Expat parents — how did you actually handle your baby registry with family abroad?
Posted by einsteinmc22@reddit | expats | View on Reddit | 15 comments
Half my family is overseas and every registry option I'm looking at seems built for one country. Shipping costs are brutal, currencies don't match, and half the stores don't deliver internationally anyway.
How did you handle it? Did people just send cash? Did you use something specific? Genuinely want to know what worked (and what didn't).
Mysterious-Pie-5@reddit
That is a sacrifice of having children in a foreign country far away from your family and friends. You don't get a baby shower and gifts from your family back home.
When I had my first it was during travel lockdowns and all I wanted was the travel bans to lift so my mother could fly over to meet and hold my baby. That's all that mattered. But that was a monetary gift that I needed her to pay for, I couldn't pay for her flight. I'm lucky she's in a position to afford international travel.
einsteinmc22@reddit (OP)
Yes maybe its true, but would be nice they can feel part of it
Mysterious-Pie-5@reddit
When you said the currencies don't match that implies there's not an easy way for them to transfer money to you. That would be a nice easier way than physical gifts. But if that isn't even an option than I think it's just a big ask to even play around with the idea of getting gifts
I'm not trying to be negative. Baby showers are a huge part of the culture where I come from. I didn't realize I would be as sad as I was that I never got a baby shower. And I know my extended family and family friends would have gotten and made such lovely things for me and my baby. And the party itself would have been wonderful. I had to grieve that I didn't get the baby shower I grew up imagining I always would have because I chose to get married and have children across the world. That's just what happened.
einsteinmc22@reddit (OP)
Yes simple money transfers would work but it seems a bit cold to ask people just for money
Mysterious-Pie-5@reddit
Yes it's very impolite. I assumed that went without saying. That's why you have to just be sad you can't have a normal baby shower. Trying to get gifts internationally will look tacky. If someone wants to send you a gift that's entirely different than you expecting people to.
Do you have a bank account in your home country? That's a way they could deposit money into your account and you access it where you are?
Jolly_Conflict@reddit
I made one for my home country and one for my current country.
einsteinmc22@reddit (OP)
Yes so I guess the home country just gets sent to your family there and you pick it up next time your there. And no big items.
mmoonbelly@reddit
Simple. Did not expect other people to pay for our children.
einsteinmc22@reddit (OP)
Its not so much about us getting things, its about people who want to be part of this being able to give
FinestTreesInDa7Seas@reddit
You don't need to be responsible for coming up with a way to let people send you gifts. If people want to be generous, just give them your shipping address.
mmoonbelly@reddit
Let them work out how to show that then. Don’t overthink it.
Megane-hime@reddit
We made a list in a local store, made sure it accepted credit cards. Turned out it didn't actually take foreign creditcards, so made a list on the local Amazon instead.
Some people still chose to sent us money and let us know what items to order from our local list.
Sufficient-Job7098@reddit
Didn’t bother with gifts
Annawiththesauce@reddit
I just made a list. Family who wanted to contribute chose what to buy off that list and we got it ourselves and sent them pictures. I also didn’t expect for anyone to send anything or any gifts from anyone that are not close relatives since we are the ones that chose to move away.
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