I had the pleasure this past weekend of attending that pinnacle of female rituals, “The Baby Shower.”  Of course, my emotions ran the gamut of excitement for the new mom and nostalgia for the fact that I was her first nursery school teacher (wasn’t that just last year?).  I felt that joy of knowing that the little spirit that was soon to be born will have a full and interesting life with these two parents who will be devoted to him, and yet  I  suffered the slight tinge of worry, (which, being Italian, just means that I am still breathing) and the impatience of just wanting the little one to arrive so we could all get started on getting to know him.  I sat with my “mother’s group”, that loyal group of woman who I was fortunate to be able to meet with weekly when our kids were growing up. We all exchanged current pictures of our children, grandchildren, new pets, retirement homes, etc. It was fun. 

     About halfway into the gift opening something struck me.  I suddenly realized that all the things that we had said someone should invent when our children were little, had now been invented!  It was incredible.  I can remember, as clear as day, rolling up two receiving blankets and stuffing them on either side of the infant’s head in the car seat so her little head wouldn’t flop to the right or left and saying “Someone should invent something to cushion the baby’s head in the cars eat”.  There it was, gift #5,  “Someone should invent something to keep the sun out of the baby’s eyes when you’re driving,”  I remember adding.  Walla!  Behold the car window baby shade.  I marveled at the special fitted shopping cart blanket/seat, foldable, of course, and created so that the baby doesn’t have to suck up 10,000 germs as mom cruises down the aisle, and the baby monitor that not only keeps you hanging on every breath, but also every movement, as this old mainstay has now gone video! Then there was the sippy cup that really doesn’t drip when it is turned upside-down, the highchair with the play station attached in such a way that mom would never have to bend down to retrieve a thrown toy again, and the potty seat that sings a song to the child when urine hits the target, thereby making a whole generation of mommy’s potty songs obsolete!  The piece de resistance, however, …the absolutely most incredible …the item that made me realize that there was nothing else in the world of babies to ever be invented again, was the Pee Pee Teepee.   Yes, if you haven’t already seen it, you haven’t lived.  No more surprise sprays as you change your little boy grandchild…just pop on the Peepee Teepee and rest easy (or at least, dryly), For this invention, we cannot credit mere mortals…for this, we must admit the gods must have surely been listening!

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