"Man meets baby shower and survives!"

This sentence is written in bold letters under a picture of my husband in our scrapbook. He is wearing a sheepish grin on his face, and on his head is a paper plate hat with pastel ribbons that cascade past his ears. Ah yes, one of his favorite memories, this picture was taken eighteen years ago, when few men dared to venture into the world of baby showers.

He did not go willingly. In fact, he was ambushed into it. He happened to be the only male in an office full of women. Baby showers took place in the break room all the time, but he never attended. He always contributed money for a gift, and then stayed far away while the party was going on. This seemed to work well for him.

However, the group had worked together for several years when I became pregnant with our second child. Being a quiet man, who disliked attention, he attempted to keep the news from the women in his office. Being perceptive women, they easily figured it out.

They decided that they needed to throw him a shower like they did for everyone else, but they knew that he would never agree to it. One of the women called me and asked me to mail her a wish list. She told me their plan and swore me to secrecy. I went along with it, even though I felt a bit disloyal. The poor man never saw it coming.

At the prearranged time, a supervisor asked him to come to a meeting in the break room. I have been told that when he walked into the decorated room, and the women screamed, "SURPRISE!" his mouth dropped open. He was so stunned that he backed completely out of the room, and had to be led by both hands into the party area.

The women actually opened each item for him, explaining that he should "OOOHH" and "AAHHH" at specified moments. Still speechless, and with no other options, he let them have their fun. He was extremely embarrassed, and he did not enjoy it. They took several photographs, and in every one of them, he looks as if he would rather be in the dentist's office.

Several years later, however, when we were expecting our third child, he took immediate action. He announced the pregnancy to his co-workers and told them that if they needed to celebrate with a shower, they would have to invite his wife, because he would not be attending.

He had been lucky enough to survive a baby shower once, but he was never going to take that risk again.

Learn more about this author, Kathy Downey.
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