A mother knows the time in a pregnancy for baby showers. Luckily, the baby might be number two and perhaps another girl. Meaning, you’ve already had a shower and will get more things than you need and may never use most of them again anyway.

A shower for subsequent children seems like we’re begging people to come to our party and give us more gifts. There is a mom-philosophy that each child deserves to be celebrated but really, we can do without the gifts. One could use baby showers as an excuse to be with friends again and hangout in before infant insanity begins.

But baby showers are weird. There are reports of women who hated them so much they had two of them for a first baby. Friends from hometown could through one, and so could friends in the city. Both could be great occasions and different, lacking in most of the nonsense that seems to come along with showers.

A mum reports she once attended a baby shower where the expectant mother had attached a bow from each gift to a plate and where the hat was for the rest of the occasion. But even when those are weird, don’t start on bachelorette parties. Wearing a veil made out of little plastic penises fixed to it all night is not the scene for many.

Think of a dream baby registry, even though it would be hard to pull off, would be on Craigslist. Get used goods only, not stuff you’ll outgrow in a few months. What I like and will miss most about NYC is the abundance on Craigslist.

You could ask for gift certificates from Home Depot for a wedding, and then show people the gifts everyone gave you; For instance Uncle Atticus might have gave you the metal primer and Aunt Sue, the wall screws. Could be romantic.

Another mum reports that they made new friends and got to go to their baby shower recently. People were actually drinking and dancing! They also opened their gifts in front of everyone, everyone oohing and aahing over ‘a little yellow duck’, overenthusiastically clapping at the cute little socks.

For another, the best gift for her first daughter‘s many baby showers were the books.

She says that whenever she read “Curious George” compilation to her daughter and then see the note from her friends, she thinks they did a good thing not revealing the baby’s identity. Books are timeless, even if they’ll end up stained and ripped.

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