Baby Shower

Are you having a baby shower? Or rather, is someone throwing you one?

If you’re pregnant with your first baby, chances are, you could use some help building up your baby gear supply.

When I had my first baby, a friend of the family hosted a baby shower for me. It was fun and gave me a lot of help in forming my baby’s wardrobe and baby gear supply.

After I had my first girl (after three boys), I had kind friends and family who gave me another shower, knowing I didn’t have a lot of “pink things” on hand.

It was really sweet and much appreciated.

But I want to approach the subject from a whole different angle.

This is from your angle, the mother or mom-to-be.

There are a few items of advice about etiquette I would like to point out.

And I would give the same advice to my own sister so don’t be offended. I might be pointing out something you may have not thought of.

A very important thing to keep in mind, as a recipient of a baby shower, is that a lot of time, effort and money went in to throwing that party for you and your little one.

Don’t forget to verbally thank your hostess a long with sending her a thank-you note afterward.

Arrive early to the shower that is given in your honor. You don’t want to have guests arriving to see you only to find that you’re not there!

Greet and speak to each guest as they arrive. While your hostess will probably be doing this also, the guests deserve a hello from the person whom they came to shower with gifts!

As you open gifts, have someone nearby with pen and paper make note of each gift and who brought the gift.

This will greatly help you when writing your thank-you cards.

You’ll be able to mention, in your thanks, the specific gift the person brought and why you love it.

I have been to showers where each guest was asked to write down their own mailing information as well as noting what gift they brought.

I’ve also been asked to address my own thank-you envelope.

In my opinion, THIS IS TACKY.

That’s all I’m going to say about that…

One of my pet-peeves is lack of etiquette on the part of the mom-to-be when it comes to such events.

If someone sends or brings you a gift, you are obligated to send a thank you note.

It doesn’t have to be expensive or fancy and your note doesn’t have to be long.

But an individual, personalized, hand-written note shows that you really feel sincere in your thanks and appreciation.

While a blanket thank–you to everyone is way easier for you (and probably better than nothing), it also shows that you didn’t think the gift-giver deserved the time it would have taken you to write a personalized note. It shows a lack of appreciation and manners.

Sorry, I had to vent…

After the shower is over, thank your guests for coming and after everyone has left, thank your hostess again.

You can never express too many thank-you’s.