We'll be having a party for some friends this weekend and I'll be bringing cupcakes to her school on the big day.
While party planning I was stuck with a bit of a conundrum.
I want Hannah to have a fun day with all of her friends but the thought of 15+ gifts is simply overwhelming. So I started looking for kids' birthday party registries where people could make charitable donations instead. I came up pretty much dry. One site did pop up but it was an environmental themed site (e-invites...) that wasn't really the direction I was looking to pursue.
So we sent out the invitations with no mention of gifts. I know Hannah will be getting some big ticket items from our immediate family - things that I have been wanting her to have for quite some time - but those other gifts from friends seem highly unnecessary. Chances are that most of them will be toys, which she really needs none of. Hopefully there will be a few arts & crafts projects mixed in (Play doh, crayons...)
I don't want to seem ungrateful to any of our friends. I just don't want to put a bunch of shiny boxes and bags in front of Hannah to tear open and then forget about the next day.
So I've decided that we'll be donating some of the gifts to the Montreal Children's Hospital. Sure, I could return them all in exchange for clothing (which she will desperately need come summertime) but instead I figure this is the perfect opportunity to start teaching her about helping others at an early age.
How do you keep your kids from being overwhelmed by birthday gifts?
No comments:
Post a Comment