Upsides and Downside of Kids Gifts
Paley's 5th Birthday Party (Megan vs. Ranbow Dash Party)
Now I am not going to go off the handle and say gifts are overkill or to much. They are a sign of love and friendship. The nature of giving to others is not only rewarding for the receiver but the giver. I love giving presents or treats and at times I will admit I have gone overboard. Well mostly with family. I will also admit over the past 10 years, I have learned to edit down my giving. It’s so easy to just start shopping for the holidays early and when it comes time to start wrapping. You realize that you have one to many gifts for one person. Then it becomes a race to level out the playing field and then it can really get out of hand. So you have to question, because of this error, do you just it all to them or hold onto it for their next birthday. Talk about first world problems.
After a few holidays of making that mistake, I’ve leaned to document using a holiday gift app. The same goes for birthday gifts. Having kids is an education in giving. So many people give either what they can give or just what they want. In the end, you really can’t judge others on level of giving because you have to pause and evaluate your own personal habits. You can’t relate the two at all, because that’s just being selfish! I love to give but have NEVER expected anything in return. I’m a Sagittarius, we love to give, give, give. It’s our nature. We want to share with the world and seeing other peoples delights and happiness is enough of a gift.
For us the only real downside of receiving gifts is our love or passion for hosting A LOT of parties. Some years we have hosted more than one birthday party for Paley because we want to share such an amazing moment our families evolving history. The guest list at these wonderful parties aren’t the usual numbers you’d expect, sometimes 50, sometime 80, sometimes 100. Clem hates the spectacle and prep but in the end we just love the experience and wonderful memories we create at these event. I’ll write another post on this to be more vivid.
Back to presents. We are blessed with so much family who care so much for our family. People really find some amazing little things you would never think of. I try to do the same for my family and friends. This last holiday I found an article in the Spring of 2012 about a general store in Kentucky who made their own brooms. I went to their site and ordered a broom for each family in our extended family. It was an odd gift but they all loved it.
The only advice I can give about giving gifts for kids, please pay attention to the age range listed for the gift. The one problem we have every xmas or birthday is when Paley receives a gift that is not intended for her current age or even 1 year older. Typically the gift is mean’t for an older child 2-5 years older. I try to hide the gift but it’s a struggle to get your child to understand they aren’t mature enough to play with the toy. Yes she can eventually play with it but for now I have to find a place to store & hide it so I don’t have to deal with a crying kid when they find it.
One year I attempted to divert gift giving for two of Paley’s birthday parties. I had asked guests for no gifts and instead announced we were going to be collecting canned food and donations for a local food pantry. I think about 1/4 of the guests made donations, while more than half brought presents for Paley. I tried! All in all, Paley is always all smiles when she unwraps each gift. Which is more than enough for us to cherish.