A Wedding Shower: 5 Thoughts from an Outsider

"Think about it. If you are single, after graduation there isn't one occasion where people celebrate you. ... Hallmark doesn't make a "congratulations, you didn't marry the wrong guy" card. And where's the flatware for going on vacation alone?" ~Carrie Bradshaw

A couple of weekends ago, I headed home for Little Brother and Moomoos wedding shower. I knew it would be pretty good, because small town women know how to throw showers and funeral dinners. And I was not disappointed, nor were Little Brother and Moomoos who could hardly fit all of the gifts in their cars! I recorded a few thoughts to share with you all.

1. I do not understand the rationale behind giving people wedding showers. Their income just doubled. Their bills just were cut in half. And they have twice as much stuff as they did yesterday. It's not fair that we proceed to buy them every gift they can scan with a little gun. There. I said it. Sue me.

I announced to a couple of the hostesses that if I turn 30 and am not married (a deadline that is quickly closing in!), I am going to have Mrs. Franklin throw me a birthday shower. Because based on the wedding shower she threw, I'd make out like a bandit! I'm registering for shoes.

2. If you don't ask for it, you're not going to get it. You can all thank Little Brother for this lesson. See, apparently throughout the whole registering process, he wanted to register for a big screen tv. Moomoos would not let him because she said no one would buy them that. Little Brother's response, "Well they sure won't if we don't register." So she finally gave it and registered.

And in comes my crazy family. Aunt Delta Dawn, Aunt Evil Knievel, and Uncle Black Belt to the rescue. These three crazy people went in together and bought that big screen. At the end of the wedding shower, I asked Little Brother if they had gotten pretty much everything they wanted. He said, "Everything but the big screen." To which Moomoos replied, "I told you we weren't getting that." That was the cue and in walked the aunts with the tv. You should have seen the look on Little Brother's face.

3. From what I can tell, the number one choice of shower gifts is....drumroll please....cookbooks. I bet you Moomoos got 57 different cookbooks that day. Everything from cookies to New Mexican to quick meals for a weeknight. Mind you, us single girls who eat Wheat Thins for dinner could use some of this knowledge too, but no one throws parties and buys us cookbooks! Of course, had I not cheated my way trough homec, maybe this would not be an issue.
4. I love a competitive child. My parents frequently tell me that I was one of these. My mom swears I wa the most competitive kid she had ever seen. So I suppose this revalation surprises no one. Here's how I learned this at a wedding shower. Little Cowboy was in charge of handing gifts to Little Brother and Moomoos to open. Some box was heavy and Connie J tried to help him, but he informed her that he was stronger than she was. Somehow (Lord only knows with those two involved!), this led to them arm wrestling in front of the entire shower....front and center. Little Cowboy, not wanting to leave anyone out, ended up arm wrestling pretty much all of the other guests at the party. Including the woman who is about a month into recovery from open heart surgery. I about died when I looked over and he had her hand in his and was pulling away.

5. Our family could not be blessed with better people in our lives. Looking around the room that Saturday afternoon, it was clear that Little Brother (and I) are surrounded by people who love us. There were women there who knew our grandmothers and remember the day were were born, and people who Little Brother met in college. Elementary school teachers and mothers of high school best friends. There were ladies from every town in the county, and several from surrounding counties. You could almost watch us grow up just by looking around the room at these women.

I've got this posted on my blog every day, but it seemed particularly appropriate today. They say it takes a village to raise a child. It took more than that for us, and for that we will forever be grateful.