Consult, Consult, Consult!

Because parents-to-be may have more than one shower, it's a good idea to consult with mommy-to-be. Before you send out invitations, sit down with mom-to-be and ask her what she would like from this event. What is her idea of a fun shower and who she would like to attend? Most people shouldn't be expected to attend several showers for same parents, so find out what else is being planned. Let her know that you want her to feel comfortable and most of all, to have fun.

What if you are having a surprise shower? Don’t let that stop you from consulting! Talk to dad-to-be to get ideas of a guest list and an appropriate time. You might even want to consult with other friends to be sure that everything works out smoothly. Again, consider mom-to-be when having a shower. You want her to feel special, have fun, and be comfortable.

After consulting with mom-to-be, or others, it is time to plan!

The Theme of Day

This is fun part – deciding what you are going to do and how you are going to do it! This can also be overwhelming part if you have never planned a baby shower before or if you don’t feel that you are creative type. Luckily, you don’t’ have to have experience or creativity to throw a great baby shower.

Some showers are simply a gathering of family and friends chatting, mom-to-be opening her gifts, and eating yummy food. Other showers are more elaborate with special games. If you are thinking of being more elaborate and having a theme, here are some great ideas to get you started:

Consider inviting couples instead of just ladies. You can play fun games like who can diaper baby doll fastest and make it men against women. This shower is great for first-time-dads and helps them feel a part of things as ‘big day’ nears.

Does mom-to-be already have everything she needs for baby, but you still want to celebrate this special occasion? Why not throw a Mommy Shower? Instruct guests to bring gifts for mom herself (bath and beauty products, gift certificates, etc). You might also consider a “consumable shower” and have guests bring diapers, wipes, shampoo, and other items that run out!

1. Baby-sit for people who need to do some Christmas shopping without their little ones tagging along. Anyone trustworthy who is over age of about thirteen or fourteen can do this one. It's hectic enough to get in and out of malls and shopping centers without having to drag toddlers along. Contact friends, family, coworkers, and members of your spiritual community to let them know that you're available for holiday babysitting. This can include time that parents need to get away for office parties, charity events, and volunteering to help elderly and less fortunate members of their community.

2. Grab a ladder and offer to clean leaves out of your neighbors' gutters. Many people are so busy during summer months that they completely forget to clean all of debris from their gutters when sun is out and it's dry outside. It's cold and yucky outside now and many people are too busy to get to it themselves. They'll probably be glad that you offered and they can check it off of their to-do lists. This isn't one for younger kids. However, they can offer to rake up leaves in their neighbors' yards. Adults could offer to do both gutters and yard as one big project for a nice reasonable price. It could also be a father & son side business that you do together - while dad cleans neighbors gutters, junior rakes up leaves in lawn.

3. Bake something amazing and offer to sell it to your friends and coworkers so they won't have to do their own holiday baking. You probably have to be careful about selling your baked goods to professional organizations and such, but you could do some sideline baking to help out your friends, neighbors, and coworkers who are going to be entertaining guests over holidays and simply won't have time to do their own baking. Have you got an awesome recipe that stands out as everyone's absolute favorite? It's hit of every potluck? Make up some tiny sample sizes or bring it in to office break room and serve up samples to your potential clients. Then while their mouths are watering, tell them that for a fee you'll bring them one to their home day before their guests are to arrive. You'll have to work out scheduling and cost of ingredients and such, but this could be a fun way to make some money and spread some serious joy. The hostess will be so pleased when she pulls your work of art out of fridge and her guests ooh and ah over scrumptious homemade dessert she didn't even have to bake herself.

4. Offer to collect people's empty soda cans and cash them in. My son raised almost $300 last spring doing this so that he could go to a training course to become a camp counselor for little kids at our church. He went door to door offering to do yard work and most people just handed him bags and bags of pop cans they didn't want to take time to cash in. He collected most of them over one weekend and then cashed them all in following weekend. We live really close to a grocery store where he could walk to cash them in, so I didn't even have to get my car dirty with sticky soda drippings! This is a really good one for younger kids to do.

5. Sell something on eBay. I know a number of people who make a decent second income all year round by digging around for antiques and such from Goodwill and then fixing them, cleaning them up, and selling them for a much higher price on eBay. You have to know what to look for, but these folks will pick up an old pair of stereo speakers for $10 or $15 and then sell them on eBay for $200. The customer pays for shipping. You can also do this through garage sales, flea markets, and estate sells too. Most of time and work goes into hunting for cool treasures that someone will want to purchase.

6. Hang up people's outdoor Holiday lights for them. As a single mom, I would have loved it if someone had come to my house and hung Christmas lights on my house for me. My children always wanted us to decorate outside of house and I hated not being able to do that for them. I didn't know first thing about how to go about hanging them up. I didn't even own a ladder! So, I would think that you could go around offering to hang up people's outdoor holiday lights for a fee. It they are like me and don't even have lights but want to get some, you could offer your expertise as to which kind to buy and where to get best prices and such.

7. Grab a broom or a shovel and offer to clean neighborhood sidewalks. This is another good one for younger teens. There's always sidewalks that need swept or shoveled. And there's always someone too busy or too tired to do it themselves.