To shower or not to shower, that is the question.
Ok, this is not about my shower during 坐月子 as I have discussed in a previous entry, but about baby shower.
Chinese don’t have baby shower, so I’m quite oblivious to how it works. So I asked Nicolas, and to my surprise he said it’s not such a common thing to do in France either (indeed when i think of it, I’ve never been to any babyshower during my 4-year stay in France). I thought it’s a ‘western’ thing everywhere in western countries… So you see, ‘Western’ is not all the same – just another example of it.
So I turned to my trusted source, wikipedia. According to wikipedia, baby shower is a way to celebrate the pending or recent birth of a child by presenting gifts to the parents at a party. The term “shower” is often assumed to mean that the expectant mother is “showered” with gifts. And I didn’t know that often it’s hosted by a close friend.
I’m quite reluctant to have a baby shower (maybe simply a reflection of the fact that I’m not used to the idea yet) – I feel like it’s almost like asking for gifts, esp if you have a ‘baby shower list’ (much like the ‘wedding list’) … (i hope i haven’t offended anyone … so far) …
But then Tina, a good friend of mine with whom I was talking about it recently, made a point that the list would only do a favor to those who are going to bring you a gift anyway sooner or later, and it also does a favor to ourselves because then we’re sure to get gifts that we need … fair enough, point taken.
And when I come to think of it, I guess baby shower is perhaps the equivalent of other forms of baby related celebration. Much like ‘one-month’ party 满月酒 (like the name suggests, that happens at one month birthday of the baby) and ‘100-day’ banquet 百日酒 in China, or baptism in Christian families. People around the world celebrate the arrival of baby in one way or another. Families and friends share and celebrate the joy by coming along and offering something nice to the latest addition of the family.
mmm … so, to shower or not to shower? That remains as a question …
Helen
December 14, 2011 at 12:33 pmI think babyshower is more American thing. I had a babyshower hosted by my close neighbor who also a friend of ours. She even took me to Baby’s R us when she thought my list was not long enough for everyone to buy. Finally I took her advice and made a long list. Surprisingly, it was still not enough. So some friends had to take initiative to buy what they thought useful. We had games at my party and opening gift boxes was so much fun. I do feel I am so loved by the friends around not in term of gifts, but how they prepared them. I was invited to two babyshowers as well. Each one was touching and loving. You can feel immediately the care from your friends. So if I were in Sydney, if you didn’t invite me to your shier, I would feel very hurt because you don’t think me as your friend.
yin
December 14, 2011 at 10:45 pmoh goodness, should i start to feel guilty if i don’t have a shower then? …
Helen
December 15, 2011 at 10:35 amNo need to feel guilty, but u may miss a chance that you can share your joy excitement to be a mom. I am not a party person, but I do enjoy going to baby shower. I may have been in a very motherhood now.