Strollerderby : baby showers

Operation Shower Helps Lonely Military Moms-to-Be

Shannon LC Cate — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 23:30:00 GMT

If you know--or are a member of--a military family, you know how hard it is to wait on pins and needles for a loved one to get home after a long deployment in a dangerous place. Parents wait anxiously for children, children wait anxiously for parents. But some wait both for the return of a partner and the arrival of a baby at the same time.

Operation Shower is a non profit program designed to give aid and comfort to women expecting babies while their spouses are deployed. The organization sends a "shower in a box" to individual women as well as hosting "unit-wide" showers for groups of expectant moms. The boxes are filled with gifts and goodies packed in a festive way to cheer and help a new mom.

If this sounds like something you'd like to support, the organization could use your help. You can donate gifts, money, time and space to host a shower, or you can gather a group to sponsor a box or a unit-wide shower. For more information, contacts are available at OperationShower.org.

image: savvy-baby-gear.com

Baby Planners: Who Needs 'Em?

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:58:00 GMT

During your pregnancy, would you have paid $250 to have someone walk you through Babies R’ Us, pointing out the must-have products? Or $500 to have someone plan your baby shower? How about $200 to have your home babyproofed?

These are just some of the services offered by baby coordinators, the latest advent in the commercialization of parenting. While I am all for easing the stress that can come with expecting a baby, I am definitely NOT for teaching mothers that having disposable income is the only way to do this. Shouldn’t friends or family be the ones helping parents-to-be make these important decisions? Or, perhaps more importantly, shouldn’t expectant parents learn to trust their own parenting instincts?

I worry that baby planning promises to be just one more trend that will make mothers feel not good enough—“You mean you didn’t hire a baby planner?!”

And in case the commercialization factor doesn’t bother you, perhaps the sexist element will: many baby planning companies also offer “daddy preparation.” Because those silly men don’t know a thing about babies!

Photo: The Boston Globe

I Threw a Baby Shower and I Only Got Books

Jen Chaney — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 13:02:00 GMT

Sound good to you? Maybe you can join the trend of throwing book-themed baby showers, as mentioned in The Seattle Times.

The concept is simple, and not entirely new: Throw a baby shower but insist that only picture books can be given as gifts. It's a great way to ensure the little reader-to-be has a robust library. And, let's be honest, the theme also makes it 85 times more fun for the guests to shop for presents.

I have never been to a shower like this but I love the idea. We received a number of books as presents anyway -- although, surprisingly, didn't snag a single copy of "Good Night, Moon" -- but it would have been interesting to see what all of the guests chose to bring. It strikes me a particularly fun approach for the mommy who is getting multiple showers, say, one from the co-workers and another from family and friends.

If you only get doused with presents for the child once, though, then you may prefer the traditional route. Because, really, do you want to go shopping for a Diaper Champ and a bottle sterilizer because all you have at home is 12 copies of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar"?

Eye-Roll-Inducing "Parenting Trends"

Amy Kuras — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 22:03:00 GMT

One of the first unofficial lessons of Journalism 101: if it happens three times, it's a trend. Or, if it happens to you and at least one of your friends, it's a trend.

So I tend to view stories like this one from Parents.Com about the top 10 parenting trends for 2008 with great skepticism, to say the least. And if you're a regular reader of Strollerderby (and you should be) none of these are news to you. I'll list them anyway, to spare you the nine zillion irritating ads that cover the screen when you're trying to go through the article.

"Creative" baby names. "Semaj" from James? Seriously, people? Just, no. Bill already riffed on this funnier than I can ("silent q" indeed).
Toy safety. Suddenly everyone wants their toys made in the USA. Good luck with that!
Working mothers bringing babies to the workplace. Again, please no. I already aired my feelings about this in a comment on Other Amy's post on the topic – and apparently am in the minority, in a big way.
Sophisicated nurseries. Can't argue with this one, anything I say would solely be out of raw, naked envy for people with money and taste enough to pull these off.
Famiies traveling together more — groups of friends going on vacation, so each set of parents can trade off kid-watching and grownup time. Again, this sounds genius.
Holding baby showers for 2nd and 3rd kids. H to the ELL to the NO. One baby shower and one wedding shower per person per lifetime. End of story. Anything else that's a gifting party, outside of really unusual circumstances, is greedy. Although looking at the comments on this post by Kelly, I totally want a blessingway now
Personalized baby web sites. No problem with these, but our set of faraway grandparents are my in-laws, who are in their 70s. And refer to emails as "letters." So, yeah, not sure how well that would work for us.
Birthday parties with physical activity themes. Don’t they all devolve into malestroms of screamy, running kids, themes or no?
More sentimental push presents for mothers. Rachael already ever-so-eloquently expounded on this.

Discipline — saying no to spoiled kids. This is a trend? A new trend? The hell? What is wrong with us?

I've never been especially trendy. Articles like this one make me glad.

Photo: Time

Strollerderby Playdate: The Virtual Baby Shower Edition

Stefania Pomponi Butler (CityMama) — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 11:02:00 GMT

There's a party goin' on right here, a celebration to last...well, at least until today. What am I talkin' 'bout? The parenting blogosphere has joined together to celebrate the impending births of a trio of mommy blogger babies, some of whom may have made an appearance by the time you read this post.

Three of the awesomest ladies in the blogosphere – Liz of Mom-101, Christina of A Mommy Story, and (first-timer!) Tammie of Soul Gardening are all about to give birth, and a virtual baby shower in their honor has been coordinated by Julie, Kristen, Catherine, and Nancy.

Some of the "attendees" who have been offering the attendees helpful advice and (not-so-helpful) ASSvice are:

There. Now you should have enough links to tide you over until naptime. Congratulations baby mamas! And if you have any advice or ASSvice you'd like to share, please do!