Cellar Scribblings

[CellarDweller]

  Hiya BetterMost friends.

Yes, here we are, back at Monday.  Oh well.....the week will fly by, and the weekend will be here soon enough!

Friday I got chores and shopping done, Saturday was the baby shower and laundry, and Sunday was a rest day, I sat around and did nothing.

This week my supervisor (Maria) is out of the office, taking courses in Boston, and will be back on Friday.    I'm hoping for a quiet week.

[CellarDweller]

The only part I don't get is the fact that you celebrate the baby before it's safely arrived.

Yeah, I find that strange, too. After the baby is born, you celebrate the new life as much as its safe arrival.

Celebrating beforehand is like jinxinging it, bringing on bad luck.

You don't say congrats to someome before their birthday.  You don't say good luck to someone involved in a stage production.  You don't celebrate a new baby before it's born.

In regard to gifts, it makes sense to get the equipment before you need it of course.

I think with medical advances lately, it has cut down the hesitation to hold one before.  Now we have amnio tests, pre-natal care, sonograms, 3-D sonograms, there have even been in-utero operations successfully done, so yes, there is still a chance of tradegy, but with all the monitoring that goes on prior, people know that the baby's developemet is going well an all should be fine.

[Penthesilea]

I think with medical advances lately, it has cut down the hesitation to hold one before.  Now we have amnio tests, pre-natal care, sonograms, 3-D sonograms, there have even been in-utero operations successfully done, so yes, there is still a chance of tradegy, but with all the monitoring that goes on prior, people know that the baby's developemet is going well an all should be fine.

You never know. What you said is all correct, it minimizes the risks compared to earlier times. But it can also be a rope of sand. When having a baby and giving birth you're always at god's (nature's) mercy. This still true today.

[CellarDweller]

  Hiya BetterMost friends.

Yup, that's me this week.  Work isn't exceptionally busy, but I am trying to stay on top of things, as I'm out of the office on Friday, Monday and Tuesday.



How is everyone else doing?

[Jeff Wrangler]

You never know. What you said is all correct, it minimizes the risks compared to earlier times. But it can also be a rope of sand. When having a baby and giving birth you're always at god's (nature's) mercy. This still true today.

Being a guy, I've never been invited to a baby shower (thank God!  ). But also coming from a working-class background, I always figured they were not so much a celebration of the baby as a way for the expectant mother's friends to help her be prepared for when the baby is born. When my mother was invited to them, they weren't for the men in the family. It seems a little late to wait till after the baby is born to make sure you have plenty of diapers (nappies to some of you), baby clothes, receiving blankets, and other baby care items on hand. I'm sure it can be pretty expensive to gather all that stuff and have it ready for the birth. It always seemed to me to be a way for people of limited means to help an expectant mother of limited means. But maybe times have changed the meaning and purpose. "In my day/where I come from"  men weren't invited to bridal showers, either. That's what bachelor parties were for.

[Penthesilea]

But also coming from a working-class background, I always figured they were not so much a celebration of the baby as a way for the expectant mother's friends to help her be prepared for when the baby is born.

Makes sense of course. When we married I was pregnant with my first child and we had lived together for some years at that point. So our household was already well-equipped and we didn't need stuff like another set of china or an electric knife ( ). So we didn't have a bridal registry, but had a list at a baby market instead. Same purpose.

And re the money-saving factor: in my family (and I guess in most families) it's still tradition today to give baby-stuff from one family to the next. I know that all my cousins and I slept in the same wicker-basket as babies (good planning, time-wise, lol). And for my kids I borrowed the crib from one of my cousins, which I gave her back when she had another child. The christening robe and lots of everyday stuff was also shared.
To this day I get big packages with clothing for my two younger children two or three times a year from my cousins and SIL.

[CellarDweller]

  Hiya BetterMost friends.

Yup, keeping the pic from yesterday!  It's not really all that busy, but since I'm out of the office Friday, Monday and Tuesday, I'm trying to make sure I am on top of everything and all is done.

How are you all?

[Mandy21]

I know that all my cousins and I slept in the same wicker-basket as babies

Need clarification on this.  Is that a normal European thing?  How could you move around at all, or was that the point that you couldn't?

[CellarDweller]

Need clarification on this.  Is that a normal European thing?  How could you move around at all, or was that the point that you couldn't?

I don't think she meant they all slept in the basket at the same time.  It was a basket that was handed down to the next new mother.  Some baskets are quite large and could easily hold a baby.

[CellarDweller]

  Hiya BetterMost friends.

Today is my Friday!     I have tomorrow, Monday and Tuesday off work! 

So far today, things are going my way!  Everything I needed to be working on is just about done, and if the day continues to be this slow, I will be able to get the rest of my stuff done, and leave at my usual time.