Gender Reveal Parties What the Hell???

Re Hallowe’en, IMO it’s only become such a huge thing here because of the mass of very cheap black and orange tat in the shops - I dare say a lot of it made in China.

Though having said that, yesterday in a big Asda I saw a huge white scary-faced spider-shaped ‘skeleton’ - I know Gdcs would absolutely love it, but luckily not even remotely tempted since they’re going to be away for the H-word this year.

I will be putting a modest-sized pumpkin* in the window and be ready with treats - we usually get at least a dozen children round.
*By culinary magic it turns into a Thai- style soup the next day.

I loved not knowing what sex my three were.

It all seems so ridiculous, particularly now that so many couples are bringing their children up as gender neutral.
Maybe we will move onto ceremonies where young people decide their sex?.

And as grandma isn’t it just magical to get that first phone call “it’s a .... !”
?❤️

Something else which America seems to have started. Pointless and just an excuse for unnecessary expenditure. My daughter opted not to know sex of all three of her babies until actual birth but she had to remind medics not to say throughout her pregnancies.

Paddyann I know about how Halloween started but the Halloween we know today was started in Usa the witches coffins, Skeletons, the begging, the going round asking for sweets or they ll prank you that was brought over from US
One of things I think s so awful about gender reveal is the whooping and delight that you haven’t got the other sex what if there’s already a child of the other sex in the family what if it’s wrong, it’s just total nonsense, a child should be welcomed whatever sex it is and however it arrives

Personally I would hate it, and I agree with MissAdventure, no one will be bothered either way what sex the baby is going to be.

My granddaughter watches them on TikTok and they don’t always go well

MissAdventure

I think the important thing to remember is that most people couldnt give a silent fart what gender someone else's baby is.

Apart from the parents, grandparents probably, I would agree.

When someone had a baby, you would be quite interested and say “Is it a boy or girl, and is everyone ok?”

Now, we’ve all heard beforehand the sex, due date, expected weight, colour of nursery….

Nothing’s a surprise anymore.

A bit like this.
After looking at the cakes on Google, it’s usually the sponge that is coloured, not the goop

Urmstongran

Apologies FC “ice the cake inside. ? never heard of that before.

Sorry Urms I’ve just explained it very poorly.
Just as I’ve never given birth; I’ve never made a cake.
I mean the creamy, icing stuff between the layers of sponge.
My cake vocabulary is letting me down badly here…

Apologies FC “ice the cake inside. ? never heard of that before.

I think everyone would guess by the colour of that icing on the cake Fanny so there’d be no need for a hidden photo!

I saw one on such event on the marina in Málaga a few months ago. Coloured smoke was set off and the extended family (only a small group) squealed with joy at the ‘reveal’.

I've seen several of these parties in USA TV shows in Netflix...what can one day just more excuses for parties and consumerism. Not for me. I don't think we routinely scan simply to discover the sex do we?

Bluebelle Halloween isn't American it started in Scotland and Ireland before America existed and was taken there by us,Of course we didn't do the trick or treat thing ,we all just sang a wee song or recited a poem or danced for out loot ,peanuts an apple and a sweetie usually ,if you were lucky a threepenny bit nowadays a pound .It seems only England didn't celebrate

I think the important thing to remember is that most people couldnt give a silent fart what gender someone else's baby is.

I think that originally it involved cake. And it was about 15 years ago.

It went something like this.
The person who does the ultra sound (I’ve never had a baby, so forgive me if I get any of this stuff wrong) would put the sex of the baby in a sealed envelope.

You’d then give this to your cake maker and they would ice the cake inside with blue or pink icing.

So both parents would cut the cake, and they and whoever else would find out the baby’s sex together.
I actually think that this is really sweet.

But of course, it’s moved on apace, sometimes with disastrous results, especially in the States.
One gender reveal party started a wild fire; I recently read of one idiot pair poisoning a river with ink; and there is even something involving an alligator that went pear shaped

Blimey that’s not like you Hithere ???

To each their own

Another American import thats been around a good while another silly unnecessary reason to spend money
As you can see I m not a fan and each year they have to outdo the year before with new ways to show what sex the baby is another American import I dislike intensely
Proms, Childrens Beauty pageants, Hallowean, Stag and hen weekends abroad, baby showers…… I m sure there are more

Not my thing really, but why not if they want to celebrate. I mentioned to a friend who had been to one, that I thought the word ‘gender’ had unpleasant connotations, but she just laughed and said ‘sex-reveal’ sounded worse.

A friend of mine used to make celebration cakes and was often asked to make Gender Reveal Cakes. She felt quite privileged to know the sex of the baby - normally concealed in an envelope - before the parents, but she often wondered what all the fuss was about

Nobody’s baby is born with a gender.

Apart from that, unless you’ve had a test such as amniocentesis, nothing is set in tablets of stone. A couple I know were expecting a baby girl last Spring. When she arrived, she was most definitely a he! ?‍?‍? ?‍?‍?They had a shed-load of pink clothing and equipment, none of which could be returned as it had all been removed from packaging and washed.

I can understand the parents wanting to know the sex of their baby, and if they do find out, which pretty much everyone does now, I can understand their telling others - it’s exciting - but a party seems a step too far.

As mentioned earlier, there are often baby showers too, these days, and it all feels a bit much for me. I made quite complex cross-stitch pictures for my sister’s grandbabies, and wasn’t finished them until the births. The kits are expensive and the framing even more so, and that’s without the work that goes into them. The last thing I needed was two more excuses for present-buying before I’d even told the parents-to-be that I was making them, but I didn’t want to turn up empty handed. I think things like this put people on the spot.

This is nothing new.

Love your comments Witzend....

I agree , ridiculous self indulgent nonsense!! Of course a new baby is a source of delight but a gender reveal is unecessary and pointless.