Nicole and I have been struggling with this topic for months now. Many of our family and friends have been asking whether or not we’re going to hold a baby shower, how and when we’re going to do it. Is it going to be held in Portugal? Will we have a remote babyshower? How can you send us gifts?

The short answer is No. We’re not having a baby shower. At least, not in the traditional sense.

I wanna walk through a few reasons why we’ve come to this decision, some compromises given the worlds current situtation and an alternative that we’ve been considering.

Shipping things to Portugal is difficult and expensive

The first point I want to make is that shipping things to Portugal friggin’ sucks! Sure, you can send something here, but it’s not going to be simple or cheap. In some cases, shipping fees can be more expensive than the item itself.

To give you can idea, you can read this article on the subject, but to quote the article directly:

imports need to be declared to local customs authorities so that duties and taxes can be assessed. An import duty is a tax that the importer has to pay to bring foreign goods into his or her country.

So when does this tax have to be paid?

After the item is shipped, duties and taxes are due at the time of declaration at the local customs at the country of destination. They must be paid and cleared before the package can be delivered to the recipient.

This means that they carrier will review the contents of the package, determine the value and require that we pay a tax on the value of the items on pickup. On small items this probably isn’t a huge deal, but it’s something to consider before you decide to send us something.

We are likely moving back to the US next year

Another point I wanted to bring up is that we are likely going to move back to the US next year. This means that we are going to have to either figure out how to move all of our stuff back to America with us, sell it, or throw it all away.

We can’t possibly take all of your gifts back home with us. We are going to be traveling with 2 cats, a dog, all our worldly posessions and a child. We don’t want to accumulate too many things.

Are we comfortable asking for gifts during quarantine?

We also want to acknowledge that this is a difficult time for many of us. I am quite fortunate to be employed and able to work remotely during such a difficult time for everyone in the world.

I assure you all that our child has everything she needs; clothes, a bed to sleep in, a stroller, car seat, bottles, diapers, etc.

We are sad to think that we can’t have a baby shower in the traditional sense, but we agreed it feels selfish of us to ask all our friends and loved ones for stuff while our friends and families are fighting their own personal battles.

We are considering a “Baby Introduction Party” when we return to the US

As I’ve said above, we will be moving back to the US at some point next year. When we do move back, we’ll have to start over from scratch. We are thinking of holding a remote-first baby introduction party where we introduce our child to our families and friends via Zoom. This will be the best opportunity for all of you to help us get back on our feet in America because we’ll have nothing, we’ll need absolutely everything all over again! bottles, diapers, clothes, creams, accessories, etc.

At that point, we’ll be back in America where Amazon, Costco and every other shipping company can conveniently reach us. You can order gifts by mail and hopefully the world will be in a better financial standing at that point.

A final word

To everyone who have reached out and asked us how you can send us gifts. We truly appreciate all your love and support.

Thank you

We’ll get back to you soon with how we can share our new family member into your lives.