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#11
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First birthday party, no gifts?
Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward wrote:
We've just been invited to a first birthday party in Somerville, MA, and the parents said no gifts. I feel silly going to a child's birthday party and not bringing a gift. I wouldn't want them coming to my daughter's party and not bringing a gift, even if I know it's likely to be something I don't want or need. It's not about me, it's about the child. What is the practice where you live? Mixed. Believe me, the gifts get *very* excessive after a while--even the kids stop getting all that excited about them. In general, saying "no gifts" isn't very polite. Making that choice is supposed to be left to the giver. However, if someone says no gifts, then you don't bring one to the party. If you really want to give a gift, bring one at another time, though the 'no gifts' thing is probably a clue that they're awash in stuff, so you might take that into account when selecting something. Best wishes, Ericka |
#12
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First birthday party, no gifts?
"Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward" wrote in message oups.com... We've just been invited to a first birthday party in Somerville, MA, and the parents said no gifts. I feel silly going to a child's birthday party and not bringing a gift. I wouldn't want them coming to my daughter's party and not bringing a gift, even if I know it's likely to be something I don't want or need. It's not about me, it's about the child. What is the practice where you live? The practice is to honor the party-giver's wishes. IMHO, the 1st birthday party is really for the parents to celebrate the first year with the child, not for the child him/herself. As another poster said, the child will be clueless about gifts and won't care. Jeff |
#13
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First birthday party, no gifts?
Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward wrote: What is the practice where you live? Personally I don't care about what the "practice" is where I live. We did not attend parties until the kids started turning 2, nor did we invite anyone to J's 1st party. I sort of feel that the "number of friends per year of age" is appropriate (though J had 3 kids in attendance at his 2nd party) and I am consistently flabberghasted by people who invite 40-50 people to their kid's first birthday party. It just seems tacky to me. As for gifts, I respect the hosts' wishes but I would bring a hostess gift, as I always do. Most of the time this is a bottle of local wine or a bouquet of fresh flowers. -L. |
#14
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First birthday party, no gifts?
"Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward" wrote in message oups.com... We've just been invited to a first birthday party in Somerville, MA, and the parents said no gifts. I feel silly going to a child's birthday party and not bringing a gift. I wouldn't want them coming to my daughter's party and not bringing a gift, even if I know it's likely to be something I don't want or need. It's not about me, it's about the child. What is the practice where you live? Well, we just went through this with 3 different friends' babies and ours. (all turned 1 between July 7 and September 12) At a year, they have no idea what's going on. They really don't care about presents, toys, cards, cake and people, really. First birthday is *definitiely* (IMO) for the parents. If the parents of the birthday baby say no gifts, then I would say respect that. Chances are, they're not saying that to be mean or nasty to guests or the child - they probably already have tons of toys, clothes and you name it, and more stuff is just an added headache for them. If you really feel the urge to bring something, bring a card, maybe. It's a lot easier for the parents to read a card and put it in a baby box, scrapbook or even the garbage. One friends who's baby just turned 1 in September had everyone over for just cake and coffee and said no presents, if you must bring something, bring a gift card, then they could go out and get the baby something as he needs it - be it clothes, shoes, a toy, whatever, but at this point, they just didn't have the room for a ton of random toys and clothes - which he currently has A LOT of! I, personally, would go with the parents' wishes. If it was the child's 4th or 5th birthday, I'd feel strange if the parents said no gifts, but at a year? No, I'd go with what the parents want. |
#15
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First birthday party, no gifts?
In article 1vvTg.4913$N4.2201@clgrps12, xkatx says...
"Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward" wrote in message roups.com... We've just been invited to a first birthday party in Somerville, MA, and the parents said no gifts. I feel silly going to a child's birthday party and not bringing a gift. I wouldn't want them coming to my daughter's party and not bringing a gift, even if I know it's likely to be something I don't want or need. It's not about me, it's about the child. What is the practice where you live? Well, we just went through this with 3 different friends' babies and ours. (all turned 1 between July 7 and September 12) At a year, they have no idea what's going on. They really don't care about presents, toys, cards, cake and people, really. First birthday is *definitiely* (IMO) for the parents. If the parents of the birthday baby say no gifts, then I would say respect that. Chances are, they're not saying that to be mean or nasty to guests or the child - they probably already have tons of toys, clothes and you name it, and more stuff is just an added headache for them. If you really feel the urge to bring something, bring a card, maybe. It's a lot easier for the parents to read a card and put it in a baby box, scrapbook or even the garbage. One friends who's baby just turned 1 in September had everyone over for just cake and coffee and said no presents, if you must bring something, bring a gift card, then they could go out and get the baby something as he needs it - be it clothes, shoes, a toy, whatever, but at this point, they just didn't have the room for a ton of random toys and clothes - which he currently has A LOT of! I, personally, would go with the parents' wishes. If it was the child's 4th or 5th birthday, I'd feel strange if the parents said no gifts, but at a year? No, I'd go with what the parents want. Yeah, first birthday parties are really an adults' gathering. It's de riguer in my area - I dont' remember *anything* like this growing up, though! Since it is really an adults' party, people can get around this whole no-presents-to-kid-birthday-party hassle by calling the party something *else*. Just invite folks over for a party, and the close friends and family know the baby is about to turn one. Banty |
#16
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First birthday party, no gifts?
On 30 Sep 2006 08:20:18 -0700, Banty wrote:
Yeah, first birthday parties are really an adults' gathering. It's de riguer in my area - I dont' remember *anything* like this growing up, though! I agree that they are really for the adults, not for the children. We did have a first birthday party for my kids. But, we only had 4 families (the kids were all the same age as this was my LaMaze class buddies). We just let the kids play in our backyard. We did have cake and blow out the candles. I think everyone had a good time. I'm not a big party person so I would never have invited 40 or 50 people anyway. -- Dorothy There is no sound, no cry in all the world that can be heard unless someone listens .. The Outer Limits |
#17
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