After the baby is born, make a free baby horoscope on a site like this http://www.astro.com/. Print it on chic paper, remove the tekst that points to the website, wrap it and pretend you went to an astrologer and paid for it.
Get a baby toy that has flashing lights and makes a lot of noise. You know, the kind that start up constantly, all by themselves, with no off switch and you need to unscrew the battery cover to get the batteries out.
For $50, maybe you can get two.
Had there not been a precedent set by having bridal/baby showers for others, especially in the recent past, as indicated by the OP, then not having one wouldn’t be a problem. Unfortunately, if this person knows she is not well liked (and, perhaps, encourages the dislike of her), she may see not getting a shower on work time as treating her differently than others and yes, creating a hostile work environment.
(the solution, to me, is to declare that no showers - baby or bridal - may be held on work time/arranged in the workplace. It comes across as grinchy, yes, but sometimes it has to happen. People can arrange and hold them outside of work).
Regarding the gift, you don’t want her to feel like she’s being stiffed, so the multiple things seems like the best way to go, with each wrapped individually as possible (though that creates wrapping paper costs). The clothesline is a great idea too - I like it a lot and may use it in the future.
Did the other people get a lot of gifts? I can’t wait to get the update on how this goes after she only gets a handful of things.
My first thought when reading the title was soap-on-a-rope, but I guess it depends on who you’re group showering with.
Target seems to have a ton of baby stuff on clearance right now so you might be able to get 2x 3x more stuff than you’d normally be able to get with $50.
Other people who weren’t a__holes got very nice gifts in the $400 and above range though not necessarily a multitude of items.
Anyone who’s really unhappy about this shower should keep in mind that it’s not the baby’s fault what the mother’s like.
Maybe a rattle instead of a pacifier? My son loathed pacifiers and would never use one.
Also, maybe a little board book (Sandra Boynton?) would be nice to include.
Yeah, but the baby can’t tell the difference between the Dollar General onsies and the pricer outfits from Tommy Hilfiger
Then I think you have every right to go to the HOD and ask him to cough up the difference.
It will be patently obvious to your co-worker that she has been stiffed compared to other employees, and if she’s as bad as you claim, will still have reason to complain. He’s the one trying to avoid problems with HR, but instead is putting the responsibility upon people who don’t even like her to smooth the waters.
I went to a shower where they did the clothes line thing, and it was rather impressive. I would def. go that route – and you could still clip a gift card to the line if you have money leftover.
This. Precisely.
None of us really care how obvious it is to her. She probably knows we would all love it if she left (preferably with security escorting her out). Our only interest is keeping HR out of our department. We had some good, fun for an office party showers for other people as recently as the last 30 days. She might have a legitimate complaint if she doesn’t get some sort of token acknowledgement. It’s worth a buck a person (and we are getting free cake and soda from the HOD) to not have HR in our hair. And I’ve ordered all the staff under me not give her any coathangers. We are definately doing the clothesline thing with a basket and jug of baby laundry detergent.