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Baby Shower Brat
  • momofeveryonemomofeveryone
    Posts: 1,800Member

    we registered for our baby and wedding showers. i did a wide range of price points bc i had some gf who were poor college students and some family whos doing really well. we noted in the baby registry that gift cards to go to our crib and mattress were great and daipers were always welcome. in our wedding registry we asked for gc to shutterfly to print out our wedding photos.

    when i shop i always check the registries and figur our the persons 'style'. and i look for stuff they might not have thought of. i have a standared baby shower gift for all new moms though : vaporizer, vics tabs, vics baby rub, j&j soothing bath, and a towel. for weddings, if i cant afford what you want, i give cash. but if i find somehting that screams you, i will go ahead and give it.

    we got the house!!!!! i have worked so hard for 5 years to get us in a spot to buy! isnt it cute?!?!?!?
  • sunnymommasunnymomma
    Posts: 2,258Member
    I got spoiled at my baby shower by DD's fathers family. Mine didnt show up. No gifts, cards nothing. Ive been to so many showers where they dont get anything off the reg it seems. Showers seem to be thrown so close to the due date now too. WTF you expect the 8-9 month pregnant mom to be to waddle out to the store and pick all this shit up, put it together, and pay for it with the money she didnt know shed have to save up for? i always stock the mom to be with diapers, wipes, and essentials off the registry. usually one cute outfit too! I just went to a shower and I was the only person out of like 50 to buy diapers????!!!!! Needless to say I bought her more after that. 
    I am me, and I am loved
  • BellaBefanaBellaBefana
    Posts: 8,722Member
    i got a lot, but not all that was on mine.  I actually got 2 pack n plays...or rather a gift card for one which I went and bought it, then some second cousins pitched in and bought another because I didn't have the heart to tell them I'd already gotten one.  I just took one back and exchanged it for other stuff I needed...these were cousins close to my dad and really shouldn't have bought me such an expensive gift.

    Anyway, what hurt worse was that very few people showed up for my shower...most of those invited were women I'd served on a charity board with for 5+ years and the woman who threw it for me was a past president of said board.

    That being said, I used my registry as more of a "guideline" for people, and I actually bought most of what I wanted myself.
    Bite me, cupcake!
  • pizmiz
    Posts: 1Member
    We bought most of the big things on our registry ourselves and most of my family and our friends purchased the rest of the things off it.  HOWEVER, my in-laws purchased a whole bunch of little stuff that wasn't on the registry....without asking about specific brands we would be using or if it was something that we thought would be useful.  It was fine and I thanked them anyways but when Christmas rolled around they deducted the money they spent on their shower presents from the money they gave us for Christmas.  So.....really.....we paid for the shower gifts that they gave us that were completely worthless, cheap, and useless.  I wish they would have just given us the money and let us use it to buy what we wanted with it.

    They did this at our wedding too.  As a wedding present they gave us a lump sum of money but deducted the cost for my SIL's bridesmaid dress, BIL's tux rental, DH's tux rental, rehearsal dinner, etc.  Who the hell does these things???! It's not like they are hurting for money!
  • PerfectlyImperfect
    Posts: 1Member
    I never got anything I registered for with the exception of furniture from my in laws, but it never really bothered me. What DID severely piss me off though was this:
    I had a friend who was having a baby in Dec 09. In November I threw her a HUGE surprise shower and made her a beautiful 7 tier diaper cake. It had over 300 diapers in it (multiple sizes), PLUS all kinds of bibs, onesies, socks, burp cloths, there was Aldo pacifiers and tylenol toys, teething rings diaper cream, bottles, shampoo, etc.. she and her husband had no family in the area and were having money issues so I went all out to be sure they at least had basic stuff when baby arrived. Well boy am I glad I spent $200 on that thing.

    Fast forward to July 31st 2010. The day of my shower. She shows up at my shower an hour late, with 3 of her neighbours children in tow wearing the shortest shorts and lowest cut shirt I have ever seen.. carrying what you might ask?

    The diaper cake I made for her! She gave me some story about being late because she was up all night working on the cake.

    I have the.pictures if anyone cares to have them emailed to them.. but my husband Ans I compared the cake she brought to the pictures of the one I made her.. and it is exactly the same cake.. with all the little extras missing. She even took the letter stickers off the crown on top and replaced them with my daughter's name. (We both had girls, so there was no need to change the colors)

    Now if she had no use for the diaper cake that is fine with me. Just say so. Or re-gift it to someone else. But re-gifting it back to me? And passing it off as her own? That was sooo wrong!
  • Racheire
    Posts: 3Member
    When DH and I got married, it was a very small ceremony. We only got a little bit of money from my father and from my In-laws. DH was still in school and I had just graduated and I moved overseas (DH is irish) shortly after we were married. No friends from either side got us so much as a card! That was fine and I wasn't bothered by it since our wedding was so small. We are now expecting our first baby and I can forsee the same happening again to us...baby showers are more of an "American thing" and even though I have done one or two for girls here I don't know if I will get one or if we will even get anything for baby! We are just anticipating that we will need to buy everything ourselves and have started saving! (even though DH just graduated and I'm the only one working!)
  • BellaBefanaBellaBefana
    Posts: 8,722Member
    @PerfectlyImperfect:  um, yeah, that would have pissed me off too!
    Bite me, cupcake!
  • SuburbanKenzoSuburbanKenzo
    Posts: 43Member
    On the lines of what some of the other women had said, I also feel some kind of way when I look at people's baby/wedding registries. Some of the items just make me go WTF are you thinking? o-+
    Which brings up those who do registries for a 2nd child. Now, I'm all about buying things for a newborn, stuff the parents will definitely need like diapers, wipes, butt cream, etc. Or, if there's a significant gap between children and you have nothing from your first or your items are out of date/recalled. But when you register like you NEVER HAD A BABY JUST 2 or 3 YRS AGO???? Come on already! How much abuse did all your baby stuff go through? Is your child that destructive? Are you???? I can see changing up nursery items like bedding if you're having a different gender child, but I don't think your newest addition is going to give a rats ass that the bedding is blue with monkeys, rather than pink with butterflies. I think some people are really just in it for the gifts and dummies obliged.
    One of my relatives just did this for their 2nd baby, and they basically registered for EVERYTHING all over again, except for the actual crib. Ridiculous. I got them 2 5pks of bibs, a 6pk of burp cloths, and 2 little toys for the new kid - all on the registry, b/c they're the type that would return things that weren't on the registry, even little items. Ok, I'm done     O:-)
    why give 100% when 35 will get you paid & laid? - Kenny Powers :-P
  • LoveLove
    Posts: 12,848Administrator, Moderator
    comes in and whispers ::I didn't know what a registry WAS until a few years ago!::

    We just always give/get bibs, onesies, diapers, cutesy clothes, baby toys, and smaller things like that!
    Larger items, like car seats, play pens, strollers, etc...if you're lucky, maybe a grandparent *might* get something like that...

    community-manager


  • OpheliaOphelia
    Posts: 3,748Member
    I went to a shower for a girl that had one of those powerwheels cars on it. Wtf is that all about?! Some people do go way overboard on their registry.
    Nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile.. -Grateful Dead<3
  • SuburbanKenzoSuburbanKenzo
    Posts: 43Member
    @Ophelia Powerwheels?? Yea, let's put the infant on that. Idiots
    why give 100% when 35 will get you paid & laid? - Kenny Powers :-P
  • beambeam
    Posts: 1,083Member
    What did I get? Nothing, not even a shower.

    Granted in France, these things are not done but one of my SILs is Guatemalan with loads of friends and relatives in USA and has thrown showers for friends here (and she was hoping I'd make her godmother - pfffffff!!).

    When the baby was born in August, we got a stuffed animal puppet and a balloon from one and a stuffed animal puppet from the other (very cute but nothing I needed a the moment). For xmas DD got quite a few toys (ouf!).
    "Magic things are fond of deceptions.” ― Tom Robbins
  • AutumnAutumn
    Posts: 898Member
    I created a registry, but it wasn't just for my baby shower.  I printed it out and checked things off as I received them, so I could remember what we had left to buy ourselves.  I didn't expect anyone to buy the expensive items, like carseat/stroller..  I didn't get much that was on my list anyway.  Apparently everyone thought they knew better than I did what I needed for my baby.  Looking back, I wish I had requested only diapers, wipes, and soaps.  Mostly we got onesies and socks, which barely got used because DS was so long with huge feet and couldn't wear certain brands.  I am grateful for the gifts we were given!  I just felt bad that we couldn't use some of it.
  • wtfwit
    Posts: 220Member
    Newb said:


    wtfwit said:

    Oh!! But 1 thing that gets me about showers & bday parties, why would you even show up if your not taking a gift? I hate that!! My sil hs 4 girls and at xmas we get to mil house and she isnt there. She says ohhhh! ya she isnt coming.. she doesnt have any $$ so she didnt wna come..... SOOOO Y THE FUCK DIDNT ANYONE TELL US THIS HMMM A MONTH AGO ATLEAST?? I have no problem buying my nieces but we bought for them 2 piece of shits too. So the minute we get home n kids and hub are laying down, I check her fb... her and him have brand new throwback greenbay packer jerseys they bought ea other.. sad.. just sad.... to this day evtime i see her she says she has to get us xmas presents lmfao really??? she has already missed 5 of her niece n nephew bday parties.


    Sorry, I completely disagree with this.  First of all, if gifts are a requirement to attend a party or shower, then state it on the invitation.  Secondly, it is nobody's business what a person spends their own money on.  It's sad that your SIL felt she had to have a gift/money to attend a family holiday function and didn't attend because she didn't want to be the odd one out.  And, unless you were there when they bought their jerseys or have access to their finances, you have no idea if they actually purchased them.  Maybe they were a gift from another friend or family member but they were too ashamed to admit that. 


    Sorry, I don't mean to be an asshole, but I really hate how people are more focused on gifts and less focused on celebrating with their loved ones.  Of course you want to bring a gift to a wedding or baby shower, but is that really the most important thing about those events? 


    Well I was always taught if it's xmas bday parties or other "gifting" parties you bring something. Doesn't have to be expensive, as long as you bring something for the litlle ones to open. I could care less about me and what I get if anything. If it's just a family get together to eat and chit chat I understand just showing up with the kiddos, maybe just offer to bring something. And yes she stated her and her hubby bought them for each other. But those are my beliefs, you have yours. :)


  • just_care
    Posts: 22Member
    It aggravates me that people don't buy from the registry, or at least get a gift card. When I was pregnant, people kept asking for the nursery theme. I would tell them that I didn't have a theme, because I didn't, and tell them where I registered. I found that friends were the only people to buy from the registry. Family bought me whatever, mainly clothes. I didn't find out the sex of the baby so I didn't register for clothes. When I go to showers and the mother knows the baby's sex, they get a ton of clothes and little to nothing of the items they need. I have found that older people have a problem with registries, they don't see the point. My mother told me that I would use what was given to me. That was a stupid statement to make because I have clothes that never were used.
    Returning items to stores is easier said than done. Babies R Us and Target in my area will not even allow for an exchange without a receipt. And now gift receipts expire :( I didn't get to stores until DD was nearly 3 months old so I got stuck with stuff I didn't need or want. I always buy from the registry or a gift card. I don't want to cause another person such aggravation.
  • regpregp
    Posts: 1,045Member
    Newb said:

    wtfwit said:

    Oh!! But 1 thing that gets me about showers & bday parties, why would you even show up if your not taking a gift? I hate that!! My sil hs 4 girls and at xmas we get to mil house and she isnt there. She says ohhhh! ya she isnt coming.. she doesnt have any $$ so she didnt wna come..... SOOOO Y THE FUCK DIDNT ANYONE TELL US THIS HMMM A MONTH AGO ATLEAST?? I have no problem buying my nieces but we bought for them 2 piece of shits too. So the minute we get home n kids and hub are laying down, I check her fb... her and him have brand new throwback greenbay packer jerseys they bought ea other.. sad.. just sad.... to this day evtime i see her she says she has to get us xmas presents lmfao really??? she has already missed 5 of her niece n nephew bday parties.



    Sorry, I completely disagree with this.  First of all, if gifts are a requirement to attend a party or shower, then state it on the invitation.  Secondly, it is nobody's business what a person spends their own money on.  It's sad that your SIL felt she had to have a gift/money to attend a family holiday function and didn't attend because she didn't want to be the odd one out.  And, unless you were there when they bought their jerseys or have access to their finances, you have no idea if they actually purchased them.  Maybe they were a gift from another friend or family member but they were too ashamed to admit that. 

    Sorry, I don't mean to be an asshole, but I really hate how people are more focused on gifts and less focused on celebrating with their loved ones.  Of course you want to bring a gift to a wedding or baby shower, but is that really the most important thing about those events? 



    I am glad I'm not the only one that thought that was sad. I would rather my children's birthday parties be full of kids having a good time and a few or no gifts then having a party where only a few show up because they can afford a gift.
    I feel the same way about baby showers. Let's celebrate that a baby is on the way, have some cake and visit a bit. If you bring me something, awesome. If I don't like it, it doesn't fit, etc. then it's getting donated to the battered women's shelter's thrift store but I still love ya.

    I'm on the Internet Explorer!
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