ADOPTED CHILDREN
Couples around the world have opened their hearts and homes to
children through the adoption process. Just as with a biological
baby, parents are just as eager to celebrate the life of their
newly adopted baby. In fact, a baby shower for an adopted baby
is ideal not only for the parent’s sake but it also begins the
process of bonding for the baby.
With this type of baby shower, timing is crucial. If you were
the host, you would need to work with the expectant parents to
organize the shower around the time the child would be arriving.
The parents may choose to wait a month or so after bringing the
child home, allowing him or her to become acclimated to this new
life. Therefore, always be respectful of the parent’s wish.
Another thing to consider with an adopted baby shower
is that because the mother is not or has not been pregnant, the
types of games chosen would be very different from those played
at traditional baby showers. However, that does not mean you
cannot use some of the games used in this guide.
Additionally, the adopted child may be older than a newborn. In
this case, you can simply have a shower, still celebrating the
child’s life while modifying activities slightly. The key is to
work closely with the adoptive parents!
SECOND/THIRD CHILD
Typically, a baby shower is thrown for the first-born but today,
we see baby showers for second, third, and even fourth children.
In truth, there is no right or wrong, simply what you want to
do. After all, the second baby’s life is just as wonderful as
the first baby’s life.
While this type of baby shower is not as common, if someone
offers to host a shower for you, accept and be gracious. If you
have other children, then you know how quickly clothing and toys
can wear out. Therefore, if the children are spaced several
years apart, chances are new items are needed and would be
appreciated.
Another possible scenario is that the couple has a second or
third child more than six, seven, or eight years apart. In this
case, technology and baby items have changed significantly so
for fun and safety purposes, a second or third shower may be
needed to replace outdated items.
While there remains, many unanswered questions about the history
of baby showers we do know this is a beautiful time of life and
celebration. For this reason, it is unlikely that baby showers
will ever stop being an important part of our culture.
©2004 Babyshowermoments,
All rights Reserved
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