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  • AutorenbildThe Mutti

The Baby Shower


If a pregnant (Latin American) woman would say that she is not looking forward to being celebrated in a baby shower, that definitely would be total bulls..t! Because, apart from tracking the baby's growth, going to the sonography appointments to see the baby and "preparing" the nest, the baby shower is definitely one of the most exiting moments of the pregnancy. I always wished to have one. But since I live in Germany and far away from family and friends, I had lost almost all hopes about having my family and friends throwing one for me. On the one hand because the idea of a Baby Shower or a "Babyparty" (how Germans call it) was to that time not very widespread and popular. And on the other, because the idea of the Baby Shower is friends actually taking over the initiative and all costs for the entire organization and presents so that the mom-to-be is the actual big invitee. At least, that is the way it works in Colombia although I have also witnessed a couple of baby showers where the mom-to-be was the party organizer.


So, I was very surprised when my school friends Kity and Maria, who live in other parts of Germany, called me to announce that they and Zulema, another friend from Barranquilla living in Berlin, would like to organize a baby shower for me and that they would take care of everything, the Colombian way. That was so sweet! But, as fate has partly socialized me in Germany and I am a very... ahem... picky person regarding decoration and love to be creative, I offered them to be in charge of the party decoration.

Preparing the party

I'm still very impressed that we managed to prepare that party from three points in Germany: the Berlin-Cologne-Munich-triangle. Since Kity and Maria were in the other cities, they took care of inviting and managing the party guests while Zulema and I planned what would be offered and who would provide it. It was a very good team work that worked well till the end.


It should be a Moustache Party, since we were expecting a boy. There was the time when I was lucky to find and love Pinterest to get some nice ideas. Zulema and I met several times to look and buy all materials for the decoration and to cut and paste most of the moustache-related items. Even my husband was introduced to the concept and helped me create the cupcake toppers. But I have to say that looking for some materials was really difficult.


Germans are not much into big party decoration. For them, having a nice party decoration is not very important or parties are not a very big deal like in Latin America at all. Therefore getting some stuff proved to be impossible and I was diying for turquoise chevron paper pattern which I only got for paper napkins and wrapping paper. We had to get really creative to find solutions and the outcome was pretty fine! Moreover, Zulema ordered a custom decorated cake, which is also quite seldom for German standards since they opt for baking their own ones. But our cake should match the decoration, right?!


Regarding the party guests, we (I) were very happy that all people Kity and Maria invited were willing to attend - and then I was very nervous about having so many people in my tiny living room but it also worked out! We opted for doing it in my apartment since it would spare us some stress, like tranporting stuff. The whole event organisation also reminded us once again, how well we chose our partners for life: Kity's and Maria's husbands as well as mine didn't hesitate to take a DriveNow car to pick up the cake and beverages but also to bake and pack the moustache biscuits we offered as party favors and even sew a pillow in form of a moustache for one of the party games. Aren't they cool? Or are we just too bossy :)?

The party

It took place on May 2, one day after my birthday. I got up very early and started preparing some canapés. Zulema came along and did my hair. The guys picked everything up and Maria, Kity and I set up the decoration. Even though it was a little bit stressful, I had great fun, above all, since I was really enjoying every minute with my dear friends.


When everyone arrived we counted twenty baby fans! First, one of the girls made a speech and then we toasted. The games followed: calculating the lenght of my belly with toilet paper, timbo tambo (a game where the participants pass on an object, here a moustache pillow, and the one who has it when I stop singing timbo-tambo, has to leave the game), and a game where the participants had to draw something (baby related) and my husband and I had to guess what it was.


Finally, my friends presented the gifts to us: baby bottles and related items, a baby bouncer, a nappy cake with little baby items, clothes and little toys. Most of them were joint presents and some of them individual but all of them where those we wished for.


There was music and food and wine and I had time to catch up a little with all my friends. At the end we were all exhausted (my husband was freaking out about the fact that I was standing since eight in the morning) but happy. The next day we had only very nice memories and very tired feet!





The virtual baby shower

To my suprise, I didn't have only one but two baby showers! One day, when chatting with my mom, she told me that my aunts, cousins and some friends of the family wanted to throw a baby shower for a us as well, even if it was virtual but they didn't want to miss the opportunity to have the attention with me and welcome the baby their way despite the distance. And she told me as well, that she would take my role and therefore she only knew that it would be on May 21th at eleven o clock in the evening German time!


I was very exited and was very much looking forward to it but I also have to say that it was very strange getting dressed up and wearing make up at that late hour, and especially keeping my husband awake since he had to say hello to the bunch of ladies at the other side of the world.


It was hilarious. They gathered in a nice restaurant with enough room for so many women, placed a laptop connected to Skype and a bigger screen and spent about two hours making games about baby poop, gave me serious and not so serious advice about maternity, ate and drank in front of me, all with the lead of my crazy Colombian neighbor, famous for hosting events in the most entertaining way. But the funniest and sweetest part of the evening was when my mom had to wear a dress with incorporated baby bump since she was representing me. She was so happy to do that and I was completely in aw.


Finally, she got to open the presents which where also very Colombian style: the name of the baby embroidered in a picture frame, a nursing pillow with the embroidered name of the baby, his first silver cutlery, a picture frame with his name, all almost all in baby blue, and money for us to buy whatever we still needed. My mum (and dad and my brother) would bring it all when the baby was born.


I had a great time despite the late hour but most importantly , it was so good to feel so much love and see how thoughtful they were. Thank you all!




Some final thoughts


For my second pregnancy four years later, things had changed. Unfortunately for me, my dear friend Kity moved to New Zealand. Many of the girls who were at the baby shower had moved away from Berlin. With some of them, we had lost track of each other. As you may know, sometimes motherhood isolates you and it becomes difficult to meet friends. On the other hand, there might be the impression that expecting mothers already have what they need. So this time around, there was no second baby shower live in Berlin. And I guess it’s ok even though I have to admit that I would have loved organizing a party just for the sake of gathering and seeing my people before the parenting craziness increased by one.


However, as for my Colombian family and friends, it didn’t go unnoticed and again, they celebrated a virtual baby shower with different presents, in a different place and with a jungle Theme. And thanks God, this time it was a brunch, so that I went to sleep on a decent time.


I'm still very much grateful for those precious moments, for all the love and attention, for making me feel so special at the end of my pregnancy and for all the effort of putting those parties together even though we all live in different places. To Maria, Kity, Zulema, my aunts, cousins, mom, and friends, thank you so much for all the love! I will always be in aw for this!


Aaaaand! There is no doubt that this kind of events full of love can become very fruitful. One of the organizers of the baby shower in Berlin is a mother of two lovely boys, the first one made during that big fat baby shower/birthday weekend. And the other remote organizer is meanwhile married to the same guy who helped to pack the cookies as favors and they became parents one year and a half ago!


On a last note, meanwhile, Germans seem to become more open to the idea of baby showers and there are some online stores or even small businesses who provide decoration for the party. Also, stores like Depot also has baby shower decor permanently on stock. If you are planning to throw one, there is hope!


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