Parenting Advice

Baby Shower Ideas
Contributing Writer - Tracy Bobbitt, founder of Crib Rock Couture

A woman entering the world of motherhood wants a memorable baby shower. An expectant mother of two or three will settle for whatever works but appreciates a fresh spin on the day's events. The one shower theme that easily meets both these requirements is the mother of all baby bashes - The Mother Goose baby shower.

Even fashionable celebrity parents know that what's old is new again when it comes to the Mother Goose classics as proven by Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise choice of mother goose nursery décor for baby Suri and the Jolie-Pitt and Pinkett-Smith families dressing their tykes in vintage nursery rhyme character concert tees.

Start by choosing specific characters for the invitation. Think "Jack & Jill" for a couples shower, or place the spotlight on the baby-to-be with a "Rock-a-bye baby" design concept. Rather focus on the baby's gender? Throw a "Sugar & Spice" or "Snips n' Snails," party - also apt for same sex twins. While disciples of Martha may prefer constructing invitations by hand, painstakingly cutting out moon and cow shapes weeks in advance, the rest of the population can easily purchase from a great selection of Mother Goose invites online.

Decorate the party space with cut-out designs of popular characters like Little Miss Muffet, Humpty Dumpty, Jack Horner and Baa Baa Black Sheep which are all readily available at school supply stores, book and card shops. For the gift table centerpiece, make or purchase a diaper cake embellished with nursery rhyme décor and arrange stuffed barnyard animals like cows and sheep nearby. Balloon bouquets are a colorful finishing touch.

If you're a stickler for unity, a Mother Goose menu extends the rhyme theme. Try basics like: Humpty Dumpty deviled Eggs; Three Blind Mice Cheese & Cracker Platter; This Little Piggy loves Roast Beef Sandwiches; This little Piggy is in a blanket; Peter Peter's pumpkin pies; Little Boy Blue's Berry Muffins; and of course, Hot Cross Buns, Pat-A-Cakes, Queen of Hearts Fruit Tarts and Georgie Porgies pudding & pie for dessert. Create artful labels to place in front of the platters to further illustrate the nursery rhyme connection.

No shower is complete without music, games and activities. A must for the DJ list is Boffomedia's "Mother Goose Rocks" series of CDs and DVD's. A combination of rhymes, lullabies and finger play songs, the performers' version of U2 singing "Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes," is inspirational. Look for cameos by Oprah, President Bush and the Pope in this brilliant DVD video. If rock n' rhyme isn't your speed, there are a multitude of more traditional Mother Goose melodies available on Amazon.com and at Barnes and Noble.

Mother Goose showers are suited to games like charades and fill-in-the-blank games. The shower hostess can type up or purchase game sheets with incomplete rhymes which guests compete to complete correctly. Another game, much more difficult than it appears, is to see who can list the most nursery rhyme titles. For the kids in attendance, instead of pin the tail on the donkey, try tape the tail on Bo Peep's sheep or find Bo Peeps sheep, from hiding places throughout the party area. The children in attendance can also take turns reading rhymes to the baby-to-be from the classic version of Mother Goose - an activity begging for video cameras.

As the shower comes to a close, great party favors need not be pricey. The Mother Goose Rocks CDs are a great gift for adult parents. And you can send Mother Goose home with younger guests by passing out crayon bundles and (free) downloadable nursery rhyme coloring pages from www.first-schools.ws and www.niteowl.org/kids.

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