No gift request for birthday party

[Anonymous]

I'm new to this but was just wondering if everyone really doesn't bring gifts when the invite specifically says not to. I'm leaning towards respecting the request, but just wanted to make sure. Should I bring something small or really nothing at all?

[Anonymous]

Christ, this again. There are only about a thousand threads on this. Why won't Jeff make this a sticky?

[Anonymous]

Have your kid make a nice card for their friend if you really can’t bear to take nothing.

[Anonymous]

+1 to the two PPs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Christ, this again. There are only about a thousand threads on this. Why won't Jeff make this a sticky?

Whenever i'm tempted to post a response like this I remind myself that not everyone has been reading these threads for years.

OP. Some people will bring a gift. Many people feel they've gotten burned by not bringing a gift when the other guests did, so now they bring one. Some people think it's unfair to the kids to dictate no gifts. Some people think it's rude to dictate anything about gifts. Most of us feel that you should accept the host's request and not bring a gift. There - no need to read the 6 pages that will be generated.

[Anonymous]

Every time I read post like this, I rewrite it in my mind:

"I'm new to this but was just wondering if everyone really doesn't bring siblings when the invite specifically says not to. I'm leaning towards respecting the request, but just wanted to make sure. Should I bring my other 7 children or really only the kid who was invited?"

[Anonymous]

Tacky. Say nothing about gifts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm new to this but was just wondering if everyone really doesn't bring gifts when the invite specifically says not to. I'm leaning towards respecting the request, but just wanted to make sure. Should I bring something small or really nothing at all?

We did not bring a gift.

There was one exception to this, it was my sons best friend and he really wanted to give her something. Outside of that, we did not bring gifts. Other people did, I got a few weird looks from people. I shrugged and said "The invite said no gifts, I took it seriously."

[Anonymous]

I always do what the host requests, and don't worry about it if others ignore.

[Anonymous]

Some people do. They are either very close friends of the host or people who didn’t read the invite very carefully.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I always do what the host requests, and don't worry about it if others ignore.

+1

My kid makes a card for the birthday kid. If the host says no gifts, I assume they meant it, and I comply with their request. I have no idea why people think it's more polite to straight-up ignore a reasonable request from your host.

[Anonymous]

I specifically said no gifts for my kid's birthday in kindergarten because my kid has so much crap in our toy room that I cannot bear the thought of him getting 20+ more toys. His birthday is also within 2 months of x-mas and I'm really trying to get out of the mentality that life is all about gifts. I will admit he is spoiled so I'm trying to have him see birthdays as an opportunity to celebrate with friends rather than get gifts from friends. Not wanting to be a total party pooper, so my compromise was that I asked everyone to bring their favorite book so we can do a book exchange. Follow what the parent asked because you do not know the reasoning for their request.

[Anonymous]

Enjoy the party without obligation, show up, have fun

[Anonymous]

Every time I’ve gone without a gift other people have brought gifts so I hate these parties.

If everyone came without one, great! But I havenet seen that happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Every time I’ve gone without a gift other people have brought gifts so I hate these parties.

If everyone came without one, great! But I havenet seen that happen.

I’ve never seen that happen.