Gender Reveal Party Rocks!

I am going to change the name of my band. I am going to call it Gender Reveal Party.  Not because I love the name, but because these parties are all the rage.  The most hits I have received on my blog was the day I decided to right about this trend, so I figure that I can get more people to come to my shows if I change my bands name and then tag/#/metatag/link/blog/FB/Pinterest the hell out it.  However, if you landed here looking for cute cake, cookie and colorful balloon gender reveal party ideas...well here you go...  Hope to see you at one of my shows. Sincerely, Gender Reveal Party.

It's better to be lucky than good

There is something I say often and I mean it.  "I am lucky".  Dealt cards, play them...Blackjack.  Thrown ball, always caught.  Last pair on the shelf, just my size.  Parent of to two beautifully cool children, check.  You get the picture.  Some say luck is created, or that it is a state of mind.  "Better to be lucky than good," my friend David always says. There is truth in that small proverb.  You can practice, study, create, rehearse, present, and accept, only to have it go all horribly wrong.  Like the beautiful sinewy teen couple pulling up to the woodsy cabin.  Skip the foreplay, and get right to the shadowy large figure in the corner with some form of flesh shredding device, and an ill fitting body fluid stained mask.  Planning, excitement, logistics,and anticipation can all go quickly down the bloody drain.  As the cop throws his cigarette butt to the ground after one last long drag, " They weren't so lucky were they?"  I have been to that woodsy cabin many times, and I plan on returning.  

I believe there is a ridiculous amount of luck involved in parenting.  Forget parenting for a moment,  how we even get to the point of conceiving a child is mind numbing.  How do we know everything works?  We spend the majority of our young adult lives taking every precaution not to have to pee on a stick,  alone in a bathroom, praying that we only see one vertical line in the applicator window.  When you do find someone you want to create a family with, there are so many variables that could go wrong.  Timing, physical make up, genetics, and yes, luck, all help play the role of creator.

I  heard, " they don't give you a handbook on parenting", way to many times to count, when I had my first child.  I would always nod accordingly, or placate  them by saying something like, "that's for sure!"  Well, it's not even close to sure.   That phrase must have been coined around 1475, after Gutenberg figured out how to press metal to paper.   The truth is today, there are thousands of handbooks, blogs, videos, webinars, handouts, pamphlets, websites, films, pod casts, seminars, classes, and cable channels all dedicated to providing us  with information on raising a child.  A library of parenting congress is at our fingertips, and yet we all, at one time or another during our tenure, recognize quietly to ourselves that we have no idea what we are doing.

This is were luck comes in.  I believe that with our intentions, our passion, and our good will,  we furnish the corner office of our own luck.    Someone once told me that luck rubs off.  I hope that they are right, because I make a point to hold my children everyday, even if just for a second, in hopes that mine will.

Gender Reveal Parties are Blowing up!

 Boy or Girl?

Every where I look, be it a blog, facebook, magazines, or even television , I am seeing the popular new trend of gender reveal parties.  Heres how it works. At the couples 20 week ultrasound, the technician is asked to write down the gender of the baby, put it in an envelope and seal it.  The envelope is then given to a family member or baker who will make the cake and die the inside of the cake the corresponding color to reveal the sex of the baby. The couple cuts open the cake, and at last everyone gets to know the gender of the child.

At first, I rolled my eyes at this idea. Gathering people for this seemed odd.  But then, I thought back to when we found out the gender of our first child and how fun it would have been to share the experience with our friends and family.  It is a moment you remember forever,  so why not have a party to celebrate!   All the games and wives tails can be played out at this party, just like at a baby shower, but made more fun by finding out the answer as soon as the cake is cut into.  I say yes to gender reveal parties!  Now I just have to get invited to one! Would you have a gender reveal party?  Have you been to one? Let us hear about it...