Wednesday 1 June 2011

Baby Etiquette

I'm at that stage in life where everyone around me is getting married and having babies. This is all good fun but it is requiring a certain amount of organisation in my life as I try to get ready for all these upcoming events.

Hen dos and weddings require much saving for (whatever happened to just having a nice night out in town, why is the minimum spend now about £200?!), making sure diaries are free, possibly booking days off work, booking hotels, sorting out gifts and outfits.

Babies should in theory be just as easy to sort out - you know when they're coming (or thereabouts) you know what you can get them, and yet somehow, it always seems to take me by surprise. I decide what I'm buying/making and they're pregnant, and I see them getting bigger and bigger and yet somehow the two don't connect in my brain and suddenly I get the text announcing the birth of another bouncing bundle of joy and I panic.


This latest baby most definitely shouldn't have taken me by surprise. My friend's actually had a pretty terrible pregnancy and has been laid up for about 18 weeks of it. As in laid up. Every time she so much as sat up she would pass out and she ended up in hospital for a couple of months, whilst they ran a barrage of tests to try and work out what it was. The Doctors were stumped and all they could do was put it down to "one of those pregnancy things" would should clear up when she gave birth.

Luckily it did all clear up once the little man had arrived. Unfortunately for me though, the Doctors decided to bring the little person's arrival forward by a couple of weeks and induced my friend. This most definitely caught me on the hop and suddenly I had one baby and no present. Eek.


My plan? Take some babygros. Take my Sublime Stitching craft pad. Take my thread box. Take one bank holiday. Make something cool.

And you know what? I totally did make something cool. In fact I made two something cools.


Then comes the part I hate. I'm never sure what the right thing is to do as a friend/family member when someone has just had a baby. I'm conscious that I don't want to appear uncaring about the new addition to their family but I also don't want to appear that I have no idea how much time and work a new baby takes.

In short I have to walk the tricksy tightrope. Do I text straight away and I say I'd like to come and see the baby? Do I not text at all? If I've text once and asked do I text again?

I get far too stressed about whether or not I'm a good friend.


Anyway I have sent my text saying I would love to see the baby and I will now retreat to a safe distance. But, I want to make sure that the babygros still fit, I know how fast these little suckers can grow and it's bad enough that I've embroidered something he's only going to get to wear once, let alone something he's never going to get to wear because I didn't see him in time, so they have flown off in the post to hopefully be enjoyed.


Now the next baby is due at the end of August. I know it's due. So obviously I will have this present ready on time. Right?

17 comments:

  1. Love this! So so cute and your embroidery is pretty amazing!!! I bet it was all nice and smooth!
    (can't give any advice i'm afraid, none of my friends have got babies yet!)

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  2. Those are super cool. I love the rockets. The rockets are absolutely blinding.

    I have no idea what baby etiquette is. But I hear they're poor correspondents. I'd expect to wait a few years for a thank you note :)

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  3. OMG your stitchery is amazing! They are so cute!!
    Liking the look of that book to
    Clare
    x

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  4. Wow your embroidery is fantastic. Luckily only 2 of my friends ever had babies and only a couple got married too - I can't believe how much people expect you to spend on hen dos these days, it has gotten way out of hand.

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  5. they are awesome-saucesome!

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  6. Love these, they're brilliant and as you say very cool!! Just don't think of them being sicked on!

    I don't know what the etiquette is either, when the last one was born I remained quite distant, I knew the mother had had a difficult op ... and when I visited her at four weeks old I was told 'everyone else has met her already' and that made me feel like a prize chump. They can't keep me away now. Ha.

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  7. Oh what a lovely present! Hope mother and baby are doing well. I don't have friends with kids, so I don't know what baby etiquette should be, but I'm sure your friend will appreciate the gift.

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  8. Oh these are fab! Such a lovely gift.

    In my experience, the etiquette is 'send the congrats text, then let the mum outta hospital and send another re. a visit'. I was quite unwell after my first, in bed in the hospital, catheter, blood, fluids, and three of my workmates breezed in, one with her toddler who insisted on bouncing on the end of my bed. That was a tad too keen, but the company was sooo welcome once I was let out!

    Looking forward to seeing what pressie you have lined up for August xxx

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  9. What a lovely idea. Definitely filing that in my to do list.

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  10. They are simply fabulous. I would be so touched if someone made me one of these...you know, if I like, actually had a baby to put in it. Otherwise it's kind of weird.

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  11. I go for the let-the-parents-decide approach. I tend to text saying something along the lines of I'd love to come and see you but I know it's all really hectic, so let me know when's best for you. I can't imagine how knackering it must be to give birth and then have loads of visitors descend upon you. They might want a bit of quiet time to enjoy the baby.

    Anyway, the babygros are fab! Such a cute idea.

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  12. Very cute! My recollection is short visits are great to remind the new mum that she's a person not an baby attachment and very welcome if accompanied by cake!

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  13. Put the babygros in the post with a card that says "I'd love to come and visit you when life has calmed down and you've got into the swing of things"

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  14. The babygrows are lovely. I will have to do some myself.

    As for baby etiquette, when I had Baby Stash the hospital only allowed partners to visit which was great as I was in a 5 bed ward the other mothers were noisy enough! The first two or three weeks were also pretty exhausting and only one close friend of Mr G's came round, but after that I felt sufficiently adapted to motherhood for more visits. So I suppose the answer is it depends on how well you know the new mother, and how much help she's getting, and Sandra is right - always take cake!

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  15. Those baby grows are fabulous! I appliqued some Guinness pints using felt for a friend's baby and the Day loved them! I think I'll try some embroidery next time, you've inspired me :)

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  16. These rock! Totally! What a lovely idea and cool way to personalise the present! xxx

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  17. These are totally feckin brilliant.

    It's wonderful to receive handmade gifts - these will be treasured and probably shown off a great deal.

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