beyond the pale wrote:

With #1 I got quite a bit of religious oriented things- Christening dresses,
christening bibs, etc. I didn't really appreciate that because we are not of
a religion that christens babies and I think it's very presumptuous for
people to gift gifts with *their own* religion's themes. Not being
ungrateful, but it's just not appropriate. I've noticed that people do it
obliviously, like they don't understand why someone of a different religion
would not use the item.

What I'm a little mystified by is the notion that anyone
would give a Christening gown without coordinating first. Obviously,
you don't need multiple Christening gowns for a single child. Besides
that, it's not uncommon for someone to have a special gown in the
family already, or to have very specific ideas about what they want
in a Christening gown. It would sort of be like choosing a wedding
dress for someone and giving it as a wedding gift without discussing
it beforehand. And the more religious someone is, the more likely
they are to see all of the Christening/Baptism accoutrement as
something special (not that they'll necessarily value form over
function--a special gown isn't required--but you know what I mean).

Best wishes,
Ericka