I am an aunt AGAIN! How wonderful is that? My sister in law and her husband welcomed their third child on Friday! Pure sweetness.
Right after I had my 3rd child, I was EXAUHSTED. 3 kids under three, all in diapers and 2 on bottles. My husband was gone at school from sun up to sun down. A friend called and asked if she could drop something off. I said sure. She came bearing a huge pkg. of diapers, wipes and 2 pizza's from Pizza Hut. I wanted to cry I was so grateful! (:
When I brought baby #5 home a little over a year ago, I was the lucky recipient of TWO WEEK of meals. Because the people who signed up to bring them, knew how many kids I had at home...we had huge meals brought in. I am talking sheet cakes for dessert, huge pans of casseroles, pasta, salads, fruit. It was the best. I felt so loved.
Of course we all love to give fun gifts of clothes, blankets, scrapbooks etc. But consider these ideas as well...
**diapers, no they aren't as fun as a cute outfit but they are so needed.
**wipes
** little gifts for siblings...new books, a dvd & pkg of popcorn, coloring books, a puzzle...
**coupon book for things like: free babysitting, naps, bringing dinner in at a later date, taking older kids out for an afternoon...
**offer to run to the store for the new mom. I can't tell you how many times I had to drag 5 kids to the store to grab diapers and milk!
And of course MEALS!
Ideas to think about: We got at least 4 pans of spaghetti. Our family likes spaghetti but...that was a lot! Throw in a couple of lasagnas and we were not interested in noodles and red sauce for a while!
So ask! Ask for their favorites. Ask what they have already recieved. Ask for food allergies.
We had several people bring in "kid friendly" foods for my olders. Mini corn dogs, chicken nuggets etc. It made it so nice for them and they felt very loved!
Make sure you bring things in a container you don't need back. Ziploc & Rubbermaid (there are also store brand) that are cheap to replace.
Bring a whole meal. It doesn't have to be fancy shmancy side dishes. A casserole, a bag of rolls and a bagged salad. Grab a pkg of cookies and you are good to go. Or feel free to make something.
Remember that Moms' who are nursing may not want to eat things like garlic, onions etc. Be sensitive to those needs.
Last but not least, when you are a new mom, the brand new babies get a lot of attention. But after a month or so, when sleep deprivation is in full swing, try to be there then too!
3 comments:
One way to make giving diapers a little more exciting and fun is to make a diaper cake. They are super cute and completely functional! When I was on bed rest, people filled my freezer with meals that I could just pull out and heat whenever we needed it. It was great. So maybe another idea is to make one meal for them for the night and one to freeze!
Congratulations on being an aunt again! Such fun!
I was going to say exactly what Beth did. Right before I had surgery, a friend of mine brought me several freezer meals. She put them in disposable pans/bowls, wrote the instructions on the aluminum foil that covered the dishes and voila! We had several meals' worth of food. It was great.
That is a good idea! That would be so nice to have meals for later!
Post a Comment