I used to be queen of the baby shower.
That was in the day when your skills involved folding nappies and holding a zillion clothes pegs in one hand. I'm also pretty skilled at guessing the number of smarties in a bottle, baby shaped or otherwise.
But all things have changed. There is no longer any prowess in folding the cloth nappies into growing piles, hanging them on the line at break neck speed or even guessing lollies or anything else in a bottle.
I was recently invited to a baby shower and I consulted my daughter-in-law for help with baby shower protocol, particularly in the gift department. I was immediately bamboozled with the wonder of modern motherhood.
First of all, there was a baby shower gift registry and it was the interpretation of the registry that caused the phone call of consternation in the first place. I was looking at the sleeping bag option of gift. There are sleeping bags with hands in or hands out. According to my family expert, hands out is the way to go, but even better is to buy the bag that gives you the option. Gee, I just sewed a couple of pieces of flanalette together when my children were babies and they slept quite soundly, thank you very much.
She also advised me that a must-have purchase for baby is this feeding wrap, a piece of cotton material involving a bit of wire around the top which creates a nice little protective haven for both baby and mother when out feeding in public.
Again, the days of throwing a cloth nappy over your shoulder, plonking yourself down on a chair in the middle of the shopping centre and hoping no one minded the odd scream or gurgle are gone. I mean, no one is happier than me that the modern mother has the luxury of a parking space and a baby change room. I really wouldn't wish new mothers the joy of changing baby on your knee and schlepping from the far corner of the car park with one in a sling, one hand held and two in a side-by-side stroller (that didn't fit tan average sized door).
But all of a sudden something so simple and so basic has become complicated. Oh well, it’s a complex world our newcomer is being born into. He may as well start figuring this out with a hands in/out optional sleeping bag.