Throwing a Tasteful and Affordable Office Baby Shower

Usually about three to four months into one of your coworker's first pregnancies, once the mystery has revealed itself that they are not merely smuggling office supplies out to their car beneath their shirts, well-wishing abounds. The mother-to-be is glowing beneath the faint pallor of morning sickness but smiling radiantly, answering the bombardment of prying questions:

"Are you going to find out what it is?"
"Did you plan it?"
"Is your husband excited?" (This is so definitely not anyone's business.)
"Are you craving anything?" (Everyone likes to chime in with their own cravings in response to this answer, no matter what it is.)
"Do you have to go to the bathroom a lot?" (Too much information.)

The genuine, shameful and silent question on everyone's lips, though, is "Are you coming back to work after you have the baby, and how will we manage here in the office without you?" Tacky but true. It's a sad world that we live in.

But it doesn't have to be a sad send-off. To preface my point, and I do have one, offices love new babies. They even love pregnant women on their first pregnancy if most of the mothers are seasoned veterans. That bulging stomach is like an enormous, glowing bug zapper drawing every insect in the neighborhood, no one can resist talking to, rubbing, and even hugging the pregnant victim's abdomen for luck, like Buddha. Forget sexual harassment and compliance rules, forget personal space, forget propriety and professionalism. There's a belly to be rubbed! Gangway!

More often than not, the supervisor or manager of the unit isn't necessarily the one who plans the whole shower, and they don't really want to be. Often times, they will glean a modest amount of funds from the department expense account or petty cash for things like the cake or party decorations, but the basic expectation for the office baby shower is always "potluck."

The following tips might make the process of planning the office shower painless, and make the shower itself fun and heartwarming.

The Group Gift