The Robin Shower

With Mrs. Robin's due date rapidly approaching, Bill and I decided that it was time for us to throw her a baby robin shower. We invited all of the robins from our neighborhood, and we served tea and worm salad sandwiches. It was truly a lovely affair. The mother-to-be was positively glowing.

Of course, no baby shower is complete without an assortment of cringe-worthy shower games. I've never had the honor of hosting a baby shower before, but I discovered that there is no shortage of resources on the internet. With a little help from babyshower101.com, I was ready to be the hostess with the mostest. We decided to start with the "Guess Mom's Tummy Size" game:

Have each woman pull the yarn to the size they believe would fit perfectly around the Mother-To-Be's center of her pregnant tummy. After everyone cuts their string, compare the results to the Mommy-To-Be's actual tummy. Give a prize to the woman who is the most close! This is a baby shower favorite.

Because after all, what could be more fun for an expectant mother than having all of her friends, friends of friends, and random third cousins guess the size of her belly? However, when I approached the nest to try to measure Mrs. Robin's belly, she got spooked and flew across the street.

With a bit of coaxing, we eventually persuaded the guest of honor to return to her shower. Next, we played the "Guess the Diaper Contents" game:

This game is one of the funniest and most popular baby shower games. Have the baby shower host or appointed person moderately melt 5-10 different candy bars separately, placing each one in a diaper to be viewed by everyone. Mark each diaper as A, B, C, D, etc. Have everyone guess which candy is in each of the diapers. Make sure to use some candies that have nuts, toffee, caramel, etc. You are sure to get great laughs!

Seriously, who comes up with these ideas? We started by passing around a tiny, robin-sized diaper with a melted Snickers bar in it, but we were greeted by blank stares from all of the robins. Clearly they were not amused. Then I remembered that bird poop is white, not brown. No wonder our guests were confused.

OK, so our shower games weren't exactly a smashing success. We wanted to end the shower on a more positive note, so we decided to move on to the cake and punch. We served dirt cakes, which were a huge hit with our guests:


If you'd like to make your own dirt cakes at home, here's the recipe:

10 Peanut Butter Creme Oreos
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1.5 cups milk
1 package (3.5 oz.) instant chocolate pudding mix
4 oz. frozen whipped topping, thawed
Assorted worms and insects for garnish (if serving to human guests, you can substitute gummy worms and gummy bugs)

Chop Oreos in food processor.
In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth, using an electric mixer. Add milk and pudding mix, and beat on low speed until combined. Stir in whipped topping.
Spoon pudding mixture into 6 small bowls. Top with Oreo crumbs. Garnish with worms and insects. Chill one hour before serving.

Enjoy!

If you missed the shower but would still like to send a gift, Mrs. Robin is registered at Bird, Bath and Beyond.