Lessons Learned While Hosting a Baby Shower

Attending baby showers is an interesting rite of passage that all women must go through. There are many customs and norms that one must adhere to at such an event. I am in that season in my life when many of my friends and family members are having babies and starting families, so I am slowly being immersed into the world of baby showers. Last week, I helped host Alyssa's shower. I am like a baby myself when it comes to baby showers due to my inexperience with such celebrations, so this was a learning experience for me. 

Lesson number one: Food should not be put on sticks. No matter how cute the theme may be (She's Ready to Pop), don't give in to the temptation to turn every treat into a pop. It is time consuming and may result in the treat falling off onto the table before your guests can even see how creative you were. 

Lesson number two: Expect guests to arrive 20 minutes early and plan accordingly to ensure you are finished decorating before their (over)prompt arrival. 

Lesson number three: When playing the Guess How Many _______ Are In This Jar game, do not pick something as small as a "pop"corn kernel because it will take you an hour to count out over 2,000 of them! This was a second hand lesson as Melissa, the other host, was the one to learn it. However, I too learned a lesson from this game. It doesn't matter if you forgot how many lolli"pops" were actually in the container, or for that matter you never actually counted them but went by the serving size on the bag, because no one is going to double count them. Its okay to pick a winner based on an estimate. 

Lesson number four: Don't bother preparing food for an army because when women get together in large social settings, they feel the need to eat daintily, and you will have a lot of leftovers.

Lesson number five: Baby showers create a forum for women to tell their worst birthing and child rearing stories. It is almost like a form of hazing as a way of inducting the mother to be into the society of women who have endured the pains and joys of childbirth.

I'm sure I will have many more lessons to learn as I continue to attend baby showers. Overall, I think the shower was a success and now I'm ready for my little niece to get here!

I successfully completed another rag quilt!