Birthday Party Season is upon us. Between now and the end of the month, we have something like 7-8 parties to go to, including but not limited to my own son’s. And with each one comes the need to bring a gift. Crikey.
Before Mr. B hit preschool, I used to include the “Please No Gifts” tag in his invitations. Really, he doesn’t need more crap. But then we started getting the invitations for school friends parties when they all started turning four. We made the ignorant mistake of showing up to the first party empty handed, and that’s when I realized that not every kid has those kinds of gift-free parties. The worst types of parties are the ones where the birthday kid sits there and opens all of their shiny presents in front of a bunch of drooly and nap-deprived toy coveters. That one always ends badly. Mr. B’s birthday is at the end of the school year, so when we finally had his party, I said “Screw it!” to the no gift policy and let the boy have his way. Damn it, we’d spent hundreds of dollars on little gifts for the 20 or so parties we’d attended throughout the year, each one meaning a stressful trip to a toy store in which I had to explain to Mr. B that we were not there to buy something for him (I quickly learned my lesson and did most of the rest of the shopping on my own). So, Mr. B could certainly have his day. I really applaud the parents who stick to their guns and hold firm on this gift thing. Out of the 15-20 invitations we’ve received to little kid parties this year, only three parents requested donations to charities in lieu of gifts. To them, I stand and give an O Captain My Captain applause. My kid? He scowled and threw a fit when I suggested this. Not in to giving, I guess, and I’m too much of a pushover to stand my ground.
With that in mind, I’ve run out of ideas. What kind of toys do you enjoy giving to five year olds? What’s the new IT toy? That runs approximately $10-$15-$20?
For boys we usually do LEGO sets around $10 and girls we do Ponies or Barbies or something. I don’t like spending more than $10. I used to try to do the no gifts thing, but people still brought gifts. Thanks for stopping by the Sit and Relax hop! Have a great Mother’s Day weekend!
If you have a World Market they have some amazing gifts made form wood for kids of all ages and they are super unique and usually enivronmentally friendly (and cool). You can always get a 30% coupon off their website too!
ALL of our birthdays are between August and December…plus Christmas…it’s a NIGHTMARE! I feel your pain!
love your colors and simplicity.. tried to follow but the follow button is missine
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Michelle – I like the LEGO idea. Have a great Mother’s Day yourself!
S. – I haven’t ever been inside the World Market, but perhaps I should try it out soon. As for the birthday jam, I guess August 2005 was a busy month!
FLAG – thanks for the follow. I think the button is fixed if you want to try it again?
We recently celebrated our daughters first birthday, and we asked everyone to bring their favorite childhood story book instead of toys and all that good stuff, because we already had so many toys. But no one listened to us. People are going to do what they want to do. =)
Im a new follower!! Hope you can stop by my blog sometime and follow me! =)
http://lilgerhardts.blogspot.com/
i hear you on this…seems every weekend there’s some b-day, wedding, or shower. i always say “no gifts”, but people end up bringing anyways…and it’s kind of how it is here, we just never show up empty-handed. so i always buy “educational” gifts…books or puzzle type things, sometimes a subscription to kids time magazine or hilights.
found and following thru the sit and relax weekend hop.
rockoomph.blogspot.com
The Gerhardts – hi there! Welcome and glad you’re following along. I’ll be sure to do the same. Yeah, I know that even when we’ve put the no-gift clause on there, we still get gifts. I think folks just like picking out toys, and why not? It’s fun!
oomph – Oooohhh…I like the magazine subscription idea! That’s a great one! Thanks for following along – I will return the follow!
hope you had a fun day last sunday (mday)
i like your site. good posts.
keep on writing ( :
margaret
http://margaret-online.com
Great post! I respect your decision to ask for no gifts – you are right, kids accumulate so many toys it can get ridiculous. I plan on instilling the same rule I was raised with: for every new toy you want to keep, you have to donate one of your old ones.
Thanks, Katie. Your rule is one we’ve subscribed to as well. We did the same at Christmas and will do so again after Mr. B’s birthday. We have such a small house, there’s no room for all of it!