Joint Baby Showers

[mommylamb]

What do you think of having a joint baby shower? My sister is pregnant, and so is her SIL. My sister wants to have a joint shower for the two of them. I don't know her SIL well, and to be honest, I kind of dislike my sister's in laws in general. (Better than disliking my own, I guess). My sister knows lots of people that don't know her SIL, and I assume the same is true for her SIL. That means people will be coming to the shower who only know one of the moms to be. Do you then get presents for both of them, or only for the one you know? I just think the whole thing is awkward. I would totally understand doing them on the same weekend, one on the Saturday and one of the Sunday so that my sister's MIL would only have to travel one time, but doing a joint shower seems odd to me.

[elliput]

JMHO, I think a joint shower would be tacky, and each mother and baby deserve to be feted in a manner which puts them in the spotlight.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I can see some advantages of having one big party but I think it just wouldn't work out well. What if one receives a ton of presents and the other one doesn't? I think it's just kind of hard to pull off. I could see doing a joint spa day or something but not 2 gift throwing parties.

Beth

[catsnkid]

I was willing to have a joint family shower with my cousin who was due two 1/2 months after me, but it didn't work out for logistical reasons.

[vonfirmath]

We used to have joint baby showers at church all the time for hte ladies who were pregnant. It worked out great! If the group of people the mothers know overlaps a lot, this is great. If they are mutually separate, it won't work so well.

[JTsMom]

I think it's awkward too, for all of the reasons already mentioned.

[bluestarfish18]

I've had both types of showers. With DC1, my friends threw me a traditional shower at one of their houses. Then when we moved across the country, my new friends threw myself and another close friend a joint shower for both of our DC2s.

It didn't bother me at all for a few reasons:
a. I loathe attention when it comes to opening presents. Christmas morning is torture. I feel like I'm expected to have a certain reaction to every present.
b. In no way did I ever expect a shower for my second child.
c. My friend, whom I shared a shower with, was also in the same situation of giving birth to 2 kids within a year.

But with that being said, I agree with above posts. If this is her first/only shower, she completely deserves to have 100% of the attention on her, if that's what she wants.

[mommylamb]

This is a first baby for both my sister and her SIL. Also, the shower will take place in Connecticut where we grew up and where her SIL lives now. My sister has only a small handful of friends in the area still and most of the people going to the shower from her side would have been friends of my mother's who don't know her SIL at all. I imagine that most of the people coming to the shower from her SIL's side will be women in their 20s who are friends with the SIL. PLUS, my parents just sold their house, so they won't even be living up there when this happens... I just don't get it.