood friends) and the Mom-To-Be's first cousin showed up with her two young, rambunctous kids!

These two kids ran amok almost the entire time we were at the church (it was held inside a church gym) - except for the time we all got to sit down to eat, they were nonstop noisy, running back and forth and making enough noise to wake the dead.

While I'm no expert on baby showers by any means, who the FUCK BRINGS KIDS TO A BABY SHOWER?????

Needless to say, I've not attended one since.

[blas87]

Oh dear, my friend's cousin or whatever brought her kids and someone else brought their kid or kids as well. There were kids running around as well, which just made things so much more enjoyable.

But, I'm kind of the odd-girl out in that whole circle because I don't have any kids, nor do I like them. The ones that don't yet, love kids or work with kids in daycare.

I don't know as far as etiquette goes if that's a faux pas or not to bring kids.

I would have loved to have some men around to talk to. Even if it was about stuff I don't like to hear about, like gutting deer or fish. ANYTHING but babies and drool and poop and epidurals and leaky nipples.

[Racket_Man]

I'd rather talk about violent movies, naked men, and Clay Matthews.

ya know I find that statement mildily amusing for some reason

[fireheart17]

I can sort of see why some baby showers are "women-only"...if you're going with the whole "awwww, that's so cute" thing....most men would probably run wild at the idea of cooing over 20,000 onesies. Then you have the zillion and one questions...men are probably not going to want to find out about what the vagina looks like when the baby is crowning....

Although I have heard of a few baby showers, where the men have gotten drunk in another room, while the women have cooed over god knows what.

[Boozy]

While I'm no expert on baby showers by any means, who the FUCK BRINGS KIDS TO A BABY SHOWER?????

Really? Bringing children to wedding and baby showers is standard practice here. It's a community event; children are part of the community. I don't see why children shouldn't be allowed.

[fireheart17]

Really? Bringing children to wedding and baby showers is standard practice here. It's a community event; children are part of the community. I don't see why children shouldn't be allowed.

I think it's more because generally in a baby shower you're socialising as well as playing strange games. Kids can't really participate. Also having a child asking 1000's of questions..

[Boozy]

Kids can participate to the extent that they're able, and play with some quiet toys at times they are not.

So they might get a bit rowdy at some point. The mother-to-be had better get used to it.

I don't understand why people are so quick to exclude children from social events, especially ones where there isn't likely to be any raunchy or dangerous behaviour.

[Greenday]

The only baby shower I've been to was when I was a kid. It was at someone's house, during the day, and they had a huge backyard so the kids could do their own thing while the adults did whatever. But if it's a small place, I can easily see why people wouldn't want kids. Loud kids, plus tons of running around in a small area is a bad combination.

[AdminAssistant]

I think kids at baby showers would be at the discretion of the hostess. I've been to some that were adult-only, and some where children were invited. Either way, they shouldn't be running around making enough noise to wake the dead.

I lost contact with most of my high school 'friends' after graduation. However, this amazing thing happened. Once they all started popping out babies, I was their best buddy again! They wanted me to come to alllll their showers, and bring my mom, too! F you. If I haven't seen or spoken to you in 5 years, why the hell would I buy your baby a present? Ridiculous.