Re: Henna Baby Shower

Posted by Anon on September 30, 1999 at 02:07:15:

In Reply to: Re: Henna Baby Shower posted by Amy C on September 29, 1999 at 18:27:32:

: : Instead of games, I thought we could all tell our birth stories,

: I am sure you have no intentions of making her feel anxious, but it
is
: natural & normal for women who have had traumatic births to tell
'war
: stories', almost involuntarily.

Seconded by another outside observer. (Happens with operations and
treatments of various types, too - anything from triple-bypass to
coloring the hair. Haven't we seen threads of "my greatest henna
disasters" here?) It's so natural to do this though, you might want
to think of a creative outlet for the stories. Such as...um...maybe
having each person apply a tiny part of the henna (say, one of a
pattern of dots) with a wish for the opposite of the horror stories
and proliferation of the good experiences? Sure, most will come up as
"smooth, fast delivery" and "healthy baby and mother", but that's
okay. (Avoid "may your husband not pass out while driving you" and
other negatively-stated wishes; convert to "may your trip in be
smooth and uneventful".) Perhaps encourage funny stories or an
exchange of favorite first-year stories or first words or bedtime
tales/songs, to supplant the birth/war stories?

If you do have smallish children (old enough for henna but not old
enough to go off on their own), remember that mehndi is a way to
enforce stillness for a short time, if they're motivated enough (or if
you can make it into a kid contest...).

Let us know what goes well!

Follow-ups:

• Re: Henna Baby Shower Becky M. 19:09:48 9/30/99 (0)