Hosting a Baby Shower-- Asking to Host

Dear Readers,

     A delightful message many soon-to-be-moms like to hear is, "I would love to host a baby shower for you!"  While this offer can be very thoughtful, the way the host presents the offer can be very special and memorable as well.  I have heard many different stories of how the host offers the invitation to the expectant mother, and regardless of the method chosen, it always seemed very sentimental.  Some questions to ask yourself before offering to host a baby shower:

*Have other people offered to host and if so, for when?

*If other people have offered to host, do you want to be a part of their baby shower planning, or is this something you want to do on your own?

*Are you financially capable of hosting a baby shower, regardless of the number of people the honoree would like to invite?

*Are you financially capable of hosting a baby shower, even if noone can help?

*Do you have the time and bandwidth to plan and successfully host a baby shower, even if noone can help?

If the answer is mostly "no" to all of these questions, you may want to reconsider taking a primary role in hosting the shower, but perhaps helping others in celebrating this wonderful time for the new mom. If the answer is mostly "yes" to all of these questions, then it may be a good time to start brainstorming ideas on a notepad for the baby shower, as well as thinking of how you want to best ask if you can host the shower. Whether you sit down with the mom-to-be and have a conversation about hosting the shower, or if you want to ask her in a unique way, it will be a request thatmore than likely to delight her heart.                                                                               .