Baby shower or a PR crisis?

Baby showers are funny events. It can be exhilarating to the brand new mom-to-be or it can simply be a time when she realizes just what she is getting herself into. You will sit around with ladies who either are swapping tales about their birthstories,how long and how painful each step of the labor was,how heavy or light their offsprings were and how exactly the initial days are going to be. At times I feel they end up taxing the already taxed mother-to-be ,the poor lady listening to the stories probably will go into labour at the venue only! Coupled with that will be a huge loads of advices as to what are the right ways to hold,burp and change,feed the child and how to raise them,how sleepless nights are soon going to be a part of her life blah blah. All finer tactics to scare the mom-to-be,especially if you are in a group majorly dominated by the "already-been-through" the stage mothers. But the wonderful presents and fun games make up for that. Also nowadays baby showers no longer are a female only events,I guess we are dragging in the dad-to-be also to the gathering so he can get a taste of things to come too. I for one definitly love that idea!And not to mentionthe good food:) cupcakes,vegetable and fruit platters and lovely appetizers,whoever thought of the shower did know that moms irrespective of their to-be or already-been status will surely love to binge that one day!I think I have gained a few pounds just thinking about it.

Hosting a baby shower can be quite taxing as I have come to realize. I'm hosting one for a dear friend this weekend and trust me getting 15-20 women under one roof working in perfect harmony for a event is nothing short of a miracle. You have to have some basic conflict resolution skills if you have to even begin coordinating the event. Delegating the tasks and getting them done on time is another headache. To each suggestion there are many more "improvising" counter suggestions and at times I felt my home for that evening meeting had turned into a Gladiator arena. We have two groups as of now,one being the women who have not had children yet and who just chip in with cutesy ideas and who question what's the big differnce anyway between any get together and a baby shower. You explain it to them and they look at you with lost expression ,they are best delegated the tasks of arranging the cake and taking care of the decoration or menu. They truly are brilliant with that part of the event.The other is the dominant half being compromised of women who are already into the maternal ring with the "Been there,done that" attitude. The later group is full of ideas as they consider they are more experienced and hence they deserve to be heard and their ideas given more weightage than the rest. When the simple discussion of gifts and party games turned into a heated debate I knew it was time to end the day on a sweeter note and send the ladies home before they got at each others throats. Long story short we did reach a consensus (clap clap)on the games,theme,menu and all the other stuff (Phew).Gift shopping is pending and is scheduled for today evening. I put my foot down and said only myself and another friend would be doing that and they simply had to trust us to get the right gift. After a little more inaudible grumblings they all nodded an agreed. I certainly felt like doing a tribal victory dance for having gotten them to agree on one thing without any disagreements! for a moment I was also filled with hope for this world again. Lots of things yet to be done and phone calls yet to be answered and queries yet to be adressed. Above everything my house could use a Kim & Aggie touch ,it's disastrous and needs to be strightened up drastically.Well,wish me luck as I try to create a small epoch of comfort to a stressed out first time mom-to-be without heightening my own:)