little black journal

Yesterday was the baby shower for our dear friends, N and J.  Shane gave me a suspicious look when I told him that it was a co-ed baby shower and that all the other husbands would be going, since he was under the impression that any party that ends in the word “shower” typically is intended for women.  But I assured him that he wouldn’t be asked to do anything silly at the shower, and told him that our stellar chef-friends J and L would be preparing some of the food, and so he gladly agreed to come.  Now don’t get me wrong – we had a fantastic time – but my promise of “no silliness” hardly held true.  Shane did manage to skip out on the “guess that mystery baby food” game (I played, and decided that I will never subject my infant to horrors of strained peas), but no one was going to let him escape the “chug apple juice from a low flow bottle as fast as you can” game.  Much, much trickier than it would seem…  And let me tell you, there is no funnier sight than a group of blind-folded men try to fumble their way through putting a diaper on a stuffed animal.  I was laughing to the point of tears as I watched Shane focus with extreme determination on getting that diaper on poor, contorted little Tigger.  I must admit, my husband had an unfair disadvantage in the race, since he was given the only stuffed animal with a tail, but he did his best and I trust that he will be a stellar diaper-changer when duty actually calls.

We have now become total believers in the Mom/Dad baby shower.  Not only does the presence of men make for some good laughs, but it also reinforces the fact that the woman isn’t the only one having the baby.  The father should be expected to be every bit as involved as the mother in the new child’s life.  One of the best gifts N and J received was a “Diaper Dude” – a diaper bag disguised as an ultra-cool canvas messenger bag.  For although my husband will be expected to change diapers, tote around bottles, and make sure the pacifier is handy, I won’t ask him to shoulder a bag with Winnie the Pooh and daisies all over it.