Early this summer, I co-hosted two drive-by baby showers. At first, I was appalled by the idea. I’m a born and bred Southern girl. We do things a certain way by tradition.
My mother gasped when I told her what my friends and I had concocted. “That doesn’t even make sense,” she said, turning up her nose.
But it worked. For the first shower, we set up an open-air tent in the new mama’s driveway, decorated it with streamers and balloons, dragged in a cooler of bottled water, and waited. It didn’t take long for the first car to arrive, loaded with excited ladies. They hopped out and stood by the car, a respectful 10 feet away, as my sweet pregnant friend opened the gifts they’d brought.
They visited a bit . . . until the next car rolled up blasting “Baby Shark” with young cousins hanging out of the sunroof and waving poster-sized baby pictures of the expectant couple. Such imagination! We tossed party favors through the first group’s car windows and waved goodbye as the rowdy second car eased to the curb. The parade of vehicles continued for the next two hours as the happy mama admired her gifts, nibbled on snacks and caught up on her friends’ lives.
The second shower (for her sister) was just as fun as the first. Heeding the advice of his brother-in-law, the new daddy erected a commercial fan to blow away Georgia’s scorching heat.
It was a WIN-WIN all around. Everyone was safe. The new mommies received the items they needed to swaddle and wash and tote and snuggle their babies. They spent quality time with their guests. And the guests didn’t have to suffer through all those party games that are baby shower staples. Best of all, the co-hosts didn’t have much set-up or take-down.
Thinking outside the box has become our new normal. When my circle of friends decided to move forward with our version of a baby shower, we vowed not to let a pandemic stop us from celebrating our young friends’ first babies.
That’s also how it’s been in my world of writing. For the past three years, I’ve met face-to-face once a month with my writing friends from the American Christian Fiction Writers N. Georgia Chapter. Since March, we’ve held our meetings via Zoom. It’s worked fine. In fact, one benefit is that we’ve hosted speakers from other states because it’s as easy to log in from New York as it is from Georgia.
I attended a conference last month that I wouldn’t have registered for if it hadn’t been virtual. I’ve always wanted to participate in the Realm Makers Conference, but it’s always been a plane ride away. I would have had to book a hotel room and purchase meals in pricey restaurants. This year, I joined it via Crowdcast . . . in shorts and a T-shirt sans make-up. Loved it! Check out my Storyteller Squad blog for my full rave.
Hunkering down at home has forced me to embrace new technologies, like Zoom and Crowdcast. I’ve also downloaded and somewhat mastered a few apps that help enhance my social media presence. I recommend Canva, Photoshop Fix, and PicsArt.
I firmly believe that years from now, we’ll look back at 2020 without cursing and say, “Yeah, that year forced me to think differently. And because of that, I’m in a much better place.”
What positive changes have you made in 2020?