Shower me, baby!

I think I’ve been to more baby showers than any other sort of organized gathering. Yesterday I went to one for my friend T - she had two, actually, and this one was the friends-family-people she works with shower. (Don’t know what the other one was, think it was at work or something.)

I made my gift(s) - several Saturday afternoons when I should have been studying, I made afghans, hats, and a floppy blanket bunny. She registered at a baby gear store and everyone else (18 of us came) went there. Due to a screwup with the registry she now has four strollers in addition to the miles and miles and piles and boxes and bags of blue baby clothes - onesies, overalls, shorts, shirts, hats, socks…. When it came to my gift, she opened a plastic sweater box that I used for the container - everyone exclaimed over what a clever idea that was, but mom-in-law (who is totally cool) turned to me and said “that’s right, you lived there,” meaning the six months I spent living in one of their seven bedrooms after having my apartment burgled, meaning I know she needs airtight, bugproof, rodentproof storage. And then the different items were passed around and ooooooed over - “you made this? really?”

A lot of showers I’ve gone to in the past, afghans were a popular gift. Easy to make, especially for a baby as they’re smaller, and economical when yarn was less expensive. But at this one, people got practical or cute and keepsake-oriented gifts, like the handprint/footprint keepsake plaque kits; she got several for memorializing how tiny the little guy will be. Lots of clothes, lots of soft microfiber this n that, a huge basket of diapers in various sizes and wipes and lotions and potions, a couple of blankets covered with puppies and kitties. And there’s me and my yarn art. One lady said “I keep trying to knit and only get a few rows at a time.” Thing is, if she kept trying, a few rows at a time are all it takes.

I also met a massage therapist at the shower. How many people invite their masseuse to their baby shower? My friend has a habit of picking up friends from all walks of life - the house it was at was probably one of the million dollar domociles and the hostess casually mentioned her second house in…. Yeah. Not really a place I feel comfortable. But I took pictures, and laughed, and asked questions of everyone I sat next to, and some of them I’ve met before and others I didn’t know, and it was all good. But it’s probably the last shower I’ll attend for a while. Most of my friends are done with childbearing.