 Fun Co-worker Baby Shower
By Katrina Andrusyshyn
I’ve been to several baby showers, been thrown a couple, and they were fun. But after having children of my own I decided that my good friend and co-worker should have something just a little different.
Many people who set up baby showers have children, and remember all too well when they select gifts, that there are things you cannot buy, like wisdom and time ... that should also be shared.
So I decided we would give a little something extra to our girlfriend, Sherry. With her family, myself and other coworkers, plus four of our common friends, there were 19 of us for the shower.
The first thing I did was to set up a meeting. Those who could not come in person had to call or use messenger to make contact, so we all agreed on the plan and knew what everyone was doing. Sherry was over seven months along when we threw her shower, so she and her family had already bought some of the big stuff, like the crib and a big stroller, car seat for an infant and a few books. We got a list of what they already had from her husband.
I made a list of essentials for a new mother and made copies for everyone for the meeting. Then we passed around a copy for each person to sign up for the gift type they wanted to get. That way we would not end up with fifty bottles and no diapers.
I put forth my plans for the shower and we all agreed, with a few small changes. Somebody suggested we should have the shower in the salon and day spa where her sister worked, on a Monday when it was normally closed. Because some of us had to work, we decided to set it up for an evening.
This meant we had to have food too, so we decided on a fun time by starting with baby food pudding. The rest was mostly finger food we bought at a store which carries a lot of custom types ready to eat or heat. Dishes like a caterer might deliver.
We also decided on sparkling cider and some other interesting fruity, non-alcoholic drinks. The only thing we made was the peanut butter and pickle ice cream. It was really good.
After second meeting a week later with just some of us to report how things were going, we were set.
Sherry thought that we were going to the spa for just a little treatment and a foot massage, which she did of course get. But she knew nothing about the shower until the food arrived, with all our friends and the gifts.
The stereo was already playing in the background and we turned it up a little. Sherry had a facemask on and was wrapped in towels resting on the massage table getting her feet massaged. She had nearly fallen asleep, so everybody snuck in quietly, setting up the food and the table full of presents in the solarium. This was an indoor garden where clients relax while timing masks or treatments, or just reading while waiting. Several things we made sure she got as presents:
- Two baby food mills, one electric for home and one hand crank portable
- An umbrella stroller
- A baby backpack that converts to a seat
- A portable fold-up baby bed/bath
- A really nice set of bubble bath and bath milk products for an escape while baby sleeps
- A night light baby room monitor
- Nice but inexpensive digital camera for grab shots (several of us pooled money for this)
In addition to these, each of us gave Sherry a coupon for a service of her choice: come clean my kitchen, babysit, walk the dog, go to the store or whatever else she needs at whatever time she needs it. Among us there will always be at least one of us who is available.
We passed around the tray of yummy baby desserts: pudding, apple and peaches, and we had fun feeding each other with tiny little plastic spoons.
We set up three games to play:
- Mock the name:
- We have typed and cut out a whole bunch of names.
- Everyone draws two.
- We write on the back the absolute worst nickname we can think of for each name we draw.
- Then we put them all back in.
- Sherry draws them one at a time and reads them aloud.
- Each time, she gives the slip to the gal who drew it first.
- Then the first one who had both her slips drawn won a baby rose plant. Sherry read all the names and the last one got the booby prize: one of those pacifier necklaces that were so popular some years back.
- The winner and the booby prize winter both had the responsibility of researching any name the lucky parents were considering. This was lots of fun and laughter. There are some names Sherry will absolutely veto.
- Identify the baby food: (Two of us did not play, because we knew too much.
- We prepared small samples of baby food ahead of time, six different vegetables in little chocolate cups
- Participants were blindfolded before they were allowed to taste the yummy veggies.
- The person to name the most won a dinner for two, prepared by the one who guessed the least.
- A tiebreaker used baby fruit, and participants were not only blindfolded, but also had clothespins on their noses.
- Diaper the baby. We borrowed dolls from our friends with kids and everyone got a plain square diaper. The idea was to see who could diaper the baby the fastest using only the non-dominant hand. The players were allowed to use the dominant elbows. First one finished won, but the diaper had to stay on if we held the doll up by its torso. This can also be done in teams of two, which is even more fun.
After the games, we settled down to dinner, wine and a movie, right there in the spa away from the world. We all knew it would not be long when Sherry would get away only when she had a sitter. We made her promise that she and her hubby would each give the other one day away per month to go and do whatever they wanted until their youngest child reached 14. We gave them beautifully designed engraved cards to exchange and keep in their wallets. It was a great co-worker baby shower.
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