My social calender has started off with a bang.
I am going to not one, but two BABY showers.
Neither of these baby showers are for any future grandchildren of mine--
So I am vaguely computing if this is an age appropriate thing for me to be spending my time and money on.
One of the babies, to be sure, will be a baby over whom I intend to hover and spoil...that is until the advent of grandchildren of my own--
(For which I am in no hurry. The dogs and cats of my grown children are totally all that is necessary at this point.)
This baby, Lilly Isabelle, will be a grandchild once removed, in that she is the actual grandchild of a former...er...male companion, who has segued into good friend. So that I even get the best part of grandparenting--giving gifts and spoiling to death, with no babysitting, even, involved. When the baby grows rambunctious, I will just hand her back to her grandfather--
The other baby, Zoe, (at last count), is the baby of a friend who, tired of waiting for the perfect man, has gone on to do this without benefit of a husband...at least for now. She is glowing. She has no shred of doubt. There is only triumph and huge anticipation.
So, it being just after Christmas, I am off to buy more gifts, baby gifts. Both mothers having registered at various baby places, presumably to make my shopping easier...in fact shopping that can be done right here in front of my laptop. That does put a crimp in my style. As of course I have my opinion about what a baby gift looks like. Like first editions of Winnie the Pooh, for instance. Baby clothes from Lisbon, Portugal, which, as we all know, are the creme de la creme of infant wear. Maybe a silver spoon or two?
Wait--or is it, given the times, no spoons at all, encouraging the return to the eating with our hands, (which babies prefer anyway), thereby saving money and energy spent on the washing, thereof, of utensils.
At least the color is not an issue. PINK. Unless one of them wants a tomboy, in which case pink should defer to cranberry. Gone are the days of the vagueness of yellow and pale green, androgynous nurseries, jammies and stuffed animals.
Unless there has already been a backlash of knowing the sex of one's child beforehand. So not wishing to be pushy on such matters of taste, nor willing to draw the conclusion, for instance, that little Savannah will just naturally prefer Shirley Temple dolls as opposed to gun toting androids, androgyny IS IN, and totally big in the baby gift giving sphere today.
I see that I am totally out of step with this segment of the population--
So, obviously I must do the appropriate thing, which is to defer to the new mothers' wishes. I will go to BabyBarn.com or wherever they have directed, click a few times, and voila, present will be bought and sent, gift wrapped, with no fuss or muss.
And I will save the fun of creative gift giving until these baby girls are sixteen and looking for trouble.