Some of our friends want to give Kendra a shower. At first I was a bit confused and thought that it might be bad etiquette to have a “second” shower. What does Mrs. Manners have to say about this? Or is “Ms.” Manners the proper way to refer to her? It can get confusing.
For Campbell, our first, Kendra had a lovely shower and we received many much-needed (and some not-so-much-needed) gifts. As a guy, I’m still a bit befuddled by the practicality of silver rattles and cups, and crystal items for infants. However, we were very thankful for the shower. Now, five years later, not just one, but two showers are on tap. From what I’ve gleaned, it’s okay to have a second shower if the births of the children are around four or five years apart. Throw in a different sex for the second child and you’ve laid to rest any breaches of etiquette. So, last weekend we sallied forth over to Babies R Us to put our registry together. We made a big deal out of trying to include Campbell in the process and telling her how she was going to help us pick items for her little brother and scan them. How cool! Once we got there, it was a mix bag of feelings, from “been there done that” to “dang, we are SO unprepared for this.” The very nice lady that reviewed the process with us did not see Campbell on the floor engrossed in princess books. So she assumed this was our first child and went through her entire “new parents” spiel. We quietly nodded and smiled as she explained that we would be changing LOTS of diapers, we would probably need a stroller and a car seat, and we should start back in the furniture section to look at cribs and changing tables. We should also be sure to register for diapers because they are expensive and our friends might want to buy us some. I’m okay with having the second shower, but I am a little reluctant to have our friends buying diapers for us. Maybe I can get them to chip in for his college fund, too?
Armed with our scanner, we went forth to scan. Campbell was into it for about five minutes before it became boring and she began looking for toys, chairs and things she thought would be nice for her. As the scans began to rack up (and yes, we scanned some diapers), I was quickly being reminded of the realities of a baby and how much our life was about to change—feedings every few hours, mixing formula, cleaning bottles, emptying the Diaper Genie…it was all coming back to me. Up to this point, it had been a bit more of the general, “Oh, wow! We’re having another baby.” Leave it to Babies R Us to provide the first real reality check. Oh, well, it will all work out and our new little boy will be another adventure and bring us as much joy as Campbell has for her first five years. Looking forward to it. But I wonder if the “registry” lady at Babies R Us does any counseling on the side?
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