The Adventures of Baby Arthur

I want to elaborate a bit on hosting "baby pools". And i'm not talking about swim time, i'm talking about the baby shower game! As you already know, hosting a baby pool is a great way for your friends, family and co-workers to share in the joy of your pregnancy and a new life. Loved ones near and far can all get into the action! A baby pool is a game where each participant guesses what the birthday, gender, length and weight of the expectant child. Whoever's guess is closest wins the game. In this post, i'll quickly summarize on some pointers to make the baby pool a great success and some quick tips on game etiquette.

When I was running the baby pool for my son, everyone had a great time and got into it. Except I received one email from my cousin's friend who basically said: "Don't you have anything better to do than to gamble on the birth of your son?". At first I was confused. First, My son's baby pool did not require a monetary stake. Of course, anyone who did not put money into the pool was not eligible to win any money either! Second, I was not even participating in the pool myself. I was only organizing it so everyone else could have fun.

I concluded that this guy needed to LIGHTEN UP. Come to think of it, i'm not even sure how he even got invited in the first place! There is nothing wrong with hosting a baby pool. It's just a game and it's all for fun! Your loved ones are excited for you and want to participate in the pregnancy. Baby pools are a way to keep them involved! There are rules to be followed of course. The mom and dad to be must not participate in the pool as they have the inside scoop. The baby pool deadline must be enforced as those guessing later would have an unfair advantage. The mom and dad to be must also not give unfair data to anyone in the pool either, i.e. the estimate weight during routine sonograms would certainly provide an unfair advantage! It's just a game, but a game is most fun when it's fair!

Here are some things you should keep in mind when running your baby pool:

• A baby pool is usually a pretty male thing to do. Have the father-to-be organize it, it's a great thing for him to do since mother-to-be is getting most of the attention!


• Neither of the parents-to-be should be participating in the pool nor should they be giving out any unfair information! Information from regular doctor's visits is a definite advantage!


• The guessing period should start several weeks before the baby shower and conclude at the end of the baby shower event. If that timing doesn't make sense for you, the guessing period should end one month before the due date.


• The baby shower itself is the single best place to collect guesses! You should print out a bunch of copies of the guessing form for people to fill out so you can punch the guesses in manually.


• A monetary stake is not needed, but it certainly adds another level of excitement. $5 or $10 per guess is normal but it's really what you feel comfortable with. My son's baby pool did not require any money and a friend of mine gave away a prize to the winner of his son's baby pool.


• The winner of the pool normally gets all the money, but sometimes a percentage of it is given to the parents-to-be as a gift. Either way is fine, though it would be weird for the parents-to-be to take any of the money if they themselves are organizing the pool.

Just always remember that the baby pool is all about having fun! Click here to see my squidoo writeup about baby pools - baby shower game.

h7ub8sd56f

Labels: baby pool, baby shower, baby shower games