Showering Babies and Baby Showers

Until recently, I haven't felt like being an aunt even when I know well that I would soon be--especially through 2009. Among my 3 brothers, 2 of them are going to be dads very soon and talk mostly comprised of baby stuff.

The first dad-to-be among my brothers will have his baby late March or early April, as soon as the doctors give a go signal---CS Procedure. So much for planning, we totally forgot that we should be holding the baby shower soon. With two weeks left to spare for a full program, my cousin and I--the official event planners of the family--are left breathless/

I never planned a baby shower before, and until recently, I didn't really care. hehe. But now that Baby Showers will become one of my party types, I was able to list down the basic necessities of pre-celebrating births.

When and Where
The venue and time of day is perhaps the most important detail in any event. It dictates the kind of food, the people to invite, and the program that will be planned. For our baby shower, they chose our house as the venue, and meryenda time --afternoon snacks. hmmm...

Who
The Guest list is also an important aspect of a Baby shower. If you do not want to have friends and family fight during that moment of celebration, make sure you know who you are inviting. The kind of food and program will be planned according to their profile. It's important to send the correct message--the reason that they are there during the party is because they will be the most important people during the life of their child. The guest list will always have family and friends. But for baby showers, it is important to involve the god parents. Have that day be the official announcement of who the godparenets will be.

Food
Now that we know the time and place, it is important to note next what the guests would be eating. So, in our case, meryenda would be a lighter meal for everyone. For our baby shower, we might have pasta with garlic bread, pork barbecues, cordon bleu, chips and dip OR snack mix, cake and cupcakes, and cookies. Drinks could be soda, juice, coffee, or tea. Know your people. Know what they would like to eat. But do not forget that it should still be complementing to the event type. Since babies are also about soft and cuddly, make the food and buffet table just as appealing.

Decor
Now that you know the kind of space to work with, think of the decorating ideas. If you have a theme, go ahead. In our case, the couple would like to have angels as a theme. So the we thought that we might be able to put angel drawings or cartoon like designs printed. We'll have them on sticks and scatter them around the place. The house, for example, has a garden and the event would be taking place outside. It would be a good idea to have those pictures around. Have little white balloons as well to give the idea of clouds and floating. Also, since the couple wants the sex of the baby to be a surprise for them, chose the right colors. We're going to use peach and green. But for those who already know, pink and blue are common colors for girls and boys respectively.

Program and Games
Know the basic flow of an event. Remember that after the introduction, you feed your guests first. You don't want to ask them to play and make merry on an empty stomach. So when most of your guests are present and seated, you can ask them to eat. When the people are full, then you can ask them to burn all those energy with games. Online, there are a lot of game suggestions. Pick some that would fit the crowd you are working with. Otherwise, if you really like the basic mechanics of the game, alter some instructions so that it would also work with the guests. Events are not always about celebrating a commemorative moment in a person's life. It is about sharing it with other people, and having them remember that very special moment when you laughed so hard with y0ur family and friends.

The Shower Proper
A baby shower is a subtle expression of the couple to ask for gifts from their close family and friends. Baby stuff. After the food and games, the Shower Proper is the next step. Have all those involved and all those who came with gifts and ideas sit around. Sharings and memories are mostly picked here.

Final note, always remember to make it fun and just enjoy. It doesn't have to be perfect. It can be perfect just the way it is.

No Body Odor

Seeing is believing. This is a billboard i saw along NLEX

One might notice the shift of the ads today. From sex-inclined, to family values, friendship, existentialism. Yes, finally, we have ads worth watching and seeing. Sometimes, it's even better to see the ads than the very primetime show we follow. The continuous ads that seems to tell the stories. Ads that ends with "to be continued".

Lumen, from Surf, was one of those ads, until it focused on the grandmother. 

Ads used to be too stiff, too sexy, or too farfetched from the very product they were promoting. Now, at the end of the 15-30 seconds worth of air time, some people sigh and dream if the same could happen with them.

Unfortunately, with this shift of focus in the many different ads one can preview in one primetime show, there are still a lot of disappointing ads. This is when actors and actresses, who don't usually sing, carry on a jingle or sing through the entire ad. Some are not even disappointing, some are downright a waste--at least i believe so.

The billboard i saw had warning line--like those in cigarettes stating "Government Warning".

The one above states that having body odor is dangerous to one's life--love life. True, body odor is something we frown about, and definitely turn away from--unless it's our stomachs doing the turning. 

But can anyone blame me if i am suspicious of their actions? What are they trying to change exactly?? Hidden agenda? Perhaps.

Rush Us Somewhere Far

When any of my family needs to be rushed to the nearest hospital, the one in Makati with newly renovated wings is not the hospital to be at the top list. Regardless of it being ISO approved, or that the new lobby looks like an airport terminal, or that it can be accessed along Ayala Ave., a wrong diagnosis is a wrong diagnosis.

Nine years ago, I had extreme abdominal pain. I was rushed to their ER. They ran tests, admitted me for a day or two for observation, gave me lots of strong pain relievers, and told me that I merely had stomach cramps and that I should go home. That same evening, with the same abdominal complaint, I was rushed to another hospital.

I was operated on June 13, 1999 and declared that it was a tumor on my right ovary. It was removed along with my appendix, which inflamed due to the mass that protruded against it. It had almost burst and my death would have followed. I was around 12-13 years old.

October 18, 2008, my brother was rushed to the same hospital in Makati because of extreme pain on his right stomach area. He was given a dose of Tramadol and a strong anti acid because they diagnosed that it was Gastritis---a disease common to over weight people, but not very serious.

Two weeks later, on those holidays, he was rushed again to the hospital. It was Saturday at dawn. He was in worse condition. He was hurting more and I felt helpless. My mom was there, too. They gave him Demerol for the pain, ran tests and admitted him. But they didn't do an ultrasound, which was requested because we have a strong risk of having galstones from both parents.

But they said it was a holiday and no one could do the procedure. I just thought that shouldn't it be that there are more people in the hospital because it was a holiday? There are more people outside and emergencies are at higher risks.

My brother endured the pain until Monday, when finally a person could do the ultrasound. They found the family-suspected galstones.

We strongly told the admitting department of our intention to move my brother to a hospital with a doctor who actually cares. It is a very small hospital with interesting wheel chairs. [See my Multiply AccountThe entrance to the ER is the same as the lobby. It looked like a provincial hospital but the doctors and nurses cared.

My brother was operated on yesterday morning. The gal bladder, that is supposed to be the size of a thumb, could almost cover my palm when it was removed from him. It was, according to the doctor, bulok. It was filled with bile, pus and stones. The head surgeon during the procedure allowed my mom and I to look at it before they throw it away.

But before the operation, my brother was crying. There was some blood in his urine. He didn't get to sleep. The further aggravation was due to the pain killers the previous hospital gave him. The Demerol made the gland contract despite the strain it was under. If it burst, there would be hell to pay. I would not have that brother of mine here with us today.

My brother is coming home tomorrow. But the frustration the family feels for the hospital that was certified??? Still here. And it will remain here.

The next time we get rushed for emergencies and stuff, we go to Capitol in QC or to that hospital where my brother was operated on, Mary Chiles in Sampaloc.

After almost 10 years, they were still crappy.

Makati Medical Center is no longer a choice for us. Pang clinics and consultations na lang. No more emergencies rushed there.

Rush us somewhere far. This hospital has failed us too much on emergencies. My brother and I could have died if we did not transfer hospitals. We believed in the hospital, but they failed miserably.

An explanation is no longer necessary. We had enough of them.

I know there are people who have strong faith in the hospital, but transactions with my family will not convince us otherwise. We gave them the chance. We called on them first for help, but then again, the decade in between those instances showed little improvement on quick treatments. The beautiful renovations did not help any.

This is one communication dilemma. How will they convince me and my family that they are still a hospital who cares for the patients?

Lives first? Isn't that the first commandment of being a doctor?

Yeah, name of insurance company?

Otherwise, pick a number.

Sigh.

Injustice.

Growth

"People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." --Maya Angelou

Ads are telling you more that you'd think they are. It is not just a product. It is also an idea. I call it a Seed.

Companies plant it and allow it to grow. Rather, they don't just let it grow, they make sure that it grows.

The recent TV commercial ads that we see might have been propagating different ideas. They show different products. They could be food, milk, instant noodles or even different kinds of services. But they have something in common.

As mentioned by Brad Geiser of GeiserMaclang, that would be a PR campaign. It is not trying to sell just the product. It is trying to change an opinion.

In this regard, the commercials today have highlighted the importance of spending time with your family, especially during meals. Lucky Me had the FaMEALy Day. Nido focused on the relationship between parent and child. McDonald's advocate the same idea. The commercials we see on TV are saying something.

I, for one, loved the FaMEALy ad wherein a kid was having dinner by herself as she relayed the events that happened to her that day. These events included her getting a star for a job well done, and man later approaching her with ulterior motives. The young girl acted as if the stranger was as harmless as the teacher. After seeing the commercial for the first time, I was really nervous.

I had goosebumps, which was a rare thing for me. Whoa.

It was so moving that you just want every kid to experience as much happiness as they could without the worry over threats to their lives and any kind of pain. I had the urge to take the girl, shake her to her senses, and hug her till she gets my point. But she was not my kid. I don't have kids.

That was how strong it was for me.

Ads are not usually as strong, at least PR campaigns are not. But being in the field of communication, you get to point these out without the other people knowing. It was a subtle manipulation of their opinions. Filipinos are getting more inclined to family oriented shows and commercials. I guess advertisers realized the need to reformat the thinking of many Filipinos with regards to families and families eating together for lunch.

It was just a seed. It was an idea, and someone believed in it. They believed that we should likewise believe in the importance of being with your family. It is of general interest really, and it was never attacked that way--as far as I know (I'm not all knowing).

Getting to watch ads of similar light gives you the warm and fuzzy feeling. Despite the other problems that bombard the country today, at least the focus of these ads to help maintain the founding group: the family.