Um I went to one where at the end of the shower the MIL brought around a piggy bank/college fund and asked everyone for spare change or money from their purse.
I would have died if that was my baby shower. Nope. How do people find this acceptable.
Sadly, if you google "spare change baby shower game," several sites pop up with that suggestion, including one blog where the mom talks about turning it into a game where individuals win by giving the most.
I will say that the only frustrating thing about the book deal is that I ended up with three and four copies each of a few different books that were all written in, so there was no chance to exchange them for something else. Oh well.
My sister's only request was that I not do the book thing for her shower for this reason - she didn't want six inscribed copies of "Guess How Much I Love You?" I was more than happy to go along with it, and my gift to her was a crate with about 30 books in it.
Post by spankswife on Sept 23, 2014 14:37:28 GMT -5
I see book OR diaper raffle. You can find books for under $5, and you can buy a small pack of diapers for under $10. I'm hosting a baby shower with a diaper raffle, and will have a $25 nail salon gc, so it's a fair trade (enough for a pedi or gel mani).
I will say that the only frustrating thing about the book deal is that I ended up with three and four copies each of a few different books that were all written in, so there was no chance to exchange them for something else. Oh well.
Ah, so that's how the "in lieu of a card" part works (idea)
When I've been specifically asked to bring a book, it is almost always just thrown into a communal pile (well, "wishing well") (which is fine to me usually, but makes me sad when I think I have made a particularly good selection).
I have a shower this weekend that requested a book in addition to the gift. The gift was already bought, wrapped, and sitting in my living room, so no book.
Huh? The book doesn't need to be wrapped with the gift.
No, I meant that the gift buying was done, card signed, and I was over it. I bought the gift(s) well before the invitations were sent because the grandmother to be emailed family and friends with registry links months ago.
This is one of my favorites! And, yes, not much more than a nice card. There are plenty of board books under $5. It's the picture books that get pricey.
I had books in lieu of cards at my shower -- it was my aunt's idea -- and I loved getting a stockpile of books and still enjoy reading the notes. (Just the other day, E read the note that my sister wrote in her book and got a kick out of how I had read that book to my sister when she was little.) I requested them when I planned my sister's shower (and I've been asked to give books at other showers as well); I didn't realize that others might find it annoying.
I do think asking for both books and diapers (which ARE expensive) is overkill, so I would probably skip the diapers. As a mom, I'd actually be annoyed to get a bunch of random packages of diapers.
Um I went to one where at the end of the shower the MIL brought around a piggy bank/college fund and asked everyone for spare change or money from their purse.
Post by game blouses on Sept 23, 2014 14:59:09 GMT -5
I didn't bring diapers to a raffle one time and I got shamed in front of the whole shower by the grandma-to-be. "I guess everyone but GAME BLOUSES can play! Hope you don't get too jealous!"
I've also seen the equivalent at bridal showers, where you bring a kitchen utensil to enter a raffle. My poor friend ended up with like 40 spatulas.
Every shower I've been to lately, work or otherwise has had the "Bring X in lieu of a card" line in the invite, except for the one I planned myself. The last work shower I was invited asked for "$2-$4 per person in lieu of a card, which will go towards the purchase of a gift card to the registry store". that idea I was okay with, but still, no. I buy my cards at the dollar store, lol.
For my friend and my sister, instead of making everyone bring a book, we all made an alphabet one together. Everyone picked a letter (or 2) and drew a corresponding picture, and wrote a note on the back. Then I put them all together in a photo album like this (not mine):
It annoys me to no end when showers have a lot of homework. TJ Maxx/Marshalls usually has a decent selection of board books for ~$4, FWIW. I would "forget" my pack of diapers unless it was a BFF.
(My MIL and SILs did the book thing for my shower. We have a million random books and some of them are TERRIBLE and clearly re-gifted. Like 15% are actually worthwhile.)
Is your kid a literary critic or something?!?! LOL, my kid will look at ANY book, she doesn't care as long as she can beat the book to hell with page bending, spine breaking, removing cover fury.
Um I went to one where at the end of the shower the MIL brought around a piggy bank/college fund and asked everyone for spare change or money from their purse.
I would have died if that was my baby shower. Nope. How do people find this acceptable.
The last statement is said quite often between my mom,sister and me in regards to this part of the family.
My aunt wanted to die and was so embarrassed for the people our side invited.
It annoys me to no end when showers have a lot of homework. TJ Maxx/Marshalls usually has a decent selection of board books for ~$4, FWIW. I would "forget" my pack of diapers unless it was a BFF.
(My MIL and SILs did the book thing for my shower. We have a million random books and some of them are TERRIBLE and clearly re-gifted. Like 15% are actually worthwhile.)
Is your kid a literary critic or something?!?! LOL, my kid will look at ANY book, she doesn't care as long as she can beat the book to hell with page bending, spine breaking, removing cover fury.
No.
But there were a lot of biblical ones (which, we are Christian, that did not offend me) that had, like, half a story. "God told Noah to build a ark. He rounded up animals. The end!" or "Joseph had a fancy coat. His brothers threw him in a pit. (skip over everything in the middle) He moved to Egypt and worked for Pharaoh. (skip the next part) The end!"
Post by Miss Phryne Fisher on Sept 23, 2014 15:39:53 GMT -5
The reason I don't like the book in lieu of card thing is because I never buy a card. I don't like them and find them a waste of money (yes, I know I am a spoilsport). I prefer to spend a little extra money on the actual gift. So I never bring a book unless I planned to already.
Post by sailorgray on Sept 23, 2014 15:41:44 GMT -5
Eh, you can get Little Golden Books for the same price as a card. The Dollar Store also has cute books. My Goodwill always has kids' books in brand new condition for $.49. I love books and would love to get one with a message over a card.
I've never heard of the raffle thing. I think it sounds kind of fun.
I went to one just like this on Sunday. I never do the diaper thing, so I didn't bring a pack. I was super annoyed at the book thing. A "cheap" childrens book is 8.99 at Target. I can get a card for $1. So my $40 gift ended up being close to $60 once I got a gift bag and tissue paper. I think it is rude to expect others to stock your babies library. If you want books, register for them.
this is reading like you're upset with the MTB. Unless she was planning her shower, she isn't the one stocking her library.
I was the first of my close friend's to have a baby and they did this for my shower. I was so worried that people would think I was asking for books- which is not the case. And in all honesty, my family members and older ladies LOVED this idea.
Not saying it's a good or bad idea, but 95% of the time, it's also not the Mom's idea.
For my friend and my sister, instead of making everyone bring a book, we all made an alphabet one together. Everyone picked a letter (or 2) and drew a corresponding picture, and wrote a note on the back. Then I put them all together in a photo album like this (not mine):
A little pinterest-y but I like.
we decorated onsies at a shower I attended (with markers made for this) but the hostess provided the onsies (of different sizes so the mother-to-be had some variety)
For my friend and my sister, instead of making everyone bring a book, we all made an alphabet one together. Everyone picked a letter (or 2) and drew a corresponding picture, and wrote a note on the back. Then I put them all together in a photo album like this (not mine):
A little pinterest-y but I like.
we decorated onsies at a shower I attended (with markers made for this) but the hostess provided the onsies (of different sizes so the mother-to-be had some variety)
The only downside was when my friend's MIL INSISTED on taking the letter Z and then misspelled zucchini
We had the "bring a book" shower for my baby shower. It wasn't my idea! I swear! I had never heard of it and my friend (the host) asked if it was alright and I was all "okay!" Then she brought me "I Love You Forever" to the shower and stood up in front of all of the guests and read it to me. llllol
I did love the book thing. I used all of those books! Some people even brought me a bunch of books from their kids to pass on. Some wrote special notes in the book, I found that very touching and sweet. One was Brown Bear and my friend wrote that it was her son's and it was his favorite from when he was little. It turned out to be David's favorite and I still have that book and her note, it's one of the few things I've held onto. Anyway, the book thing was really useful and I really did use the books.
The only downside was when my friend's MIL INSISTED on taking the letter Z and then misspelled zucchini
yikes.
I do an alphabet themed question of the day with a picture and the sentence frame underneath Do you like ___? Zucchini is one that I have the name written on the back of the picture for me to copy. I was tired of looking it up every year. Also, octopuses. I was tired of looking up if it was octopi or octopuses.
I got one of the book in lieu of card requests recently. First time I had seen that. It was on a little paper separate from the invite. The shower invite had printed on there "No boxed gifts" which is code for "$$ only."
The mom-to-be also did not register anywhere. She was also team green, likely to avoid getting a mountain of all pink or all blue baby clothes and blankets from the clearance rack at the Baby Depot.
Honestly I usually wind up giving a gift card even when there is a registry. Team green wouldn't bother me, but the combination of all the factors loaded on this invite made me feel exhausted.
I regifted a Macys gift card I had in my drawer. I also regifted one of those baby journals as my book. I am usually very anti-regifting, but I don't know why I felt compelled to do it after all the strings attached to this invite.
We asked people bring a book "to help build baby's library" if they wanted to, since wishing wells at showers are common in our area/circle. I love books, so those were honestly since of my favorite gifts, and I now include a book in every baby shower gift I give.