Look, pregnancy is a miracle and babies are adorable. We are so happy for our friends when they get knocked up that sometimes, we cry. That said, we do not necessarily want to spend the bulk of a Saturday guessing the due date and coming up with funny combinations of the mom and dad’s name (for the baby’s name) as part of some allegedly (but never actually) fun games. And even though we know this, we somehow suffer from amnesia when we become mothers-to-be, and suddenly decide it’s cool to subject our friends to the very parties we suffered through so many times before. Don’t do this. Instead, try and throw a cool baby shower that your friends will enjoy attending. Here’s how.
First and foremost, it's important to remember that this party is for adults. For some reason the moment a baby is involved, everyone starts to act like they're also babies, and so are their guests. Just, no. Any activity you would think is ridiculous before you got pregnant is still ridiculous. Secondly, understand your audience: You know if you have friends who are cutesy baby people, and you know if you have friends who are not so much. Plan your festivities according to the most common denominator attitude among your attendees.
The best baby shower we've ever been to is the one at which the mother-to-be made us chug vodka from baby bottles—true story. Just because the guest of honor can't drink doesn't mean your friends should be forced to stay sober on a Saturday.
Okay, okay... We know that opening the gifts at the shower is proper etiquette. However, we would argue that since most gifts are ordered off a registry, no one really needs to see them again... right? Baby clothes are cute, but they're also only about five-minutes worth of cute, as opposed to an hour or more.
We sort of like girls-only parties, but sometimes it's fun to mix with the boys, because guess what: The baby is happening to the dad (and his friends), too. (Also, we sort of feel like men should be subjected to these endless celebrations if we have to be.)
Unless they involve booze. Honestly, baby shower games are the absolute worst—Tootsie Roll "poop"? No, thank you.
We believe that daytime on the weekends is prime personal real estate—it's the time you get to sleep in, run errands, work-out for the first time that week, or just eat a leisurely breakfast for once in your life. Nights, on the other hand, are almost always set aside for social obligations, so it doesn't matter so much if those plans involve a modern baby shower or a birthday party, right? That being said, slide No. 2 is crucial, should you go this route.
Even on a budget, you can do better than a bowl of berries and some tea sandwiches. Make sure you have a range of delicious (and maybe not-so-diet-friendly) goodies, because no one complains about a party with good food. Charlotte may have thought it was weird that Miranda wanted fried chicken at her baby shower in the now-notorious Sex and the City episode, but we think it was genius. Speaking for ourselves, we want a Soul Cake at our baby shower (hint, hint... not pregnant yet, but hint, hint).
