My Skype Baby Shower

Me, at home in Houston, attending my shower in Ohio

Since my mom wanted to throw me a baby shower for the family and friends in Ohio, and I wasn’t able to travel, my mom had a “Skype Baby Shower” for me instead.

Essentially, what my mom did was plan the shower as usual — but instead of me being there in the flesh, I was there via a laptop throughout the event.  I was first in the kitchen as my mom was preparing and people were arriving.  My family and friends came over to me one-by-one and congratulated me — and I talked to each one for a while.  I was also able to see what was going on as they positioned me in key areas throughout the shower.  Although I couldn’t be there in person, this was truly the next best thing.

It was really good to see everyone — and I also got to show the folks in Ohio the nursery first hand — and the baby gifts we had already received from others here in Houston; something I couldn’t have done if I had gone there.  My close friend, Christy Weiss, who is a mother of two, opened all my gifts, held them up to the camera so I could see them, and described them beautifully.  I just received the boxes of them that were shipped here yesterday.  The only major negative about the skype shower was that I didn’t get to eat any of the food (it looked delicious!), especially the cupcakes.

I’d like to thank all the family and friends who helped make the event so memorable for me. I especially want to thank my mothers who spent countless hours planning the perfect shower.  Love ya mom!

For anyone thinking about doing this sort of thing in the future, I have some tips at the bottom of this post below the pictures.

For a Skype Shower, Do:

• make sure that you get a set of headphones for people at the shower and put the showeree laptop in a corner for a while so each person can come up to the screen and chat for a while in “private”
• warn family members ahead that this is going to be happening and help them through the process of being in the camera shot and talking
• place the computer in a location where the showeree can see the entire room, and when opening gifts, make a circle or something to people at the shower can see the presents as well as the camera

For a Skype Shower, Don’t:

• try to do this with a slow laptop or internet connection, it’s doomed to failure
• worry about a slight delay in video or sound, make the best of it
• sit the computer in a corner and forget about it, like while people are eating, maybe place it at the head of the table for a while so the showeree and be “in” on the conversation?

All in all, a great experience.