Did You Get a Push Present?

I took care of someone the other day that was asking about a "push present" (while they were pushing, ha!) They'd recently heard of it, and were asking me if I had ever heard of it. Working where I do, of course I've heard of it! I have had this conversation so many times. The woman mentions it, the husband thinks it something that SHE made up in order to get something new. And I always side with the lady, confirming that the push present is for real. It's actually a much bigger deal in other countries. Which I found kind of ironic, being that we Americans are probably the most spoiled of all people in the world.

Have you ever heard of a push present? If not, it's a present a woman receives after having a baby, or... after pushing out the baby. Yes, I understand that not all women "push" their babies out. It's just the name of the gift. I didn't create the name... I just received one. ;) See, not making it up.... Lots of people haven't heard of one. Lots of people also think it's ridiculous, and a lot of people think it's a great idea. I've heard it all. Trust me, I work in it... so, I'm serious, I have heard it all. :)

I did want a push present, but I didn't want something big and extravagant and ridiculous. Although, carrying a human around for 9 months and then pushing it out of my body, was certainly no walk in the park. Even if I'd never had a kid, I really truly believe that a woman deserves SOME kind of recognition or appreciation gift (from her spouse or significant other) for doing just that. Just my thought. Think what you may. Anyway, Derick also liked the idea, so we thought long and hard on my push present before Jake was born. In fact, I thought so long and hard, that I didn't go pick it out until after he was born.

I wanted something that every time I looked at it, I would remember it. I wanted it to be important and not just like flowers that quickly die, or a gift certificate that I would spend and forget what I got. I wanted something that would last.

My push present

My push present was this Pandora charm bracelet. I've seen tons of these, and they're SO cute when they're all filled up. I've known people to get theirs filled up really quickly. But I didn't wanna do that. I wanted mine to be first from Derick, and then after that, we decided that when Jake "got" me a present for the holidays, he would get me charms. Each one means something. So, not only did I get the bracelet with three charms to start out with (the baby carriage, the light blue bead, and the J) for my "push present", but each time I get another charm, it means something. And I can look down and know for what occasion each little charm was for too. The first three and the bracelet itself, were for Jake's birth and Valentine's Day. The one that says "mother" on it, was for my first mother's day. The purple-stoned one, I got for my birthday. It's amethyst, Jake's birthstone. All the others are a mixture of birthdays and holidays from then till now. I know what each of them are for, and each one makes me smile. The most questioned one is the owl. I guess it doesn't really look much like an owl, from what I'm told. Then the next natural question about it, is why an owl? Ha. My grandma has collected owls for long before I even came along. And in the past few years, I have become quite fond of owls. My grandma packaged up a BUNCH of her old owl stuff from jewelry to knick-knacks for me. If you ever see me wearing an owl necklace (which I almost always am) chances are highly likely that it came from my grandma. My favorite owl necklace was one that she wore when she was younger than me!

Anyway, my push present turned presents from Jake. :) I couldn't wait for the day that Jake could help me pick out the charms he was "getting" me. For Valentine's Day, he helped me pick out a bead last night. He liked the blue swirly one the best. I narrowed it down to three charms for him to choose from and blue swirly is what we ended up with. :) Eventually I'll fill this one up and we'll move on to another bracelet. I can not tell you how much I LOVE the idea that he's gonna grow up picking out charms. I assume some of them are going to be ones that I would probably never, ever pick out, but they'll mean so much to me because he picked them.

There ya have it!

So, if you have a lucky (pregnant, or someday pregnant) lady in your life... go on ahead... treat her with something special for loaning out her body and birthing your child. ;-) Sure, the baby is gift enough, but trust me,

that bracelet is so special to me and totally worth the thought of a "push present".

Happy Wednesday, friends!