Actually, I’m not that greedy. Almost, but not really. Allow me to explain.
When I was growing up, we visited my grandma and grandpa in Cincinnati on a regular basis. We also had regular holidays with my mom’s brothers’ families, and as a result, we were pretty close with my cousins even though they all lived an hour away. Mom saw to it that the effort was made to keep the family close. On Christmas Day, all of them came to our house and we opened presents and played all day. On New Year’s Eve, we went to my grandma’s house. Fourth of July was at my Uncle Gerald’s. Summer cookouts were held at my Uncle Lawrence’s. You get the idea.
Mom also was a shutterbug, so she was always taking pictures of any festivities. A few weeks later, when the pictures were developed, you’d get your stack of reprints in the mail.
This methodology allowed me to feel somewhat close to my nieces and nephew as they grew up. Being in college a thousand miles away in Florida, I still went home to Ohio for Christmas and stuff, but missed being there in person for a lot of the birthdays and first communions of the next generation. These days, social media has alleviated a lot of that for those who wish to make the commitment. I can stay in touch with relatives pretty easily, and my nieces and nephews are a constant supply of entertaining posts.
So at the time of Savvy’s arrival, social media and email had allowed many of my relatives to feel close to the situation, and to help let them stay that way, we wanted to have a shower there.
Computers are nice, but there’s nothing like actually seeing people in person.
The Ohio shower went off without a hitch, and we made out like bandits! We got a GREAT “pack n play” which used to called a play pen when I was a kid, but I’ll admit, I hadn’t stayed on top of the changes in baby terminology since my childhood. That thing was the type of gift that you assume you need and should probably get, but having people who have “been there and done that” pick out a really good one and give it to you, that makes all the difference.
That was just one of many great gifts we got at the Ohio shower. Great idea, whoever thought of it.
And while having a new baby on the way means you get a lot of gifts at baby showers, the arrival of the new baby means that very soon you won’t get a good night’s sleep for several months.
If you’re lucky, it will only be several months.
We WERE lucky, and it still damn near killed me.
Come back tomorrow for the next installment of Savvy Stories chapter 3
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