GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 25


grand occasions

CONNECT WITH GRAND

Gender reveal party? Yes, it's a thing
How two great-grands got the surprise of their lives

BY KATHY PALMER

W

hen my granddaughter-in-law Emily called me to ask if PawPaw
and I would host a "gender-reveal party" for her
and our grandson, my mind went haywire. Did she mean something akin to what Bruce Jenner did when introducing Kaitlyn Jenner?

Good grief! Had I been missing something?
Luckily, Emily asked me to put PawPaw on the phone, which
gave me time to ponder what in the world was she talking about?
As I readied to hand PawPaw the phone, I was gesturing madly
to warn him of . . . I didn't even know what . . . and, due to the
perplexed look on his face, decided it was best to put Emily
on speakerphone. The minute she said "gender-reveal party"
PawPaw looked at me with astonishment, like I was the crazy one.
And then, finally, she announced that she was pregnant with
our great-grandbaby.
Paradigm shift! Oh my goodness! Thank the Lord! Amazing
how fast you can go from what? to wonderful!

We're going to be great-grands!

Our first great-grandchild! We were so thrilled we began dancing,
high fiving, laughing, and, of course, feeling the proverbial tears
filling our eyes. "Fourth generation coming up," we cried, with
absolute delight.
So after we picked ourselves up off the floor and returned to
our grand selves, I said, "Of course, sweetheart, we'd love to host
your gender-reveal party." Yay! Then, as soon as we hung up,
PawPaw and I tripped over each other to rush to our computers
and Google, "gender-reveal party." We soon immersed ourselves
in a wonderful opportunity to create a playful and exciting way to
announce whether their new arrival would be a boy or a girl.
25 GRAND

SEPTEMBER OCTOBER 2016

Great GRANDp
arents to-be, C
harlie

Here's how it worked for us

and Kathy Palm
er knocked off
their feet with su
rprise

Emily sent out invitations via a private group on FaceBook, which
quickly elicited a flurry of congratulations and conversations,
and soon everyone was aboard. Emily then appointed one "very
trusted person" who would be the only person to know the
gender of the baby until the party. Neither Mom and Dad, nor
anyone else, would be allowed to know, even if they claimed
extreme duress and or exerted "grand" pressure.
The designated person got to attend the sonogram that first
revealed the gender, during which the technician wrote "girl" or
"boy" on a slip of paper and handed it to the trusted person for
safekeeping. Even Mom and Dad were kept in the dark.

Cody and Emily
-be
The happy parents-to

Is it pink or is it blue?

To start things off, we placed a huge placard-saying "Girl or
Boy? Pink or Blue? Yin or Yang?-on our front lawn, which got
our neighbors excited, too. Because Mom and Dad requested a
casual, easy-to-do event, we hosted an indoor/outdoor barbecue.
We decorated the party area with all the pink and blue it could
stand, including "It's a Girl" and "It's a Boy" banners and balloons
everywhere, and I do mean everywhere. All the drinks were either
pink or blue.
Upon arriving at the party, guests were asked to vote "boy"
or "girl." We recorded the tally on a chalkboard, creating
"team girl" and "team boy" groupings, one of which would
Continued on next page


https://www.facebook.com/GRANDmagazine/ https://www.twitter.com/grandMmagazine https://www.pinterest.com/GRANDmagazine2/ https://plus.google.com/114746402480325356757

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016

Contents
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 1
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 2
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 3
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - Contents
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 5
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 6
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 7
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 8
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 9
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 10
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 11
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 12
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 13
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 14
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 15
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 16
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 17
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 18
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 19
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 20
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 21
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 22
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 23
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 24
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 25
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 26
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 27
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 28
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 29
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 30
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 31
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 32
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 33
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 34
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 35
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 36
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 37
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 38
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 39
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 40
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 41
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 42
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 43
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 44
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 45
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 46
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 47
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 48
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 49
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 50
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 51
GRAND Magazine - September/October 2016 - 52
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/2024winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/2023fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/2023summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/2023winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/2022fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/2022summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/2022spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/2022winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/2021fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/2021summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/2021spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/2021winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/2020fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/2020fall_v2
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/2020summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/2020spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/2020winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20191112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20190910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20190708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20190506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20190304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20190102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20181112_drm
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20181112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20180910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20180708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20180506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20180304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20180102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20171112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20170910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20170708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20170506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20170304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20170102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20161112_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20160910_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20160708_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20160506_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20160304_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20160102_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20151112_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20150910_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20150708_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20150506_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20150304_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20150102_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/201401112_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20140910_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20140708_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20140506_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20140304_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20140102_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20131112_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20130910_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20130708_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20130506_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20130304_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20130102_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20121112_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20120910_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20120708_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20120506_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20120304_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20120102_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20111112_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20110910_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20110708_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20110506_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20110304_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20110102_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20101112_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20100910_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20100708_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20100506_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20100304_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/201001_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/200912_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/200911_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/200910_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/200909_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/200908_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/200907_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/200906_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/200905_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20080910_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/200904_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/200903_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/200902_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20081112_v6
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com