How to Get Your Baby Shower Thank-You Notes Out on Time

So you've just gotten all your wonderful baby shower gifts and you can hardly wait to use them when your baby arrives. But you'd better not forget about the thank-you notes! There's nothing like a baby shower gift to say, "You'd better buckle down and spend several hours gathering up thank-you cards, writing your sincere gratitude, searching for stamps, and finding addresses for obscure relatives."

Overwhelmed? Here's a handy guide to help you be a good friend and relation and get your thank-you notes out of the way.

Step 1: Wait until your baby arrives before you get started. You're so busy with decorating the nursery, buying all the stuff you didn't get at your shower, and writing your birth plan, you don't have time for that kind of thing. Plus you're super pregnant and it's way more relaxing to put up your cankles and stuff your face with ice cream. Don't sweat it; you totally have time.

Step 2: Completely forget about the matter of the thank-you notes for the first six weeks of your baby's life. Why write thank-you notes when you could be sleeping?!

Step 3: Finally get out the cards and sit down to write the dang things, then realize that you can't remember who gave you what. Someone made a list, right? Was it your mother-in-law? Oh well, you're too tired to look for it now. Vow to figure it out later.

Step 4: A couple weeks later, find the list. Hooray. Now you can write the cards.

Step 5: A couple weeks after that, write the cards. Realize you don't have anyone's mailing address. Resolve to call your mother-in-law...later.

Step 6: Email your mother-in-law for the addresses (because that's way easier than calling). Wait for her to get back to you.

Step 7: A few days after you get the addresses, actually write them on the envelopes. Realize you don't have stamps. Resolve to buy them as soon as you get the chance.

Step 8: Make several trips to the store and forget to buy the stamps every time.

Step 9: Finally, your husband will get tired of all your little notes all over the house that say "BUY STAMPS!!!" and he will buy them for you while he's at the post office. Show him your gratitude...in whatever way you see fit... *wink wink*

(What? I meant cook him his favorite dinner. What were you thinking about?)

Step 10: Put the stamps on the envelopes. Forget to put them out for the mail carrier.

Step 11: Eventually, your husband will put them out in the mailbox.

Step 12: Dust off your hands and congratulate yourself. You got all your thank-you notes out before your baby was 6 months old! I mean, that's an accomplishment...right? At least you're a mom now and you can blame it on your kid.