By Shannon Williams
I always wanted to embrace the ways of the generations that followed me and have really tried to do that many times. Some of them I don’t really understand and felt like the way it has been done for years was just fine and there was no need for change. As we all know, change is the only thing that is for certain in our life.

We found out a about a month ago that Paul’s son and his wife were expecting their second children. We are both thrilled. We have a 7-year-old grandson and a grandson that is who is almost 18 months, so of course I (along with the other grandmothers) all wanted a girl. We were told that they would do a gender reveal soon and let everyone know. Gender reveals are one of those new things that I think are really kind of fun. First of all, who does not love a party and it is a great way to let everyone know the news at once.

Back years ago (30 +), it was still sort of new that you could find out what sex the baby was going to be by a sonogram. It was new and there were some hits and misses. One of my dear friends was told she was having a girl and was thrilled. It was at the time that Macy’s was opening their first store in Texas and she had always wanted to have a girl and name her Macy. She got a credit card in Macy’s name and we had a huge baby girl shower. Well you guessed it, Macy turned out to be Tanner! So, when we found out what someone was having, we often asked “are you sure?” One of the first questions my son’s father asked as my son was being delivered, was is it really a boy!

If you know me, you know I love to plan a party and love a theme, but I have never been asked to do a gender revel and really have never been to one. I have seen tons of videos on Facebook of ones that went bad and all that could go wrong and often does. When they first became a thing, I think most were done with a cake and you gave the baker a sealed envelope with the results and they were the only ones that knew. Now they have all types of reveals and some are just too cute. We got our invite and it was to take place at the Fire Station where the Daddy is a fireman. It was during the work week and was just not going to work with our schedules and the travel. There were several other grandparents in the same situation so it was streamed live for all of us to see. I had no clue how they planned to reveal it and every one was very hush hush with the plan.

As we started to watch the party, we saw a fire truck in the driveway of the fire station and the hose was laid out on the sidewalk. It was announced that they were ready and Mom and Dad stepped up and took hold of the hose and turned it on, and out came the BLUE WATER! I am really not sure how they did, but it was so cute and a great theme and way to let everyone know that a little boy would be the next little Williams.

The other new thing is a “sprinkle”, which is a shower for a second or third baby. In the old days, you got one shower with your first and you were on your own after that. It started to get a little carried away with Bridal showers for second, and third weddings and baby showers for second and third children. A sprinkler is a small shower usually just for family and has a very defined gift request list, as the primary purpose is to help with items that either did not survive after the first child or are so out of date, and they are no longer safe. The grandmothers did her first shower, so we have planned to do the sprinkle also. So far, she thinks all she will need is a double stroller, as she also has the grandson that is 18 months old. I will have to look on internet to come up with cute sprinkles theme! I might even drive into Houston and pick up Sprinkle cupcakes instead of cake!

I am going to West Texas this weekend to host a bridal shower for my nephew’s bride. I have tried to stand down and let their younger cousins and family who are also hostesses do the planning and come up with all kinds of new things. They have done a great job and have found all types of games and cute things to do. We are doing a tea party and I have a fascinator hat for the occasion. I had never heard of a fascinator before, but good ole Amazon had tons of them and I have a cute little pillbox looking mesh little hat to wear! I knew that they wanted to do a charcuterie board (or table) and was glad to let the younger ones take that on, but they wanted to make sure that I would still make my pimento cheese and egg salad little sandwich, so some things never go out of style.

Showers or Sprinkle or reveals are great fun and a way to celebrate upcoming events in one’s life. I think I will start a new trend for a retirement party LOL.

[SW: Apr-25-2023]