Job Discussion Forums

danielita · Joined: 06 Mar 2006 Posts: 281 Location: SLP

HELP!! I have to go to a baby shower tomorrow and I have no idea how they work here. Do you buy a gift for the baby? For the mother? Both? What is appropriate to bring? The baby is about 3 months old (a girl) and I am very close with the family--the baby would be like my sister's granddaughter to me. I was thinking about bringing a cute little outfit for the baby and some chocolates for mom.
Is there anything else I should know? Do they play those annoying shower games like they do up north??

Thanks to all who chime in on this one!!

D

MELEE · Posted: Fri May 18, 2007 4:55 pm Post subject:

Is it a shower or a Baptism?
In my area, they do rather gringoized showers, before the baby is born. They play some games, but like to invite us gringas because we know more games. They eat cake and play loud music as the locals are always looking for excuses to do both. Baptisms usually happen around 3 months of age.

In either case--a shower or a baptism, bring a baby gift. She will probably get lots of clothes and inapproprate toys, I suggest an educational age-appropriate toy (if you have time to find such a thing!), you might have to go to Salina Cruz to one of the big shops.

(edited to fix the typos I made when rushing to post this 5 minutes before class starts)

samizinha · Joined: 12 May 2005 Posts: 174 Location: Vacalandia

When I went to my first baby shower, I went to Costco and bought an enormous package of diapers, which seemed to be really appreciated. That might seem a little impersonal now that the baby is born though...
I prefer the shower that usually comes before the baby... the Mexican bridal shower! In my case, they hired two women to put it on- with an MC, music, and games... it was so good that I thought I would like to introduce the idea to Canada! I just can't imagine Canadian grannies dressed up in cheap costumes, shakin' it to De Reversa Mami like they do here...

danielita · Joined: 06 Mar 2006 Posts: 281 Location: SLP

Thanks for the advice. I am not sure what educational games exist in my neck of the woods, but I will see what I can find. I normally don't look too closely at any of the baby stores, so this will definitely be an adventure. I sure hope they don't look to me for shower games. Back home avoided going to showers like the plague. But seeing as I have never been to a shower in Mexico, I can't say whether I don't enjoy them here or not. I will let you know how it goes.

Samantha · Joined: 25 Oct 2003 Posts: 2038 Location: Mexican Riviera

Oh have fun! I am dodging a Mexican cousin's baby shower as we speak! It's tonight. As Melee says, they are quite typical of showers you and I have avoided at home! And I really do the same here...avoid them with the best excuse I can come up with. I will present a gift when the baby is born, since Suegra babysits for this cousin. But the times I haven't been able to avoid, the gifts have been mostly clothes. Disposable diapers are a great idea because they are so expensive here.

danielita · Joined: 06 Mar 2006 Posts: 281 Location: SLP

WELL....I survived. It actually wasn't as traumatic as I expected. Lots of really dumb shower games, the gift opening and some food. If it weren't for the 38C weather and the Spanish, it could have been a shower back home. I couldn't find any educational toys, so I went with clothes and a really cool toy/teething ring/stuffed animal get up. Overall, it turned out OK. I think in the future I will go about avoiding baby showers and the good news is that no one back home knows that I went, so I can continue to avoid them there!

samizinha · Joined: 12 May 2005 Posts: 174 Location: Vacalandia

Too bad for you guys! The one I went to included tequila, gossip, and teaching the father-to-be how to change a diaper- we used one of those plastic baby dolls that can, um, go...