Recently, I went to a baby shower for a very special lady in Seal Beach. I have to admit, it has been ages since I attended a baby shower. A lot has changed in a few years. Back in the old days showers were at someone’s house and that someone being close to the expectant mom. In this case it was at a restaurant, one with an ocean view. I can’t complain, for it was the most beautiful shower I had ever attended.
The whole experience made me reminisce about my own kids, who are now grown teens. Having a baby is a big thing. There are women out there that ask a zillion questions to their doctors, to their mothers, and to their best friends. For myself, I went a step further than that. It wasn’t enough to listen to testimonies and expert advice—I needed to know more than that, so I found a book called “What to Expect When You Are Expecting.” Every time I had a question, I could look it up in the index and I usually got a decent answer. It helped in those late nights when I wasn’t sure of stuff and couldn’t just call anyone.
Some moms indulge in talking to their babies before they are born. I certainly did and yet others rock themselves and sing to their unborn child. I find it endearing, for the bond of mother and baby is a precious thing that just can’t start too soon.
At the baby shower I realized women go crazy over anything baby, and the conversation is like walking down memory lane—pretty cool. The best part was the games, I have to admit. It united us somehow. One of the games was called the Alphabet game. It was about naming all the baby items. I did pretty good I thought with 11, and then I found other tables got 15. My daughter started laughing when she saw that. I was guessing perhaps she thought a mom should know better. Moms should know that O is for “ointment.”
Yeah, right—I recall the name brand! Moms-to-be get all this gadget stuff that we didn’t get 16 years ago. They have Spa Baby baths and monitors that look like something out of a “Star Trek” film, and even ergonomically fitting chairs with different table covers. Babies have it good—what fun it would be to be a baby now!
Another difference I saw in this baby shower versus back then was the prizes. We used to have silly prizes like a baby bottle or a rattle, yet the ones I saw at this one were nice, like spa stuff and things like that. It made me think of Bunco night, but better.
One of the games played back then was the blindfolded mommy-to-be who had to change her baby doll. This tradition was not at this event, and thankfully it wasn’t. Moms-to-be need all the help they can get, but that is one thing that comes in time. It doesn’t matter how many times you change a doll, it just isn’t the same until you have your own.
The afternoon was filled with fun and music. A complete CD of songs was given to all who attended. My personal favorite song was by Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World.” It’s a song of joy and cheer, and one that easily defines love. That fits in perfectly with the near future scene of my cousin’s wife giving birth to their first child. May they live and love in the days and years to come.
Enea Ostrich is a longtime resident of Seal Beach’s College Park East neighborhood.
