Love that we no longer watch present openings. Love the no gift parties bc getting a gift is an errand we can live without.

About the cost of a book? ($15-20?) No adult really wants a ton of cheap plastic BUT the parents probable know the kid cares / is excited and this will make the kid happy. So buy something to make the kid happy. The amount spent doesn’t matter to the adults.

Almost all of the parties my preschooler has been invited to lately have been “no gifts.” Which is a big change even from a few years ago when my older child was that age. But it’s a lot of whole class parties and I am on board with the trend!

With my older DC who is in ES, it is more mixed. Parties tend to be smaller so I’d say it’s half/half whether gifts are involved. But in average we spend in the $20 range.

No one opens gifts at parties anymore, I am down with that change too.

$20-$30

If the child is under 5, I spend no more than $15. Amazon generally has great Melissa and Doug toys on sale for less than that. That is my go to. We also re-gift a lot of things we receive. Our house is too small so most things go in a closet to be given away.