Comments on: Avoiding children’s party clutter

By: Traci

Traci — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 15:58:40 +0000

I have three kids (I’m done breeding now…) and here’s what I do.

For the younger kids, after opening the gifts, the ones that aren’t “wow” gifts either go to charity, or are reserved for another gift giving opportunity. Yes, folks, regifting is a great way to recycle, reduce and reuse. Just make sure that you don’t give the same thing to the same person!

Older kids (teens) don’t honestly get as many gifts, but the location of the party can have a lot to do with it. If the party is to take the kids to an amusement park or some other venue, the focus is less on gifts and more on the experience.

By: Nichole I.

Nichole I. — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 04:00:14 +0000

I think the best gift to give at a baby shower is diapers and wipes. What mom wouldn’t appreciate something that they are going to have to buy a bunch of for at least the next 2 years!????

By: Linda E

Linda E — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 00:25:19 +0000

Stop breeding? That’s your solution to childen’s party clutter? Talk about throwing the baby out withthe bathwater!

By: Rick Taylor

Rick Taylor — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 02:24:16 +0000

The best way to avoid children’s party clutter is to stop breeding. Seriously, it even comes with plenty of benefits for the rest of society. Consider it!

By: Lisa S.

Lisa S. — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 20:05:59 +0000

We don’t give children material presents. Instead, we usually make a date to take them someplace like the zoo, the aquarium, a local paddleboat lake, a museum, etc., and we make sure it includes a trip to an ice-cream parlor (with parental consent). The child gets the undivided attention of one or two adults, along with a special experience, the parents get the gift of less post-birthday clutter, and we get the gift of greater friendship with the great little people our friends and relatives are raising.

By: Colin

Colin — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 15:56:33 +0000

If you want to give a new parent something that won’t get pitched, don’t go cutesy because everyone does that. We tend to give a small package of stuff that they’ll actually need (like tiny nail clippers etc.) for maintaining the little so and so.

As for birthday parties, we live in an area where there’s a lot of large parties with entertainers and so on… we tend to cap the invite list at 5 – 6 kids and just play outdoor games with them. Very relaxing. However, I think our daughter has noticed what we’re doing because there’s some genuinely focused lobbying for a moonbounce for her 5th birthday…

By: jen

jen — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 03:55:36 +0000

I really like how my sister handles birthday parties for her boys. She puts on their birthday invitations that a) gifts are not necessary and b) if they would like to bring a gift, bring a book to be donated to their school library. (The boys are 6 and 8, and pretty much all their friends are in their class.) They still get gifts for their family and the odd friend of the family or classmate, but they also make a bit of a ceremony out of bringing all the books to the library, and their school generally puts it into the newsletter too.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 17:53:04 +0000

When we finally had “coming out” parties for our extremely premature daughter (in lieu of a baby shower before/shortly after she was born) we asked guests to make donations to the March of Dimes rather than bringing gifts. Some people still brought STUFF, but it dramatically reduced the amount of extraneous baby clutter we had.

By: mwschmeer

mwschmeer — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 14:37:19 +0000

Forgo the birthday party concept altogether. Celebrate quietly at home with your kids and teach them to live simple and uncluttered live, too. http://www.birthdayswithoutpressure.org/

By: Leslie

Leslie — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 14:08:24 +0000

I am in my mid-twenties and have never had any children, but many of my friends are just starting to have babies. I personally am very grateful for baby registries, because otherwise I don’t have a clue what a new mother needs!

By: M

Thu, 21 Jun 2007 14:05:51 +0000

This has been a hot topic amongst my friends. Similar to Kim’s post above the best solution we’ve heard is to suggest to guests that they donate to a specific charity. There is a story circulating at a friend’s school that one child raised $7000AUD for charity this way! (some school!)

By: Karen

Karen — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 14:00:16 +0000

I’ve heard of gift-swapping parties, where all the attendees come home with a gift brought by the other attendees (almost like a Christmas gift exchange).

That also does away with the onus of “loot bags” for the attendees, which is another huge bonus (not to mention financial savings!)

By: A Tentative Personal Finance Blog

A Tentative Personal Finance Blog — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 13:34:49 +0000

I am seriously considering not having birthday parties when I have kids.

By: J. Todd Leffar

J. Todd Leffar — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 13:31:11 +0000

Most of the parents of my daughter’s circle of friends (ranging from 3-5 years old right now) have no problem putting “No gifts please” on party invitations for their kids’ birthdays. We don’t either.

As mentioned, family members are going to get your child gifts no matter what (our families certainly do), so it’s not like you’re being cruel and heartless and completely cutting off gifts. We only have one child so far, and already she/we has/have too much stuff.

Of course, this can lead to a good life lesson about charity and “sharing” toys with children who may not have any.

By: Kim

Kim — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 13:16:52 +0000

We sponsor a child through a non profit agency. Our sponsored child shares the same birthday as our child. We decided to have a large birthday party for our child this year, and in lieu of gifts we requested donations to the non-profit that would go directly to the sponsored child’s family. Those funds were administered by the agency to provide directly for immediate needs the family had. We included information about the non-profit in the goodie bags we gave out at the party. Some folks still brought gifts, but we drastically reduced it from the 25 or so gifts she could have gotten.

By: Dr. Ragan, www.psychologyofclutter.com

Dr. Ragan, www.psychologyofclutter.com — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 13:05:29 +0000

I have come to rely on gift registries and get annoyed when the expected mom or bride says, “Whatever you get me will be fine.” I want to buy something I know my friend wants and needs. No registry always equals a gift card. I always set my budget before looking at a registry and if there is noting in my price range that is another gift card opportunity.

I don’t have an idea for a children’s party, but I recently went to a “stock the bar” party for a friend’s 45th birthday. That was fun.

By: molly

molly — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 12:46:38 +0000

A baby registry? Tacky!

You should be grateful for any presents received regardless if you get multiples or if you personally would have selected something else. But some people I suppose just want to shake down friends and family for things they want because they decided to get pregnant. It was your choice to get pregnant, you shouldn’t expect others to finance your decision. As for 14 baby blankets, that is the luck of the draw. I am surprised the gift givers didn’t offer to return the blanket for her and get something else (that’s a bit tacky too).