The Shower
The first time my mother told me she was hosting a shower, I thought all the ladies were going
to have a shower together! I couldn’t figure out how they would all fit in the bathroom. When I
was a little older, I used to help my 
host showers. I always wore a party dress.
But first, I would help her decorate the room. We used lots of paper storks and red and green
crepe paper. We used to fix up the laundry basket for people to put their gifts in. We made it look
like a baby cradle. At the party, I would pick out the gifts and hand them to the guest. Then the
ladies used to games. I used to pass around the paper and for
word games. One time they had races such as fastening and unfastening safety pins, or snapping
babies’ clothing. The team I was on . After the games, I helped to serve the
sandwiches and cookies. The lady from across the street used to bring that were
shaped like balls and rolled in pink or blue sugar. There was always great food. Nobody seemed to
worry about calories in those .
- What color was the crepe paper?
- What did the author wear?
- Is the author male or female?
- What kind of shower is the author describing?
- Did you ever go to showers as a child? Were they like this shower?
- Do you think people should be concerned about calories?
Norton, M. (1988). Journeyworkers: Approaches to literacy education with adults – Tutor’s handbook. Calgary, Alberta: ACCESS– The Education Station. ISBN 0-921071-38-8. Used with permission.
Handout 6.1