Office Baby Showers

[pandorica]

Is it common to have an office baby shower for a coworker whose wife is pregnant? One of my coworker's wives is pregnant with their first, and now I'm thinking that we should have a baby shower for him/them for the office? I don't know proper etiquette for this.

I'm going to their baby shower for friends (most work for the same company, but at a different office), but now I'm worried that the office will drop the ball on an expected office shower and they will be disappointed.

What does your office do?

[Yankees21]

We don't have any men at my office, but my H's coworkers did have a office shower for him (lunch/cake and gifts). It was really nice because he's a consultant so it wasn't even his employer that did it.

[grayskies]

Yes, we've done them before. Also, my husbands work had a baby shower for us as well.

[candreco]

My office has done baby showers or baby shower happy hours for new dads, but since stuff like that is organized by the person's immediate work group, there's no standard. They've generally been lower key, no games or anything.

More often, it's just a congrats card signed by everyone with a GC from the office as a whole, no party.

[revolution]

For my first, DH's company had a shower for him and invited me. We certainly didn't expect it, but it was so nice. Simple - food, cake, a company logo'd onsie and a card with money they collected. People just came in for a few minutes grabbed some food and said hi. Most sat with us and talked for a while. No games or anything formal.

I don't think it's expected from the dad-to-be's company, but it is certainly a nice gesture.

[VeryViolet]

We do them for dads at my office. We usually try and invite the wife too though that doesn't always happen.

[ZoeHart]

We don't at my office. But we had 8 women in our department pregnant this year so that was more than enough showers, maybe if we were smaller or not all getting knocked up st the same time wevwould.

[NothingWrongwithOhio]

When I was pregnant, H's coworkers got him a card and a gift certificate, no party. They may have gone to lunch, but they went to lunch all the time, so if it was special it didn't get picked up on my radar.

[nannersp]

My H's office didn't throw him a shower, but they did send us a huge gift bundle of Aden + Anais products after our 2nd gal arrived.

[popple]

It's common here as well.

[Deleted]

We do showers for people we like, male or female.

You don't get a shower automatically if you're female.

People have to like you.  LOL.

[grumbledore]

We've done it here, but it's always super low key.  

[daisybuchannan]

My old school used to do them for male faculty (first kids).

My H's work threw him a surprise one. He was the boss, so I feel like there was a fair bit of sucking up, lol.

[lime]

None of my jobs have normally done showers for husbands.

[wambam]

If my work husband's wife were pregnant, I might throw a shower for her. But it would be super low key and probably involve beer for CW.

[thedude]

Aug 27, 2014 11:32:07 GMT -5 @misoangry said:

We do showers for people we like, male or female.

You don't get a shower automatically if you're female.

People have to like you.  LOL.

I'm equally jealous and sad about this, lol. I hate participating in showers and parties for people who seriously suck, but I also feel bad that some quiet girl in the last row would be overlooked bc she doesn't have enough friends.

[delawarejen]

We had one for a guy who was remarried and his new wife was pregnant. This was his third kid by the way. She was a registry peeker too, when he unwrapped the gifts he mentioned that his wife had been wondering who had bought her those items.

(Of course, we're the office who had a wedding shower for a man who had already eloped. So you know, we really like cake and stuff.)

[badtzmaru22]

The only dude in my department has older kids, but we would throw a shower for anyone. We like to party. Plus, cake.

DH's coworkers threw a shower for him for #1, and got him a diaper cake and chipped in on a gift card for #2. They also like cake.  ETA: Actual cake. 

[Waffles]

We don't in my office. Or at least in my department. Our office is mostly men though - small percentage is women. And my department usually doesn't do anything together at all anyway.

[bbonanza]

Aug 27, 2014 11:02:20 GMT -5 luckydog said:

My H's work threw him one. It was a surprise and they had me come and surprise him too.

Eta, he works with a bunch of women in marketing.

This is what they did for DH for DD1.  One of his coworkers made a really cute cake, it was something she did on the side.  I went into labor the next morning, lol, two weeks early. 

[demelza]

My H had a really nice shower at a restaurant on lunch hour. There was cake and decorations & it was awesome! His office was really generous.

[Deleted]

Dh's work just chipped in for a giftcard for us with ds. Not sure if we will recieve anything at current work for this one. Although he mentioned they had a shower for coworker who's pregnant a couple weeks ago

[jodinia]

We throw them for both expecting mothers and fathers

[miniroller]

Aug 27, 2014 11:32:07 GMT -5 @misoangry said:

We do showers for people we like, male or female.

You don't get a shower automatically if you're female.

People have to like you.  LOL.

Sorry I'm late on this, but I'm betting LOU didn't get a baby shower...?
Heh.

[Deleted]

Aug 27, 2014 16:45:39 GMT -5 miniroller said:

Aug 27, 2014 11:32:07 GMT -5 @misoangry said:

We do showers for people we like, male or female.

You don't get a shower automatically if you're female.

People have to like you.  LOL.

Sorry I'm late on this, but I'm betting LOU didn't get a baby shower...?
Heh.

She doesn't have children.

[CajunShrimp]

We did once for my boss and his wife.

They did not for my H, but he had only been there for 5 weeks when DS was born. They gave him 2 weeks paid paternity leave, and I was fine with that.

[Champagne Supernova]

Yes, we have to like the person to throw them a baby shower.

Same goes for birthdays. If no one can stand you because you're such an asshole, you will not get a card and cupcakes.

[meij]

Aug 27, 2014 14:32:39 GMT -5 @astrid said:

My H is an engineer who works with other socially awkward people. They do not acknowledge reproduction except with congratulations upon returning after birth.

Same here. We did get a nice gift card from his company after baby was born and his company also gives new dads a week off after birth, paid, that doesn't come out of PTO. We laughed that the engineering company was way more generous than the daycare I worked at. I didn't even get a card and was basically forced out of my job.