Letter From A Reader: What Should Go In A Baby Shower Video?

I’m a secret Mommyish reader and I was wondering if I could get the Mommyish reader/commenters (Mommyishers?) suggestions on something.  I say secret because I don’t have kids.  I’m no where near kids.  I took a pregnancy test the other day even though there was basically only a .2% chance I was pregnant just because I was freaking out and felt particularly bloated- but I digress. I’m a secret Mommyish reader because I really find the articles amusing and my best friend is pregnant. So I obsessively read Mommyish articles in case she ever mentions something and I can say WAIT I READ AN ARTICLE ON THAT!

That’s where the opinions/advice come in. So like I said, my best friend is pregnant.  She is one of the four girls I grew up with from childhood.  We all went to the same middle/high school (and some of us went to the same preschool) and have been best friends through college and beyond.  We are all 24 now living in different cities, staying in touch via text groups and Skype dates.  My friend got married this past year and is the pregnant one. She is the first of us four to be married and/or pregnant.

We are obsessed with this baby.

I can’t stress that enough. I think it’s my friend’s burden to bear being the first one pregnant and all, but regardless the three of us really want to be the best ‘Aunts’ possible to this little pickle.

So anyway, one of us ladies is a really talented human and wants to put together a little “Welcome to the World, Baby!” video from us for the baby. We want to fill it with stories of our friendship and how each of us will contribute to the baby’s life.

I was wondering if the Mommyish Universe had any suggestions/opinions/advice as to what to put in this video.  Like, are there specific things people close in your life do to enrich your kids lives? What would you want your friends to tell your kids/baby? What would you NOT want your friends to tell your kid/baby? (I think I’ll hold off on telling the baby the first time we were caught drinking or how she ACTUALLY met her husband). What would or do you want your friends to do for your kids/baby that they don’t already do, or do do? Really just any good, solid advice to a new human being on earth would be welcomed.  I just want to make this video a set up to us being a big part of this kids’ life.

Can you ask Mommyish readers and writers for their advice?

 

Eve: Man I love reader questions! And this one is so sweet because you say you guys are obsessed with the baby and I can totally tell you are obsessed with the baby. I think the video idea is so cute and because I know my fellow writers and the Mommyish community will have amazing ideas, I will drop in my two cents and think the video should start with sort of a time-capsule of all of you guys, introducing yourselves, and talking about the world that we live in now. Then have each of you go into specific advice and stories. So you could find out what the top songs are, movies are, what news is big in the world and all that good stuff as a sort of introduction to life in 2014. Can you imagine how cool it would be if any of us had something like that from our mom’s friends right before we were born? I also think it would be cute if each woman filmed their section at a place that had meaning to them, like if the mom and the specific friend love a certain restaurant or shop or something. Also! Sneakily have the dad add a message to because I think that would for sure make mom-to-be cry like crazy, and include any messages you can from her mom and grandma and any other older relatives. I love this idea so much. I want to see this video!

 

Theresa: I have to say, when I first saw the title without reading the questions I was like, “aw, lame!” and then I read the question and my heart split into like a billion smiley faces because you and your friends are adorable and the expectant mom and her as-yet unborn “pickle” are lucky as balls because you guys are so great. All I got from my friends was baby bath from China with a “possible lead” warning. Anyway, back to the vidya. First of  all, you have to tailor when you think the baby will actually end up seeing this. As a little kid? A grade schooler? A teenager? Of course you want it to be timeless but keep it age appropriate as well. One thing that I think is kinda cool is if you went around and tried to get people’s opinion on what they thought the child was going to be like later, when they grow up. What they’ll look like, find interesting, etc. Or, you could split into a number of videos per age and present each one on a different birthday. So make one for a five-year-old, a ten-year-old, etc., and then you can let the kid in on some of the juicier bits later on, if mom is comfy with that. Anyway, good luck, and thanks for having the first idea for a video that didn’t make me want to spork my eyes out!

 

Bethany: This is a surprisingly cute idea, especially since if I’m being honest, I could never muster up the enthusiasm to be excited about anyone else’s babies until I had my own. Now that I have kids, I’m all creepy about babies and try to hold strangers’ babies, but that’s besides the point. I’m no super awesome videographer, but I do think that it would be fun to capture this moment in time for the baby to watch later in life. Perhaps spend some time with mom and dad in their day-to-day activity so that they can also remember what life was like when they were young and pregnant. I also definitely recommend using old baby pictures of mom and dad somewhere in the footage. Good luck!

 

Maria: This is the sweetest thing, ever. I say tell a bunch of anecdotes about the parents. I think if I were looking back at something like this as I got older, I would be thrilled to hear stories about what my parents were like before they had me. Also, maybe you could each give your own individual message to the baby – that would be really cool to look back on. I think you should just go with your gut on this – you are obviously amazing friends.

So what do you think, readers? Give this amazing friend some ideas.