[AK_MtnAnSith]

My daughter's 5th Birthday is coming up and we're making the invites. My worry is all the junky birthday gifts i know she will get. We are already brimming with too many toys and clothes. We're planning on bagging a bunch up to give to charity. Many of my daughters friends are not waldorf kids and each year she gets of ton of junk b-day presents. I was thinking about just asking that if people wanted to bring a gift, a simple handmade gift from the child would be so welcome. I didn't want to ask people not to bring a gift. I know I HATE when invites say "No gifts, please" because when I don't bring a gift, every one else DOES! And when I DO bring one, everyone else does NOT! You know how THAT goes!

: I don't want to put anyone in an uncomfortable position. I suppose I could threaten gift bringers with a flogging...
I also don't want to dictate what kinds of things people should bring-like I said, we have enough already!
How do you all think I should go about this?
Just grin and bare it and hope I can Salvation Army stuff w/out my Daughter realizing it?-fat chance! Or should I pull a "Mommy Dearest" and let her help bring the toys to a charity. I could exchange stuff...but Wal-mart is Wal-mart and there's nothing there....
Any help would be great!

 

[audreyhorne]

we are a fan of, "in lieu of presents, please bring a copy of a favorite storybook, as we will be having a book swap, and each guest will go home with a new book to read!" which has worked well--kids can keep swapping until they get a book they've never read before, your child only gets one new book, and you don't have to worry about party favors!

 

[SageR]

My dss is a huge animal lover, so for his last few birthdays he asked people to bring some kind of pet food he could donate to the local animal shelter. That worked really well. I am thinking for the little boys' birthdays this year we will ask people to bring some canned goods for them to bring to the food pantry.

I like to book idea too.

 

[PabloHoneySF]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyhorne we are a fan of, "in lieu of presents, please bring a copy of a favorite storybook, as we will be having a book swap, and each guest will go home with a new book to read!" which has worked well--kids can keep swapping until they get a book they've never read before, your child only gets one new book, and you don't have to worry about party favors!

We did this too and it was a huge hit!

 

[kghaffar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PabloHoneySF We did this too and it was a huge hit!

I have done the book thing two years in a row and it has been great.

 

[MamaInCA]

ooo love the book swap idea... can we get details of how it works?

 

[um_hanna]

we did this also, preloved or handmade

she got super cute jewelry and dress up dresses from older girls of siblings etc. It was nice, and I didnt have to return or donate ANYTHING!

unlike the 5 huge bags from christmas and the other days

lool.
Blessings

 

[dogretro]

I was going to recommend what Sage said about having a charity b-day. Bring pet toys, food, etc and then you and dd get to take it to the shelter and give it to them, bring food for a pantry, baby items for a womens shelter, etc. I think the book swap is another neat idea. Something else to do is have a theme party where everyone brings a part to a specific present. Such as, if your dd was getting a doll house, everyone could buy something for it, or everyone could give a book, or stuff for a new play kitchen, or things for a garden, etc. We are definitely going to lean towards theme gift & charity parties as our kids get older. I would rather anyone who wants to give a gift contribute to one nice thing than get 345893490 POC (pieces of crap!).

 

[AK_MtnAnSith]

Hey! Thaks for all the great ideas!

 

[counterGOPI]

not sure if this is helpful or not but we put this on our invites:
"the gift of your presence is the only gift required"

 

[JoyAnne]

we just had my son's springtime birthday party and asked that everyone bring a cutting from their yard or a packet of seeds. It was very sweet and we have really enjoyed putting in the plants and seeds while thinking of the dear friends that brought them to us.

 

[berrymama]

We asked that people bring a favorite memory, story, poem or blessing to share for my son's first birthday and people were very respectful of it (I was surprised!). Now he has several little stories about his first year, some handmade books, and some books and music handed down from cousins that he can reread and enjoy for years to come.

 

[PabloHoneySF]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoyAnne we just had my son's springtime birthday party and asked that everyone bring a cutting from their yard or a packet of seeds. It was very sweet and we have really enjoyed putting in the plants and seeds while thinking of the dear friends that brought them to us.

That is such a fantastic idea! Thanks for sharing that

 

[Wildersmom]

I am about to have a combined party for both kiddos. I have been struggling with the same thing. We are asking people to bring something found in nature (rock, shell, driftwood, plant we can care for, pinecones). I thought it would be a great green alternative and teaches my kids what we value (items found in nature, not plastic junk).

The party is in mid-May, we'll she how it goes.