Birthday Party & Presents - is this odd? - Page 4

[sweetpeas]

I've been to parties that go both ways & was kind of undecided about what to do for the girls' last birthday (first party that was more than just grandparents), but one of the mom's, when they were getting ready to leave, just pulled me aside & said that her dd would really like to see the girls open the gift from them, so we did, and then once we started, the girls went ahead & opened them all. I would think, if your kids want to see the gift opened, asking the mom if it would be ok would be a fine way of dealing with it.

[Zach'smom]

I never realized that whether or not to open gifts at a child's birthday party was such a hot topic.

Ds is turning 5 and we are having his party atone of those indoor inflatable party places. We only have 40 minutes in the actual "party room". We are oging to have 25 kids plus a bunch of adults. We are not going to have time to open the gifts. So we won't open at the actual party. I am planning on taking a picture of DS as he opens each gift at home to include with the Thank you notes.

At his last 4 parties we opened gifts at the party. It was chaotic! But lots of fun.

Opening the presents at the party is fine. Not opening presents at the party is fine too. Just do what works for your child.

[Ruthla]

Originally Posted by dukeswalker

I've been to a a few birthday parties of one particular family - in each one (2 diff. kiddos) the birthday child did not open gifts at the party. They save them until after everyone leaves to open them. My dd is always heart broken that they didn't open the gifts when they are there. I know that the gift opening can be a long, arduous process, especially when there are a lot of kids - but......

What do you all think?

I routinely do this with little kids' parties.

The "givers" often have a rough time seeing their friend get a bunch of presents and get nothing for themselves.

It's overwhelming and crowded and easy to lose track of who gave the child which gift.

Givers are spared the child's honest reaction if the child doesn't like it.

I only allow gifts to be opened at the party with big kids- maybe age 8 and up- because they're mature enough to handle it.

[bobica]

we don't open gifts at the party. it's too much to add to everything else going on. having the other kids be expected to sit while the birthday child opens a dozen presents is very hard to ask of them. my dd gets overwhelmed by the whole party & needs to decompress afterwards. we open the presents slowly at home.

and, we ALWAYS send thank you cards!

[moonfirefaery]

I think that is a little odd. I can see the downside. Most kids think it's exciting to see their gift opened. On the other hand, it can save some disappointment if the birthday boy likes one present more than the other. Plus it's probably easier to clean up the presents AFTER the party mess is done, too.

[mummy marja]

I understand how some families would want to save the gift-opening for later, but as a guest, I would like to see our gift being opened, and this is really important to my daughter as well. She can't read a thank-you note. She picked out the present, she wrapped it, she made a card, she wants to give it to her friend!

When Dd was quite young (2) she opened each gift as they arrived with the guests. That way she knew who it was from and it wasn't all at once, and it wasn't a big public spectacle. It worked wonderfully for us. Now that she's older openeing gifts with friends there is more fun. We do have small parties though (4 friends).

[Maiasaura]

[QUOTE=Zach'smom;6239779]I am planning on taking a picture of DS as he opens each gift at home to include with the Thank you notes. /QUOTE]

now that is a fabulous idea!!! thank you so much!!

pamela

[Flor]

This year I stole an idea from another party. When a guest arrived, I called ds over to greet them (he was 3) and he'd open the present right there. Since it was the onlypresent in his hand at the time he was so excited about each gift (and never said, what's next?) he got to interact with each guest for a minute before they ran off together. I liked that. I don't like watching him greedily open a stack of gifts, tossing aside the ones that aren't cool enough while I scramble around akwardly saying, "How wonderful, say thank you (poke, poke)"

[christinadanielle]

we didnt open the gifts until after at my dd's first bday. it was b/c the party ran too long and we ran out of time. it didnt seem like that big a deal