Long-distance baby shower

My cousin is expecting, and lives ~1500 miles away from the rest of the
family. Has anyone had or given a long-distance baby shower, and how
did that work?
--
Cheryl S.
Mom to Julie, 3, and Jaden, 8 months

Cheryl S. wrote:
My cousin is expecting, and lives ~1500 miles away from the rest of the
family. Has anyone had or given a long-distance baby shower, and how
did that work?

I was gifted with a long distance baby shower. One person co-ordinated
everyone else. Each person found out how long it would take for her
parcel to arrive at my house. Then they sent them out so they would
arrive all on the same day. It worked very well, with only one or two
gifts arriving late.
It was a fabulous surprise to have them all show up!

~Daednu

"Daednu" wrote in message
...
Cheryl S. wrote:
My cousin is expecting, and lives ~1500 miles away from the rest of the
family. Has anyone had or given a long-distance baby shower, and how
did that work?

I was gifted with a long distance baby shower. One person co-ordinated
everyone else. Each person found out how long it would take for her
parcel to arrive at my house. Then they sent them out so they would
arrive all on the same day. It worked very well, with only one or two
gifts arriving late.
It was a fabulous surprise to have them all show up!

~Daednu

One of my e-friends suggested possibly doing a baby shower via MSN or AIM,
especially if we could get the webcam enabled. Has anyone tried anything
like that?

Cheryl S. wrote:

My cousin is expecting, and lives ~1500 miles away from the rest of the
family. Has anyone had or given a long-distance baby shower, and how
did that work?

I haven't, but I can describe the scenario I thought
sounded best of the ones I've heard. Basically, someone
organizes a party where the people are (I assume with the
usual rules about who can host a shower, unless it's all
family). You do the usual sorts of things you would with a
shower, and videotape it. Try to do things that end up with
a product you can send to the mom-to-be. For instance, everyone
could write down a bit of advice about babies and put it in a
scrapbook, or make a quilt square that could be made into a
quilt, or decoupage a piece of furniture for the nursery, or
decorate onsies with fabric paint, or whatever. Instead of
unwrapping the presents, *wrap* them at the party. Then ship
the tape and the gifts and everything to the mom-to-be, maybe
even along with some treats to eat.

Best wishes,
Ericka

"Cheryl S." wrote in message
...
My cousin is expecting, and lives ~1500 miles away from the rest of the
family. Has anyone had or given a long-distance baby shower, and how
did that work?


My husband's family had a long distance shower a couple months ago for a
cousin who lives in Florida (we are in CT). She registered at Babies R Us,
and we all shipped our gifts down there. We gathered at a cousins house at
the appointed time and we all had nice snacks/drinks/cake like a regular
shower. A while after we all gathered, we called C. on the speakerphone and
all talked to her. She thanked everyone individually and then we hung up.
In all, I think we spent less than 30 minutes on the phone with her, and
then we finished eating and socializing and we all went home.

Personally, I thought the whole thing was silly from a shower point of view
because she had opened all the gifts as they arrived via UPS, and we never
did hear what other things she received (though ahead of time her MIL had
told us all that she would be buying C any things she had registered for and
did not receive). We only briefly talked to her (Okay, it was the first
time I had EVER talked to her...I've never met her before).

I thought that it would have been better if we had been able to have had a
webcam set up and see her open the gifts, and maybe have her mom and sister
there with her at her house in Florida (they live in the same town as her).
It was nice for us to get to see the rest of DH's family that we don't see
too often...for some reason they never get together unless there is a
'reason'.

Tracey in CT

--
Cheryl S.
Mom to Julie, 3, and Jaden, 8 months

I had a virtual shower -- thrown by a whole group of my internet friends,
when we brought Taylor home. They didn't tell me about it, and there was no
party, but over the course of a month, I got 1-4 presents in the mail every
day. All of a sudden, they just started to arrive -- the UPS guy and I had
a pretty close relationship by the end of it! I was so surprised and
touched, and it was really great to literally be showered by my friends in
this way. They also specified that I was not to write any thank you
cards -- instead, I was to spend that time with my baby. I thought that was
very sweet of them.

It's not the same as a long distance shower -- but it's that far off.
--

Jamie & Taylor
Earth Angel, 1/3/03

Check out Taylor Marlys -- www.MyFamily.com, User ID: Clarkguest1,
Password: Guest
Become a member for free - go to Add Member to set up your own User ID and
Password

Check out our Adoption Page at http://home.earthlink.net/~jamielee6


"Cheryl S." wrote in message
...
My cousin is expecting, and lives ~1500 miles away from the rest of the
family. Has anyone had or given a long-distance baby shower, and how
did that work?
--
Cheryl S.
Mom to Julie, 3, and Jaden, 8 months

My mom told me that one of my highschool friends from church is hosting a
shower for me. I live in the UK and my hometown is in NY. Basically when
my mom told me, I let her know I registered at BabysRUS (online) and she let
the hostess know. I *think* my mom will be the proxy and open the gifts in
lieu of me and then send them over.

I was really touched that someone remembered me and wanted to throw me a
shower even though I am an ocean away.

--
M~Elizabeth

To thine own self be true

My cousin is expecting, and lives ~1500 miles away from the rest of the
family. Has anyone had or given a long-distance baby shower, and how
did that work?

There are a few online places who host online showers, too.

~Carol Ann
Mom to Morgan born 3.24.04
http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeBNnDdizZNneg ---Pictures!

Ericka Kammerer wrote in message ...
Cheryl S. wrote:

My cousin is expecting, and lives ~1500 miles away from the rest of the
family. Has anyone had or given a long-distance baby shower, and how
did that work?

I haven't, but I can describe the scenario I thought
sounded best of the ones I've heard. Basically, someone
organizes a party where the people are (I assume with the
usual rules about who can host a shower, unless it's all
family). You do the usual sorts of things you would with a
shower, and videotape it. Try to do things that end up with
a product you can send to the mom-to-be. For instance, everyone
could write down a bit of advice about babies and put it in a
scrapbook, or make a quilt square that could be made into a
quilt, or decoupage a piece of furniture for the nursery, or
decorate onsies with fabric paint, or whatever. Instead of
unwrapping the presents, *wrap* them at the party. Then ship
the tape and the gifts and everything to the mom-to-be, maybe
even along with some treats to eat.

Best wishes,
Ericka

My MIL did this "for us" the last time around. I really hope she
doesn't this time. A little twist though, in my case...my DH and I
knew few of the guests...they were all friends of my MIL, so it was
more of a "look, I'm going to be a grandma party." My MIL has very
different taste than we do...and many gifts reflected this (even
though we had registered at Babies R Us and Carter's), so I now have
things I'd love to get rid of (like a large hideous faux handpainted
keepsake box with an image of the ugliest baby I've ever seen) but
can't because it came from one of my MIL'S friend who supposedly spent
a fortune on it, and my MIL asks to see it every time she visits (it's
in a closet).

I realize I may sound ungrateful...but I really had a hard time
writing thank you notes to people I'd never met. The whole thing
seemed very strange to me. And it wasn't like I didn't have other
friends throwing me a shower where I live. A couple of them threw one
at their house for about a dozen or so guests...and that seemed about
right to me (my family lives all over...so there wasn't any family
shower...those who wanted to send something did so).

OK...so that was really unhelpful, I know...I needed to vent about
something...life has been nuts lately (including the fact that I
nearly hopped on a plane last Wednesday to attend a funeral
overseas...but all flights were booked).

Just wanted to say that my long-distance shower was like what Ericka
described...which is a really sweet idea. My MIL taped the shower, and
asked the guests to record messages for the parents to be. If your
cousin has a video camera, she could tape herself opening the presents
and send that back for everyone to watch at another family gathering.
Good luck...and have fun.

AML

aml wrote:


I realize I may sound ungrateful...but I really had a hard time
writing thank you notes to people I'd never met. The whole thing
seemed very strange to me. And it wasn't like I didn't have other
friends throwing me a shower where I live. A couple of them threw one
at their house for about a dozen or so guests...and that seemed about
right to me (my family lives all over...so there wasn't any family
shower...those who wanted to send something did so).

I hear what you're saying, but I really think that
these showers mean a *lot* to the grandmas-to-be. I don't
really think it's unreasonable. It's nice when the grandma
consults the mom about what sorts of things would be
welcome, but I think you have to keep the focus on the
camaraderie and how lovely it is to have this sort of
support for the grandmother. One way to get around the
odd things is to suggest that the gifts be *for* the
grandma, to get her ready for visits from baby and that
sort of thing (assuming grandma is not the one throwing
the shower).
When the thank you notes are challenging to write,
the Standard Format is your friend ;-)

Best wishes,
Ericka