So we hear that the latest trend now in the USA and London is grandmas-to-be having baby showers, to celebrate their new step-up in life. After discussing with some Asian mums and grandmas-to-be, the majority reacted negatively to this idea. Mothers-to-be questioned why anyone would want to steal their thunder. As for me, I found myself wondering why the majority perceived it as a selfish move.
Every excuse to celebrate!
I repeatedly asked myself how I would respond to this if I had a choice. I’m often high on life and search for reasons to celebrate with loved ones. To give a simple example, my daughter graduates this year and I’ve already planned with my girlies to pop a bottle of champagne at our children’s graduation. Why not, right? We mums worked equally hard and deserve this celebration.
It would go without saying then that I definitely like the new trend mentioned earlier. After all, it’s not so much about grabbing the attention from mums-to-be but celebrating the stature of becoming a grandma. What’s so wrong about sharing this exhilarated feeling with the people who matter the most in your life?
Haven’t grandmas-to-be ever had a baby shower before?
Personally, I haven’t had one because I had a paranoid mum who felt that pre-celebration would bring bad luck to my pregnancy. For those who have had their share of baby showers, you can’t possibly argue with this now, can you? It’s a “grand” feeling indeed for grandmas-to-be — your child is bringing another life into this world. It really is a reason to celebrate — even by having a baby shower!
Of course, a tiny detail to consider is to not overdo the celebration. Keeping it low-key should prevent other people from considering it a ridiculous idea. A mother would never intend to steal her child’s thunder under any given circumstances — she’d only want to celebrate the great news of her pregnancy with her.
More about showers for grandmas-to-be on the next page...
A daughter versus daughter-in-law’s response
This will probably always differ! A daughter may be convinced that baby showers for grandmas-to-be aren’t a big deal, even though it may sound silly in her head. It’s a little tricky with a daughter-in-law though. Her prenatal emotions may bring about a defensive mechanism that forces her to believe that such affairs are only meant to make her miserable by shifting the attention of pregnancy towards her mum-in-law.
Thus, it’s important to let the mummy-to-be know why a separate baby shower is being done. It would also be good to come up with a guideline of do’s and don’ts.
A trend here to stay so why not give simple gifts along with a smile!
Gifts can be nice, but grandma-to-be baby showers are mostly about celebrating joyful moments together. Simple gifts could include picture frames, baby storybooks and even a keepsake for grandparents. Another great gift would be wool and needles so grandmas-to-be could lovingly knit some socks and mittens for the family’s new bundle of joy.
Ultimately, when it comes to this ‘issue’, it’s all about understanding the comfort level and emotions of an individual. Often, we jump the gun and refuse to accept the changes of life. The more I think about it, the more I understand where these grandmas-to-be who have baby showers are coming from — it’s more about celebrating an addition to the family, and sharing this feeling with your own girlfriends. There can’t possibly be an age restriction to this, right? After all, it’s what most, if not all, of us do — celebrate and share our joy with others.
