When your sister or Sister-in-Law welcomes their first baby into the family, chances are that you are more excited than they themselves. Their littlest feet make the biggest footprints in your heart. You envision your little one to grow up and say “If you think I am spoiled, you should blame my aunt!”. You want to make every moment count. You want to make it really special for her. You absolutely don’t mind putting in that effort and make your gifts stand out. If you are nodding your head in a YES then you are reading the right article. Here are a few thoughtful gifts that you will totally fall in love with.
WEEK #1 GIFTS
When the little bundle of joy arrives, everyone’s life gets super busy. Especially the new parents. There are hundreds of cute moments and selfies that are captured. But the new parent has little time or energy to frame that and put it up on the wall. Grab this opportunity and get them a life-size poster of “The DAY you were born”, complete with bonding moments with family members, time and date of birth, height and weight etc. Frame it if you can otherwise gift it as a calendar printed on high quality paper. PrintVista and similar sites also offer home delivery, so you can send this even if you are in a different city. Another idea is to put this up as a little surprise when the parents arrive home with the baby.
SETTING UP THE NURSERY GIFTS
While the parents would have probably ordered all the necessary items that the friendly store manager would have recommended, there are still a lot of things that the aunt and only an aunt can think of and want to splurge on. Take the case of extra-super-double soft napkins that would be needed in dozens and an aunt would love to splurge some additional money for the additional softness. The list of toys never run out. At first I thought that the baby cot mobile would be totally useless, but I was surprised by the amount of entertainment it provided to my baby. I was so wrong. The soft musical good night toy which comes with star projectors is another good indulgence. Babies love to watch the stars dancing on the ceiling and the soothing music helps drift them into sleep.
No baby experience is ever complete without a pack from Johnson’s. You can buy one where you get everything in one packet, from baby bath gel to specially designed rounded tooth comb. Life made simple. How else would you ever know what all to buy if you never saw a baby grow. And don’t forget to count the memories you will create for yourself every time the new parents make a log about the baby’s first tooth, first haircut and so many more firsts in the little memory book. Yes, there is a cute record book and a tiny cute little organic cotton onesie in there. Oh I so love those onesie pictures.
A hanging “My First Year” decorative picture frame with slots for every month of the first year would be the perfect wall décor for the nursery. Don’t forget to print these pictures too at every milestone and slide it inside the frame.
NEW-MOM’s LIFE MADE SIMPLE GIFTS
They say that when a baby is born, a mother is born too. So chances are that your sister or SIL will find little time to buy anything for herself for quite sometime, could be months. That’s why she has YOU. Buy her things that will make her life really simple. A simple accessory like a bendable portable torch that attaches to the book she is reading could be a God sent gift during endless hours of breastfeeding in a dimly lit room. Buy her a Kindle if she prefers to read digitally. A good quality feeding pillow is something which she will thank you for life. It will save her from developing a painful back. Make sure to pick one which rotates for different nursing positions. A simple snack-stacker will help her pre-measure the formulae for multiple night feeds or stack a variety of solids for various feeds during travel.
BACK TO DAILY GRIND GIFTS
After the initial euphoria settles down, what could you do to let the feel good continue? The answer is simple, pamper her. Book her a foot spa appointment at home, buy her a pretty bright colored top, aromatic body scrubs and hand creams are always a good bet, get her a Netflix connection or gift her a parenting magazine subscription. You will stay in her favorite books for LIFE!
YOUR PRESENCE – The gift of your TIME
This is the most precious gift. Set a day of the week or a time of the day when you can take charge of the baby. Gift her an hours of undisturbed sleep or bath-time or reading or walking, whatever helps her unwind.
Dear Sister, I love you for pampering me rotten with your time and most thoughtful gifts. But more than that I love you for being the world’s awesomest aunt to the kids. Hugs & Kisses.
What was your most memorable gift for the baby or as a new mom? Tell us in the comment box. What is that gift that you would like to receive from your sister or SIL, tag her and ask.
This article was first published here
An Urban Nomadic 