Baby Showers

         Mom and BaBy shower                                 

This past weekend my wife went to a baby shower for a family member. She was gone for five hours, which gave inspiration for this post: One of the greatest excuses for pregnant women to spend time with their friends and family is the "baby shower." First and foremost, baby showers are vital to the pre-baby life as your friends and family give/buy you many baby necessities and splurges that you otherwise wouldn't buy yourself. Well, many people will buy that stuff and go into debt, which sets a great example for your child! Therefore, friends are important ( This may sound shallow, but I'm pretty sure we're not on this earth to live lives of isolation.), specifically the woman's friends because males are worthless when it comes to helping friends out with pre-baby planning. We'll take one another out, but we're not buying someone else gifts. Therefore, it's vital you actually have friends, and I'm not talking about Facebook friends and Twitter friends who like to read about what you made for dinner last night. I'll add more about this in a future post, but especially if you don't have close family, you need friends! This may sound harsh, but if you don't have support during pregnancy, you're going to struggle to have it post-pregnancy. Stand on the street corner, hold signs up, and use social media to get yourself some baby showers!

Are there any presents for Dad?

    Now, while such baby parties are important, let's be honest, the men are not part of the party scene except for finding a spot to put all the new "baby stuff" in the house. For our first child, I think Faith probably had 4 or 5 baby showers between work, friends, and family in two different states. Not only did that mean that we were set with what everyone gave us, but it also meant 4-5 excuses Faith had to go spend hours with friends and family. If you have no other children, that's your time to go golf, go to a game, or do something that your wife won't do with you. However, if you have children, here's the reality: the man will be at home watching the kids. Now, don't treat me like I'm an insensitive and unappreciative Dad of the time I get with my children. Of course it's special, fun, and challenging at the same time. However, could I say to my wife 4-5 times within the span of a couple of months, "Hunny, I'm going to be gone 4-5 hours hanging out with "my boys" four times over the next few weeks. I'm here to tell you, that's not going to fly, and my wife is about as gracious and giving as they come!

 Men are like this, waiting for our wives to
get home from the "baby shower."

     So, do I like the idea of baby showers? Sure, they save the future parents tons of time and money.
However, do I think we need to call them what they are and change the name to "Mom & Baby Shower"? Absolutely! There's no shame in that, but much like "wedding showers" or shall we say "bride showers" the "MAN" is not part of the equation. I know this sounds like I'm full of self pity and sensitive emotions, but really, if instead of women going to all the baby showers it was men, I'm pretty confident there would be some issues with the time the man spends away from his wife while he's spending time with his friends.  However, will I encourage my wife to go to any baby showers for her if any come around this fourth time? YES!

Man Advice:
One reason women have so many baby/wedding showers is that their friends and family plan them for them. Men, we must bond together and make plans for one another! Call it a baby shower, and you should be good to go.