How much do you spend on a classmate's birthday present?

[mightymoo]

My DD is invited to her first birthday party for a classmate on Saturday. The mom requested books, which is easy. How much do you usually spend on a gift like this though? I'm not friends with the mom, though we say hi at pickup, DD does not hang out with the girl outside of school (though she doesn't do that with any of her classmates), so there isn't a special relationship here.

This is an OLDER THREAD - update/new discussion starts #31

[JanB]

Okay, first of all, I just gotta say that I think it's slightly tacky to specify exactly what gifts you prefer for a child's birthday party. A new book is actually a little more pricey than the gift we usually get for the kids' classmates when we go to parties, which is a little child's gardening kit from a local gardening store. It has three small pots, peat pellets, and seeds (we've done sunflowers and pumpkins in the past) in a little plastic greenhouse.

I think the kit costs around $7-8 or so. I wouldn't spend more than $10 on something like this. And I will admit that I have gone to birthday parties with no gift in hand at all. :

[SugarGlider]

I'd spend 8-10 if it were me.

[amj'smommy]

usually around $10 but I try to stock up on clearanced gifts if I hit a great sale.

[midstreammama]

My rule is $10.

We've never spent anymore on friends birthday presents. Sometimes she will find something a bit cheaper that she likes.

I feel like anything cheaper is not really worth it because it's cheaply made or whatnot.

[gurumama]

When Scholastic has its big $1 sale in the fall, I stock up on workbooks and games and such for birthday parties. These are normally $14.95, we give two items per kid, and so it looks like we spent $30 but we really spent $2 .

The dollar store often has nice books for $1.

[zinemama]

I never spend more than $6-7 unless it is a really special friend. You can definitely get a new paperback for that.

My typical gift is one of those 12-muffin mini-muffin pans ($6.99 at our local grocery) along with the dry ingredients for muffins and instructions for making them. I put the dry ingredients in a ziplock bag and the ds decorates it with stickers.

[mightymoo]

Originally Posted by gurumama

When Scholastic has its big $1 sale in the fall, I stock up on workbooks and games and such for birthday parties. These are normally $14.95, we give two items per kid, and so it looks like we spent $30 but we really spent $2 .

Is the sale through your school or online?

Originally Posted by JanB

Okay, first of all, I just gotta say that I think it's slightly tacky to specify exactly what gifts you prefer for a child's birthday party.

Well what she actually said was something like 'from parent to parent, a kindly request, when choosing a present, a book may be best (we are swamped with toys from christmas!)'.

Being someone who is sick of the influx of toys and not really wanting more piled on top I can understand that perfectly. I don't get the impression that I better not bring anything else, just letting me know the preference. I don't find this tacky at all personally.

This is very helpful. $10 was what I was thinking of spending, so I wanted to feel like that was reasonable. I'd love to manage something cheaper, but I don't have a lot of time since the party is Sat and I haven't bought it yet. LOL

[charmander]

$15.

[gurumama]

mightymoo, the sale is online. I am a part-time college professor, and list my college as my "school connection," but homeschoolers can list themselves as homeschoolers and get access to the online sale.

They sell realy cool bulletin board sets for $1, and I've found these are a huge hit for birthday gifts.

[ameliabedelia]

I spend more like $15-$20 on presents, however my daughter is homeschooled, so the only birthday parties we go to are for good friends, where I am also friends with the mom. I could defintiely see spending less if it were just a classmate, and not a special friend.

[CerridwenLorelei]

we did a book party one year

the cake was a 'book"
we played musical chairs with books as the prizes
we made two different kind of bookmarks..

for a schoolmate I would say 10 on a gc for halfprice. She/he can pick out what they like and maybe get twice as many kwim?

[mightymoo]

Originally Posted by CerridwenLorelei

for a schoolmate I would say 10 on a gc for halfprice. She/he can pick out what they like and maybe get twice as many kwim?

Do you mean halfprice books? I wish we had one around here, but we don't sadly.

[mamabain]

i can see that i am in the minority here but i don't buy gifts for anyone outside of family...

we might make some craft thing for the classmate, hand make a nice card, but we just don't have the money to spend on non immediate family members...

people know me and know that is how we live so it isn't awkward after you do it for a while.

i still go to parties and participate and my daughter is 5 so she doesn't think anything is weird when we make things for her friends. i will say that we end up leaving before gifts are opened most times just because i don't want the conspicuous display to happen and be expected at my house...

[tarheelbaby]

I think it would depend on how close we are to the birthday boy/girl. DS is not yet in school, but he has a couple of best buddies and I set my max for gifts at around $20-25. Of course, I always look for stuff on sale, and I rarely spend that much.
For a school friend w/ no special friendship, I'd look to spend around $10.

[dinade]

We do ten or less. I like it to look nice if possible but sometimes the money's not there and the dollar store is IYKWIM.

[1growingsprout]

$10 max.... if you go to barnes noble or borders they usually have a great selection of clearance books... also they are known to have buy 2 get one free deals... many kids books, paperbacks are 3-4 bucks...(curious george, pre-readers, the 8inch by 8inch books)

also coloring books and crayons are under $5 at discount stores....

just a hint, you may want to stock up on 'cheapie' but good quality gifts for just this reason... books, mini crafts etc...

[JanB]

Originally Posted by mightymoo

Well what she actually said was something like 'from parent to parent, a kindly request, when choosing a present, a book may be best (we are swamped with toys from christmas!)'.

Oh, no, that seems nontacky, you're right. I was envisioning something more like, "Oh by the way, bring a book as your present".

[Malva]

Between $10 and $15 CDN. And I'm spending less than most parents do around here.

[Glover_Girls]

I have been making handmade items. Recently I made a fleece no-sew blanket and matching pillow (it was for a good friend). Also, I've found that pillows are a hit especially with girls with fuzzy material one side and a cute flannel on the other. You can pick up fabric on sale anytime and have a stash. Use Joann coupons for getting pillow forms on sale.