I was invited to a baby shower/potluck yesterday and I didn't know the woman who was giving it nor did I know the mother who is having a baby. You may wonder why I went. It’s because I’ve finally decided to get involved in a prolife group in Portland, OR. It was the first time I’d taken part in any of their work and I blame my desire to join in, on Abby Johnson who wrote a book called “Unplanned.” It’s an amazing read. She was a big deal in Planned Parenthood who flipped and went over to the prolife side of the fence.
I’m not a political person, but in my opinion this issue isn’t political. My reason for being prolife is very simple. When my mom was pregnant with me, if she had chosen to have an abortion, I wouldn’t be here, typing this blog. Because I’m a big chicken and I don’t like confrontation, you'll never see me with some weird hat on, or holding a sign outside of anything! I don’t protest, and don’t ever plan to. (In fact if you are pro-choice, any negative response to this blog will be deleted and ignored.) I’d rather help on the other side of protest. I went to this baby shower as my first fun step, to meet the people behind Oregon Right to Life.
Besides a gift for the baby, I was asked to bring a salad of some kind. I made a potato salad and served it in a brand new potty-chair. (I found a really cute one at Walmart.) Thinking about it cracks me up! My gift was currency of various denominations I crunched up into a disposable new-born diaper along with the rest of the unused diapers. I put a sign on the diaper with the money in it that said, “Caution!! This diaper is loaded!
It kind of looks like the underlying theme of my participation at the shower was poop! Maybe subconsciously we moms know that a lot to being a mom has to do with poop. It’s not funny, it just is. With my poop theme, I took a chance I might gross some women out, but they were all lighthearted about it and we all had a good laugh.My good friend LouAnn Edwards told me that many of the wonderful people in the prolife movement in Portland could use a good laugh and I was happy to supply a few for them.
The woman who is having the baby (actually she’s having twins) was very gracious and I could tell she knew she's not alone. I've learned that the programs sponsored by these prolifers help with everything. I was excited to join in to celebrate life and help let this mother know she's being helped by people who don't even know her personally. For the first time in my life I supported a person who obviously had a hard choice to make, and made the right one.
Since I titled this blog Fun Baby Shower Ideas, here are a few I came up with in my throwing-baby-shower-days that were really fun.
When I threw a baby shower for my daughter Joanna, I said in the invitation, “Please wear a maternity outfit and dress in some stage of pregnancy so Joey won’t feel so big.” I bought and wore a maternity dress that I gave Joanna after the party (we’re the same size). (This photo is not from that shower, it's from a 70s birthday party for my son when he turned 40.) Back to the shower, it was a blast to see every woman pregnant including my mom. And it was fun to “pretend” to be pregnant as it brought back memories for all of us. 
A fun game is to fill a bunch of 4 oz. baby bottles with water, make big holes in the nipples and have a race to the finish. This makes great video! Seeing a bunch of adults sucking on baby bottles is really funny.
If you are going to attend a baby shower and the mother-to-be has other children, consider giving a small gift to them. If you are a first child, you know how the attention gets put on the new baby. It'd be nice to get something when Mom brings home a bunch of stuff for the baby. My book Lettuce Bee Silly would be a perfect gift to take for that purpose. Just click on the cover.
Love,
