Nesting parties are an underdeveloped concept, but I love them. A quick Google search results in a Pinterest board that believes nesting parties are like baby showers.
Clarification: they’re not.
Baby showers are baby celebrations. They involve gifts and games that are baby-centric. But nesting parties are about helping mom prepare herself for what’s to come, and they involve – most of the time – only mom’s most intimate friends and family. A nesting party can mean a group of friends comes together to deep clean a mom’s home. Or they can prepare meals or snacks for her family to enjoy after birth without the burden of having to do the cooking themselves. It can be an intimate chat to help mom embrace the transition, process past loss, or be encouraged.
Before I had our baby, I had a nesting party of my own. This was my 4th pregnancy but my first nesting party. I had never even attended a nesting party, but I sure hope this one won’t my last. My closest people came and helped me prepare for postpartum, and it left me thankful and relieved. Here’s what we did:
Freezer Meals:
I asked everyone to bring a freezer meal to put in our deep freezer. Everyone brought a meal with instructions – mostly yummy casseroles and easy freezer-to-crockpot meals – and the freezer filled right up. Associated pantry items were labeled and put in a basket and recipes were placed in a folder for reference.
See my post explaining freezer meals here.
Kid Activity Kits:
One of my postpartum concerns postpartum was childcare! I have three children, ages 5-and-a-half, 4, and 2. Before the nesting party, I chose some simple and fun kids’ activities and bought supplies. I had my friends organize these into gallon-sized baggies that are easily pulled from a large bin. It’s been easy to entertain my kids while also caring for baby!
Pie + Tea!
After our work was done, I put out pie, snacks, tea, and wine for everyone to enjoy for a social hour. It was my way of saying thank you. I mean, let’s be honest: this was the fun part.
And I also prepared…
Favor Bags!
Each lady got a small token of my appreciation. I was so thankful for their support and love, so I gave each person a mini bottle of wine, homemade bath salts prepared by my best friend and hostess, and had my kids color them each a card since they’ll be benefitting, too! This would’ve also be a great place to add information about a Meal Train for them to sign up for, but I chose to share my Marabou registry in case they’d like to help out.
There you have it. We had a great time!
I know not every pregnant mother needs or wants a baby shower – once you have all the gear and clothes you need for baby, you’re all set. But because you experience a postpartum recovery each time you give birth, I feel strongly that every mom should have a nesting party for every pregnancy! It’s such a great way to prepare for the time after birth and puts that postpartum phase on everyone’s mind. It opens the conversation of what a family’s needs will be after birth and how people can help out. You need that support whether it’s your first baby or your fifth!
How does Marabou support women?
We live in culture where “bouncing back” is more valued than proper rest. As admirable as it may be for a sports star to get back on the field, the same rules don’t apply to postpartum recovery. The traditional resting period has been stolen from women through pressure to get back to their job or simply through lack of presence.
Grandmas, sisters and best friends who otherwise would have been there to help a woman transition into motherhood often live too far away to be of any help. Household chores and caring for older children inevitably fall on the mom. But she just delivered a new life! She needs rest.
Marabou Services is a unique gift registry which provides services instead of stuff. Most mom’s get too many onesies, too many baby blankets and not enough helping hands. Break out of a destructive cultural norm and start a Marabou registry today.
With a Marabou registry you can sing up for any service which will benefit you or someone you know during the postpartum recovery period.
Postpartum doulas for a first time mom
House cleanings for moms of multiples
Childcare for moms with older children!
Once your registry is created, add it to any other registry or post it to your Facebook and ask friends and family contribute to your postpartum service, rather than buying you more stuff.
More and more moms find they have to figure out postpartum alone. Is it any wonder why PMDs are on the rise? Or women are embittered by the journey of motherhood? We can change that by giving the gift of peace.
