Laura Falin
posted in Pregnancy
We here at Babycenter have obviously written a TON about throwing baby showers. Personally, I love going to them. I love helping a mama get ready for her new baby. And I have no problem with showers for the second, third, fourth (or more!) baby. Every baby deserves to be celebrated. And every baby should get some new clothes and toys they don’t have to share with their siblings (they’ll be getting enough hand-me-downs the rest of their childhood, trust me!).
But until now, I hadn’t heard of this newest trend: baby showers for grandma.
That’s right. Grandmas can now get their own baby shower before the birth of their first grandchild. Even Amy Roloff of Little People, Big World had a grandma shower to celebrate her two grandchildren.
I can’t decide how I feel about this. On the one hand, I love the idea of celebrating Grandma. It’s an exciting time for her, too. And let’s face it — as parents, it’s nice to go to grandparents’ houses and not have to lug all the things with us. My mother-in-law had her own Pack ‘n Play that she would set up when we visited, and it was so nice not to have to haul ours all the way to her house. The kids also look forward to new toys to play with and new books to read when they visit their grandparents.
I remember when I had my first baby — my mom’s first grandchild — someone at her work gave her a present. It was so sweet to know that they were excited and celebrating with her. I love that they acknowledged that this was special for more people than just me and my husband, and I could see a grandma shower with close friends being a fun time to mark the occasion of becoming a grandparent.
But there are people who worry that the trend of grandma showers might take attention away from the mom and baby. And how many celebrations do we need, anyway? Gender reveals, ultrasound parties, baby showers, birthing parties…at some point it does get a little overwhelming. I can see how people might get baby fatigue before the wildly celebrated baby even gets here.
Overall, I side with Grandma. I think if her own friends want to throw her a party in anticipation of her new grandchild, and help her get a few things together for when that baby visits her, it’s a sweet idea and exactly what friends are supposed to do for each other.
Images by iStock
What do you think of grandbaby showers?