On Saturday, Maren and Dave’s shower was held. I cannot say what kind of shower it was, but looking at Maren you could probably guess. At the beginning of the shower everyone was given a little plastic clothespin to wear, along with an admonition not to say the b-word. Catch someone using the b-word and you can take their clothespin. At the end of the shower David was tied with Bruce, Maren’s father, each with five clothespins. With a bottle of wine on the line, a tie breaker was needed. At first people began giving Bruce their clothespins, but then Dave’s supporters weighed in and with the youth vote squarely in his corner, David won by a landslide. This was my first baby shower. There I said it, but Dave already has my clothespin. This was just one example of the many silly games that were played at the shower. Another had everyone guessing the baby’s birthdate, sex, weight, length, and name. As it turns out David and Maren already know the baby’s sex and name but are not telling anyone. Others had people coloring the baby’s onesies and diapers. The later activity usually resulted in something scatological. It was a great party and an excellent way to kickoff Mother’s Day.

Mother’s Day is the one time of the year when this blog goes a little crazy. Fourteen years ago, I wrote a post that commemorated the 1915 song, Mother or M is for the Many Things She Gave Me. In this post, I recount this song’s lyrics. Every year since then the number of views and likes for this post goes through the roof. I think that it is number one or two on the Google search for this song’s first line. I like to believe that hundreds of children are faced with another Mother’s Day and yet have no card for their mother. A Google search turns up this post and then they are saved. Even though this post is now looking a bit ragged, I feel that I am still doing my part for mothers and their children.