Having recently talked about the gifts you should be getting for your kids, it’s a simple enough transition to gifts for other people in your life. One of the most pressurized of these situations is when a friend or family member is set to become a Mom for the first time.
As you already have kids, there is an expectation on you to understand what parents and their new offspring really need. No silver, pretty but useless rattles for you! You’ve not got the excuse that the childfree do when it comes to buying a gift for a new baby.
When faced with this situation and knowing the pressure is on you to deliver something worth having, there are a few things you need to ask yourself. We all know that while the thought is what’s meant to be what counts, it’s not necessarily the only thing that gets considered…
“What did I want when I had just given birth?”
Think back to the gifts that you received after the birth of your firstborn – that’s if you can remember through the fog of new baby fatigue!
What did you find useful? What did you open, admire, write a thank you card for – and then promptly never go anywhere near again? Get a list together and see if there is something you can do with that.
“Do I go practical or pretty? Can anything be both?”
A lot of the items we need as new parents are more on the practical side, but it can be difficult to convince ourselves to give them as gifts. Even if we know they would be appreciated and used, a packet of baby clothes or diaper basket just doesn’t quite seem to cut it as something impressive to open.
On the other hand, we know from experience that the gifts that are as much about the aesthetic as anything are not the most useful. That tends to mean they don’t get the same amount of love, after the initial glowing thanks.
Go for practical wherever possible. It’s better to be useful; and if questioned, you can bring up your own Mom experience as to what influenced the decisions. If you really can’t face going 100% in the practical direction, then go for something personalized but useful like a bib – you can see Makaboo for one – or wall art for the baby’s room that is also helpful developmentally. There are always ways to tick both boxes.
“Do I want to get a gift for the baby or the Mom?”
Gifts for newborns are nice and can be useful, but they’re also not always the point we want to make. Sometimes, we just want to use a gift to high-five and show our support for the new Mom – and that’s fine!
If you’re more concerned with looking after your friend than adding another baby gift to an ever-growing pile, then anything to do with pampering is the way to go. A massage will be welcomed – just make sure there’s a long expiry on the use-by date. You don’t want your friend to feel pressured to use it in the midst of new mom heaven!
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