"It's like you're showering her with gifts..."
We had our shower for the twins this weekend. (Note to Adam: Your present is late.) This will be our only shower for the twins. Sometimes I feel a little guilty about begging people for baby paraphernalia when this is our second child, but then I remember that our third child will be coming at the same time and we’ll need twice the stuff.
Ellie was our family’s only representative. I stayed home with Abbie since her naptime coincided with the shower. That meant she had to stay home with someone, and hiring a babysitter to listen to her nap would have canceled some of the financial incentive for having a shower. Plus I hate showers. From my limited experience, showers are organized by women for women to eat, talk, and play silly games. I enjoy the eating part, especially when they have those little butter mints or anything that could be described as a “truffle.” The talking part bugs me though, since it tends to be small talk focusing on the same themes that I ignored before Abbie was born,* or gossip. I abhor gossip, unless it’s sport related gossip, then it’s fair game to gab on about what Terrell Owens said or who he may or may not have punched and what the Eagles should do with him. I mean, can you believe he’s suspended for the season? But these are showers, and the closest they ever come to sports is unveiling a onesie adorned with a football.
Ellie hates showers too for the same reasons, though her main complaint is the games. Usually these are pretty inane games like a word search for baby-related words** or guess the contents of the diaper.*** Some of the games are borderline cruel, like guess the circumference of the pregnant woman.**** Many women are already overly sensitive to how big they’ve grown, and considering that Ellie is measuring about three months ahead of where a woman with one fetus would measure, the last thing she needs is another reminder that she’s as big as a modest-sized suburban housing development.
Fortunately they played no games at the shower. It was just lots of girl talk, which is good since she’s a girl, and plenty of food, which is a tease since she has nowhere left in her body to store it. The presents we received were all beautiful and useful gifts that many people opened their hearts for and spent considerable sums of time and money to purchase for us, which is why I feel guilty about taking some of it back.
We’re keeping most of the things we received. People gave us lots of diapers, which are always welcome. We’ve stockpiled 250 newborn diapers so far, which should be just enough to last until we return from the hospital assuming a standard length stay and I can supplement our supply with a few hospital diapers. We received tons of clothes, and while I’m thankful that the twins will never be naked for their first three months, or at least if they are naked it won’t be because of a lack of clothes, but they have more 0-3 month clothes than they can possibly wear in three months. Most thoughtfully of all, we received thank you notes, and those going to come in handy as soon as I find time to write thank you notes, preferably some time before the twins arrive.
The things we’re taking back are things we already have. For example, we received a pair of infant car seat head supports, which are great, but we already have some. We also received an infant car seat that we might return so we can buy the seat that matches the stroller we might buy. Then there’s the older infant’s car seat that we may return because I can buy it cheaper elsewhere. It’s only ten bucks cheaper, but that’s enough to buy 80 newborn diapers, which will keep the twins dry for several hours.
* “Are you ready for a baby?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“You’d better get your sleep now.”
“Why? It’s not like I can save it up for a month from now.”
“True, but a month from now you won’t have time to sleep. Or bathe.”
“Great. Hey, truffles.”
** “Bottle.” “Crib.” “Whiskey.”
*** Actually the game I played was guess the contents of the baby food jar, which is basically the same thing.
**** This is an actual game I played. I almost won it.
Ellie was our family’s only representative. I stayed home with Abbie since her naptime coincided with the shower. That meant she had to stay home with someone, and hiring a babysitter to listen to her nap would have canceled some of the financial incentive for having a shower. Plus I hate showers. From my limited experience, showers are organized by women for women to eat, talk, and play silly games. I enjoy the eating part, especially when they have those little butter mints or anything that could be described as a “truffle.” The talking part bugs me though, since it tends to be small talk focusing on the same themes that I ignored before Abbie was born,* or gossip. I abhor gossip, unless it’s sport related gossip, then it’s fair game to gab on about what Terrell Owens said or who he may or may not have punched and what the Eagles should do with him. I mean, can you believe he’s suspended for the season? But these are showers, and the closest they ever come to sports is unveiling a onesie adorned with a football.
Ellie hates showers too for the same reasons, though her main complaint is the games. Usually these are pretty inane games like a word search for baby-related words** or guess the contents of the diaper.*** Some of the games are borderline cruel, like guess the circumference of the pregnant woman.**** Many women are already overly sensitive to how big they’ve grown, and considering that Ellie is measuring about three months ahead of where a woman with one fetus would measure, the last thing she needs is another reminder that she’s as big as a modest-sized suburban housing development.
Fortunately they played no games at the shower. It was just lots of girl talk, which is good since she’s a girl, and plenty of food, which is a tease since she has nowhere left in her body to store it. The presents we received were all beautiful and useful gifts that many people opened their hearts for and spent considerable sums of time and money to purchase for us, which is why I feel guilty about taking some of it back.
We’re keeping most of the things we received. People gave us lots of diapers, which are always welcome. We’ve stockpiled 250 newborn diapers so far, which should be just enough to last until we return from the hospital assuming a standard length stay and I can supplement our supply with a few hospital diapers. We received tons of clothes, and while I’m thankful that the twins will never be naked for their first three months, or at least if they are naked it won’t be because of a lack of clothes, but they have more 0-3 month clothes than they can possibly wear in three months. Most thoughtfully of all, we received thank you notes, and those going to come in handy as soon as I find time to write thank you notes, preferably some time before the twins arrive.
The things we’re taking back are things we already have. For example, we received a pair of infant car seat head supports, which are great, but we already have some. We also received an infant car seat that we might return so we can buy the seat that matches the stroller we might buy. Then there’s the older infant’s car seat that we may return because I can buy it cheaper elsewhere. It’s only ten bucks cheaper, but that’s enough to buy 80 newborn diapers, which will keep the twins dry for several hours.
* “Are you ready for a baby?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“You’d better get your sleep now.”
“Why? It’s not like I can save it up for a month from now.”
“True, but a month from now you won’t have time to sleep. Or bathe.”
“Great. Hey, truffles.”
** “Bottle.” “Crib.” “Whiskey.”
*** Actually the game I played was guess the contents of the baby food jar, which is basically the same thing.
**** This is an actual game I played. I almost won it.
posted by Matt at
10:11 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home