The
right of passage.
During a blessingway, games aren't played and there is no gift-giving
for the baby. Rather, the focus is placed on the mother so that she
is surrounded with support and encouragement from family and friends
as she prepares herself for the transition into motherhood. Often
times, hand-made gifts and poems are presented to the expectant mother.
When to throw a Blessingway.
The blessingway can be given on the same day as the baby shower or
as a completely separate event. The advantages of having the blessingway
on the same as the shower is that family and friends already are present.
However, if you want the blessingway to be a more spiritual and sacred
experience for the mother-to-be, it might be better to hold it on
another day.
Blessingway
activities.
The activities you choose to have during the blessingway really depends
on what the mother-to-be would like to do. From sage burning to bless
the home to giving foot baths, a blessingway truly can be personalized
to cater to the mother-to-be. Rather than bringing a gift for the
baby, ask your guests to bring handmade or sentimental gifts or write
poetry for the expectant mother. Remember, there's no pink and blue
booties to get—the blessingway is to focus on the mother-to-be.
A
popular activity for blessingways is to make either a labor or birthing
necklace. For a labor necklace, buy two
sets of different colored beads (i.e., one set of green and one set
of yellow). Each set should have enough beads for each guest to get
one. At the beginning of the blessingway, ask your guests to write
down on a piece of paper one wish for the mother-to-be during labor
and one wish for the baby during its birth. Once everyone is done,
give each guest one green bead and one yellow bead. The green bead
will represent the wish for the mother-to-be and the yellow bead will
represent the wish for the baby. Then take a chord (make sure it's
long enough to fit all beads) and pass it from one guest to another.
Each guest should slip on the green bead and say what her wish is
for the expectant mother. Then slip on the yellow bead and say what
her wish is for the baby. Once everyone has put their beads on the
chord, make it into a necklace and present it to the guest of honor.
Then take all the pieces of paper with the written wishes and make
a journal or scrapbook with them for the mother to look through later.
(continued
on next page)
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