A lovely Baby Shower gift
The other day a dear older lady friend of mine invited me to her daughter’s baby shower. She was excited that she would be having another grandson, though I wasn’t too keen on the idea of cake and a baby shower so I declined.
Later when I saw my friend, Vilma, she told me she had a souvenir from the baby shower for me, I said OK. So out of her purse she pulls out this styrofoam cup that had the handwritten words, “Recuerdo de mi baby Shower” (Memory of my baby Shower.) This woman speaks no English so I most liked the mixing of English and Spanish in the same sentence. And because of the English use of the words baby shower, I wondered if not another American tradition had again dominated the Mexican populace.
The drinking cup also contained a small lace bag with candy. I didn’t think much of the whole ensemble until I turned the cup around and noted that the drinking cup was also laced and cut to look like a baby shoe: How fabulous I - I loved it.
What I most liked about the idea of the baby shower and the shoe was what it represents: these people don’t have a lot of money to buy those fancy baby showers baby shoe souvenirs with printed words to give to guests, but they had the party anyway. Too they wanted their guest to have a souvenir.
Seeing the shoe, I am just sorry I missed what I am sure was a lovely party. Velma was happy, she was excited to give me the gift, a shoe she had handmade herself.
Below is the shoe as I first saw it:
Then I turned it around and noted, it was a shoe!
Folk art is alive and well in Mexico! Great photos.
Thanks Jim. This is so true. Readers Jim is in the know. Check out his blog and HIS book: http://www.mexicocitydf.blogspot.com/
Thanks, Jesus
I’m Vilma’s oldest daughter and it was great to see what we did as souvenirs at your blog, I can tell you that making this babyshower had a special meaning or us, as all mexican special parties do, it’s about sharing wealth, socially is to be part of a group and as you say, no matter about money, what matters is that feeling, I do consider very special in Mexico, we are great hostesses, we like our guest to have something special to remember, thanks for sharing this little baby shoe that we did with all our love.
That is really precious. Baby showers in the U.S. are so obnoxious and over-done that I’m all for something simple like this. (The only flaw is that styrofoam is not very eco-friendly….but I know paper cups are hard to come by in the D.F.)
Thank you Joy for your comments and I agree with you. Yes, paper cups are hard to find. And at least the Mexico City will stop using plastic bags in all supermarkets, cleaners, markets, etc.
OMG! What a touching story. I agree American baby showers and other events are so obnoxious. Even by us 3rd generation’ers, we should be more grateful. They did a great job on the cup! (Please email me you address)