"Gifts are optional"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've also seen "no gifts necessary" which I think is better phrasing but still awkward.

I wish there were a better way to say "it's really up to you if you want to bring a gift - if you know my kid well and are excited to bring something, great we welcome it. But no expectation that you need to."

You don't expect or want, but I think most kids do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:“Gifts optional” just means “bring a gift.” They have to say it because no gifts has become the default. They couldn’t figure out a polite way or something that makes sense because there’s no polite way and it doesn’t make sense.

Honestly this is good, it’s part of the death throes of birthday party gifts.

Birthday party gifts are alive and well. This maybe for the preschool crowd or younger, but at parties for older kids gifts are customary.

[Anonymous]

I had a good friend say for her son's party (paraphrasing) gifts are optional but if you must, a Target GC would be great. I sent my son with just a card and they dropped us!

[Anonymous]

I find both receiving and giving birthday party gifts for kids to be obnoxious. We can all get our kids whatever they want but we have to participate in this tradition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I find both receiving and giving birthday party gifts for kids to be obnoxious. We can all get our kids whatever they want but we have to participate in this tradition.

Have you ever heard that it's better to give than to receive? By giving your kids "whatever" you're not teaching them about giving. Just receiving.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No don't bring a gift as they gave you an out.

This. They don’t want them but feel bad saying it.

[Anonymous]

I hate any mention of gift at all. I don't mention gifts. Most people bring gifts.

[Anonymous]

Just as bad as no gifts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hate any mention of gift at all. I don't mention gifts. Most people bring gifts.

This is the way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tacky but yes, bring a gift.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tacky but yes, bring a gift.

This

[Anonymous]

Hmmm. I’ve put “please no gifts” before but I’m pretty sure I wrote “no need for gifts” on our recent invite and I’m only now realizing that may read differently. 😬

[Anonymous]

I wish there was a way to just tell parents to get together and buy like three toys.

My child doesn’t need toys. But he is very social so parties are big. It is almost disgusting how many gifts he gets.

It would be nice to just have three presents - just a few small things to open for fun.

But we are not allowed to say anything.

If people ask what he likes I will comment they don’t have to bring anything. They will always come back and press and so I will give small simple ideas like match box cars.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wish there was a way to just tell parents to get together and buy like three toys.

My child doesn’t need toys. But he is very social so parties are big. It is almost disgusting how many gifts he gets.

It would be nice to just have three presents - just a few small things to open for fun.

But we are not allowed to say anything.

If people ask what he likes I will comment they don’t have to bring anything. They will always come back and press and so I will give small simple ideas like match box cars.

We had a “no gifts please” party for our 5 year old last spring and 30% of attendees brought something. It was actually perfect.

(I meant no gifts and intended zero, but appreciated how it worked out in the end.) A lot of people will bring a gift no matter what, for better or worse.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely love that my kids have a knack for giving gifts to their friends. In our culture, we believe in the power of gifts to strengthen bonds. the joy of exchanging gifts adds so much value to our relationships. It's a beautiful way of emphasizing connection over material costs