Global Health

People seem to love this game, because it’s based on what
many feel is the best game show of all time: The Price is Right!

Simply purchase a number of baby items, such as diapers,
baby food, a pacifier, or anything that can be found in an
ordinary neighborhood grocery store.  Then, have the guests
bid on how much they think everything cost.  Reward each
winning bidder with a prize; or offer them points, and then
total up the points at the end.  The winner of the overall
game can then win a prize.

This neat little game involves what most people love in life:
food!  Simply put a picture of a baby beneath one of the
plates that will be handed out to guests as they eat.    Don’t
tell anyone that the picture is there; just let them eat.
When the eating part of the event is coming to a close, tell
your guests to peek under their plate, and give the lucky
guest who has the picture a prize!

Baby showers are ideal places to play games.  They not only
help break the ice and get people laughing, but since baby
showers are about having fun: what’s more fun than a good
game?  It’s better than working, right!
There are several games that you can play, ranging from old
standards like charades, to more modern ideas like trivia
games.  A trip to your local toy store will fill you with several
ideas of what could work.
However, you may feel like creating a game that has a kind
of special baby shower feel to it; something that is
entertaining and mildly competitive, but ties into the fact
that it’s being played at a baby shower.

It doesn’t matter what kind of childhood we had, or how
often we found ourselves curled up reading that very first
book that made such a positive impression on our growing
imaginations. It could have been a Dr. Seuss book, or
perhaps something a bit later, such as your first Nancy Drew
Mystery.
Regardless, a literary theme baby shower calls for each
guest to bring (in addition to their gift) a special book from
their childhood; something that inspired them and, indeed,
continues to hold a fond place in their heart after all of these
years.
Though it’ll be a number of years before the baby learns to
read any of the books, they will serve as a wonderful library
that the child can grow into; especially since each book has
been chosen with such great care and affection.

Of additional value, having a literary theme is a fantastic ice
breaker.  It gives everyone a chance to share why the book
was so special to them.
Chances are, there will be a lot of nodding, and smiling, and
maybe even a few tears, too (the good kind, of course!).

Really: who wouldn’t like feeling like a celebrity every now
and then?  Imagine, having people around you bustling to
get your autograph, or to take a picture of you for those
glamour magazinesah, what a life.
The celebrity here, however, isn’t going to be you (sorry), or
even the mother-to-be.  It’s going to be her baby!  So this
theme calls for decorations that are worthy of a star -
perhaps even a big Hollywood sign out on the lawn, or in the
front hallway.
And the invitations, too, can be publicity releases instead of
traditional invitations, announcing the coming out of
Hollywood’s next rising star.
And, of course, don’t forget the cake!  Instead of a regular
cake, you can have one shaped like a star - like on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame!  All of these little elements help add humor and energy to the baby shower, and further
ensure that it’s a memorable experience for everyone,
especially the mother-to-be.

Do you remember playing tea party when you were a child?
You’d get together with your little friends, or perhaps your
stuffed animals (who were alive, of course), and together
you sat down and enjoyed a pleasant and lighthearted chat
over a cup of tea.
Back then, it’s possible that your tea was, well, of the
invisible variety.  After all, you weren’t allowed to have
boiling water in your pot; you might burn yourself!  Now,
however, you’re all grown up and can enjoy the visible
variety of tea (it tastes a little different).
To enjoy this theme, simply re-create that vision of when
you were young.  Invite all of your stuffed animals (who are
still alive, of course), and have them sit in chairs around the
area where the baby shower is being held (probably the
living room or perhaps a finished basement).
This theme is sure to bring back a lot of warm memories for
all of your guests; because most of us did play at tea a few
times.  To that end, you can invite each guest to bring a  stuffed animal who can attend the festivities (and they can
even leave the stuffed animal behind as a little bonus gift for
the baby!).

In case you haven’t been a baby shower lately, here’s some
useful information for you: themes are in!
This means that more and more people are opting to create
a certain style, or theme, of baby shower.  Do you
remember those high school dances that were built around a
theme?  Like oldies theme, or rock & roll theme, or
something else?  And the decorations and so forth all
reflected the chosen theme?  Well, that’s the same deal here
with thematic baby showers.
Now, the sky truly is the limit on what theme you’d like to
use.  Really: anything that you can imagine, provided that
it’s realistic and within your budget, is fine.
To create a theme, simply have the following items reflect
what you’ve chosen:

Some people are surprised to learn that many baby showers
happen after the baby has been born.  Actually, this is quite
common because, in addition to having the shower itself,
this timing affords guests the wonderful opportunity to
actually see the baby (and make all kinds of goo goo gaa
gaa noises that we all love to make!). Holding a post-birth shower may also work out better in light
of other factors noted above, such as climate, and
preferences of the parents-to-be.

As we all know, December is a season for parties and
events; both business, and personal.  As a result, it may be
polite to not hold the baby shower during “party season”, as
it may influence whether people would be able to attend (or
be able to relax when they attend, because they don’t have
three more “get togethers” to go to after the baby shower!).
Furthermore, if you live in a wintry climate, it may be a
pleasant idea to not have the baby shower in the dead of
winter.  True, life does go on in the middle of January and
people go to work and do many of the things that they want
to do (go shopping, go to restaurants, and so on), but if it
makes absolutely no difference to you and the mother-to-be (and/or the father-to-be) whether the baby shower is held in
late January or late April, then it may be advisable to choose
the latter; simply for climate concerns.

Let’s start with mother-to-be.  She may have a preference
about when the shower should be held; and this preference
should be heeded.  The father-to-be might also provide
input here, which is wonderful and should be part of the
overall decision-making process (we take a closer look at
“couples” baby-showers later on in this book).
What kinds of things might influence a mother-to-be’s
preference on when the shower should be held?  Some of them prefer to have the shower when they’re showing; they
may feel that there’s something more appropriate (for lack
of a better word) about holding a shower when people can
actually see that a baby is on the way.
In practical terms, this means that a shower might be held
well into the second trimester, or into the third.