Quiltingboard Forums - no gift birthday parties

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Quote:

Originally Posted by JanTx

My daughter and her friends are doing something I think is absolutely awesome. Their little kid birthday party invitations say "Just come and join the fun - no presents please. Micah will be getting plenty of new things from his family."

When she first told me this I thought - yeah, right! Figured people would show up with presents anyway, but ... mostly not. Between parents and grandparents there were enough gifts to be fun at my grandson's recent three-year-old birthday party, but the emphasis was on playing at the park they used, feeding the ducks on the lake, tossing the frisbies she had for favors... just running around and having fun.

Instead of spending big bucks she rented the pavilion - $25. Bought the frisbies - $1 each for 20 or so. Had fruit (I provided that) a donut cake - wait for the picture - it was SOOO cute - and little pigs in a blanket. Juice boxes and water bottles in a cooler. Baggies of bread for each child to feed the ducks. A few ballons and some plastic tablecloths and they were done.

I hope this trend continues. I remember sacking up some of my kids' toys to bring out later in the year. It was just too much stuff!

Love your party ideas. Being a grandma now I encourage our kids & grandkids to plan a fun party. Cake, snacks or beverages and a day at the park is beats expensive gifts anytime in my book. I want to be remembered as a fun grandma who plays at the park, has pj parties with cousins, makes cookies with the kids and find realy cool parks to play at.

My kids are grown-youngest 30- & I too feel all the parties & proms etc have gotten out of hand. I think the birthday party that Jan Tx describes above is the way they should be!! It sure looks like they had a lot of fun, are happy, had plenty to eat & what a great idea with the doughnuts! I would have been happy attending that party;).
I also love the idea of bringing canned goods as a party donation! I don't know how things have/had gotten so out of hand, but I'm glad to see some people can still throw a fun party without going nuts!!!
Maybe these ideas should be sent to some mags. in their "HINTS" section so others can see how to do a great party without going overboard.

We always did that for my son't birthday parties. We used to invite a lot of kids and I always thought it didnt' seem right for a kid to get 20 presents, and we didn't want anyone to stay away because of the present issue. We also just wanted the party to be about having fun.
But we have never had another person do it.

Boy, that sounds like a wonderful idea ! Wish that was done around here. HMMMM, have to mention that to DL.

All great ideas, ladies. Birthday parties have become a "keeping up with the Jones's" thing to see who can have the biggest, most expensive bash. I know of one couple who even rented a limo so their daughter (age 8)and her friends could ride to an expensive restaurant to eat. Of course, they had to wear expensive formal clothing that evening. I just about gagged over that. Let the kids be kids and quit trying to make them grow up too soon.

what a great idea!!! It looks like you had a great day!!!

PERFECT birthday party for all ages :-D

The best party I ever did was for my daughter when she was 12. What do 12 year old girls want? They want to be free of Mom & Dad and they want to shop. I figured out what it would cost to do the big party thing and divided it by the number of party goers, worked out to $20.00 each. I called my sister to see if she would hang out with me and we went to the mall. I gave each party guest the $20.00 (told them they had to get dinner out of that), Sis and I found a table in the mall, made sure that DD had a cell phone and let them go. They browsed, met other kids, saw and were seen, got a big piece of pizza and a drink for under 4 bucks. Sis and I had a nice dinner and chat at the table in the mall and were close by if needed. Afterwards we went home and the girls did the popcorn and movie thing and slept over. It was great.

This is the most sensible idea I've heard in a long time. I've always thought it crazy anyway to have a huge party for any kid under 5 as they won't remember it anyway. It's fun to have a family party with a cake but kids nowadays have too many toys already...don't I sound old?