2nd Birthday Party Invite... You Forgot Bubblewrap and Purell...

[marcyinPA]

A Gift is just that... A GIFT. It is not a demand to be made by the receiver. It is a fortunate coincidence when someone cares enough about you to purchase something special for you for any occassion. WHAT the thing is does not matter much, you should be grateful for the mere fact that someone has cared enough about you or your child to put the thought and time into buying a gift.

Telling people what to buy is in essence dictating someone elses kindness... and it loses some of the point. If a gift giver asks for recommendations then OK, tell them what you think the child would appreciate most.

However the most important thing is to be grateful for WHATEVER happens to show up in the gift wrap. I think too many people have lost this very basic ettiquette in regards to gifts. If you truly hate it, you can always donate it later or return it. But don't dictate gifts, try to be happy somebody loves you enough to give them.

I don't care if it is a gift wrapped turd, if that turd given with kind intent than I will thank someone for it and be happy that in some weird way they cared.

BTW: At age 17 my grandmother brought a friend to our family Christmas party. To be kind, the friend wanted to buy a gift for the grandchild (me). After hearing my grammy talk about me, she assumed I was 3. I received a pink plastic pretend tea time set. You can bet that even though it wasn't right for me, my face lit up! I smiled and profusely thanked the friend for being *thoughtful* enough to get me a gift which I could take with me when I babysat. I babysat for two families with small girls and procalimed the tea set to be absolutely perfect to bring along. I can't tell you how relieved that woman looked after that.

I completely, 100% agree with you!!!

 

[Darsa]

Get him a kazoo

Wow, so you're related to the ONLY human being who'll be alive in the world after the rest of us kick off from all of the horrible things we've been playing with for decades? How cool!

I know I'm doomed; I was once dared to eat a dog biscuit, and did it.

At age 17 my grandmother brought a friend to our family Christmas party. To be kind, the friend wanted to buy a gift for the grandchild (me). After hearing my grammy talk about me, she assumed I was 3. I received a pink plastic pretend tea time set. You can bet that even though it wasn't right for me, my face lit up! I smiled and profusely thanked the friend for being *thoughtful* enough to get me a gift which I could take with me when I babysat. I babysat for two families with small girls and procalimed the tea set to be absolutely perfect to bring along. I can't tell you how relieved that woman looked after that.

Oh my, I can only WISH that most people were as gracious as you about receiving gifts!!

 

[Ceila]

My mom only let us watch PBS growing up, and it's not a big deal. But if someone had bought us anything other than Sesame Street stuff, we wouldn't have understood what it was all about.

This makes no sense at all. Even if you didn't recognize the characters from a particular TV show, you could still read a book with those characters in it, or play with a doll based on one of them. You don't have to watch a show to be able to play with toys based on that show.

For a modern example, a child who has never seen Dora the Explorer could still play with a Dora (a girl) doll and a Boots (a monkey) doll, correct? Gee, I think they could use their IMAGINATIONS to play whatever they wanted with those toys!

 

[HelenePA]

Apparently she didn't do her research , Diesel is the real ******* of the group.

James is just a youngster trying to keep up with the big older trains.

Get it straight Mom!!

We were watching Thomas (On dvd!!) tonite.. James is just REALLY into himself when he gets his new coat of paint. ds#2's middle name is James.. after the train.. I liked the name!

 

[Mickey's Minion]

I wasn thinking a monkey or maybe a calf. They aren't too messy.

Didn't somebody recently post about buying a share of a dairy cow somewhere overseas?

How about buying the kid a share in the cow, give him a metal bucket (nothing about metal in the invite), fill it with irresistible pictures of "his" cow and then tell the boy to ask Mommy to take him to go milk his cow.

Nothing can match a 2 year old for persistence. "Mommy, when are we going to go milk my cow?" a hundred or more times a day should send her over the edge.

 

[TiaMaria]

...And whatever you do, make sure that you open any packaging your gift comes in or, if a book of some kind, be sure to write a personal message in it.

This is what my sister and I have resorted to with my niece. We began to notice that our gifts (whether it was toys, games, books, clothing) were never to be seen again. Of course gifts that were given to our niece from my DSIL's side of the family were treasured and brought up again and again (even if we got the same or similar gift).

We suspected (with good cause) that our's were either returned or "re-gifted" so we would encourage our niece to open them on up and begin playing with them once DSIL was occupied with something else! This can also be accomplished by saying "Let's open it up honey and put the batteries in for you". Again, with books, puzzles etc - we would write a loving, touching personal message to her in a spot that could not be covered up or removed.

Works like a charm!

 

[hereyago]

Go on Ebay or the like and see if there is a bear that sings "Livin La Vida Loca" and buy it for said child. THe bear wears a leather jacket and i think he wears sun glasses. Sadly, when DD was little, her bear had an untimely accident. ha ha that thing drove me nuts.

 

[ShesAPirate]

Parents shouldn't send out lists of things to get their kids unless someone asks... and as many have said before me, kids should be taught to be grateful for whatever they get, and say thank you. Most people provide gift receipts with their presents these days, making returns/exchanges easy. And most stores (especially Toys R Us and Target) will take things back without a receipt or any questions if it's something the kid doesn't want.

I won't even get into the "My little precious doesn't watch TV" thing. I just don't have the energy right now BUT I agree, a kid is going to like any doll or any action figure or any truck or train you get them -- and they will never once say, "I don't like this doll because I've never seen the TV show." As long as it's cute or shiny or whatever (especially at 2 years old!), they'll be happy.

 

[npmommie]

Apparently she didn't do her research , Diesel is the real ******* of the group.

James is just a youngster trying to keep up with the big older trains.

Get it straight Mom!!

I was going to say this!! LOL

 

[kaytieeldr]

Buy the Clifford's Manners Book.

Is that for the birthday boy? Or the birthday mom?

 

[agnes!]

... James is just REALLY into himself when he gets his new coat of paint. ...

I would say it sounds like the real reason the mom doesn't like James is because he reminds her of her(own little selfish)self.

agnes!

 

[Erin1700]

My sister in law could have written that invite! On her baby shower invites she wrote "please note, we do not need any clothes" why? b/c they dont want any of "that cutesy stuff". At christmas and bdays we can not buy the kid clothes, only books or puzzles. And nothing with characters on it!
Well, this past christmas we were running late with shopping due to being at WDW in early Dec and my husband and I split up one day to shop. He was not aware of how strict the rules were for this kid and picked up 2 blanket sleepers and a toy truck for my nephew. I didnt feel like returning it, DH had bought it with good intentions and thought so I just wrapped it and let it be. My SIL NEVER even said thank you!!! She just glared at me when DN2 opened it. I cant wait to shop for his bday in a few weeks!

 

[bethbuchall]

Well, the OP said it was a family member, so no dropping - just venting on a public message board! I vote for loud wooden whitle!

Oooh...they make those big wooden whistles that make the sound of train whistles, so it would be completely appropriate (and could certainly get completely annoying).

 

[lovesmurfs]

Oooh...they make those big wooden whistles that make the sound of train whistles, so it would be completely appropriate (and could certainly get completely annoying).

http://www.trainparty.com/products/sch8432.html

It's Thomas, wood, and a whistle! Be sure to get a train engineer hat that looks like it's been tried on by 100 kids, too.

 

[SeaShelley]

Get him a kazoo

I was thinking a drum set.....

 

[dawn1620]

I'm sure I've hovered at times over DD but I really try not to do that.

Growing up we played in a creek where many snakes had been spotted, dirt was always part of the agenda and I'm sure by age five we had an immune system that would laugh at even the eboli virus from all the germs we had encountered over the years.

I'm all for keeping kids safe but there is a line where the term OCD starts coming to mind.

The best birthday party DD still talks about is from last year. They let the kids have a mudball fight in the driveway - this was part of the invite so it was not unexpected. They had a blast, especially afterwards they got to use the hose and slip & slide to rinse off.

 

[AndreaDM]

This band in a box is perfect and all wood too! I have to admit, I've given a few of these as gifts myself! DD had one too and actually loved it.

http://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Doug-...e=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1273846938&sr=8-1

 

[ilovejack02]

This band in a box is perfect and all wood too! I have to admit, I've given a few of these as gifts myself! DD had one too and actually loved it.

http://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Doug-...e=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1273846938&sr=8-1

Noise maker, but a really good gift! I like it, wouldn't have minded DS receiving it.

 

[Elmo9607]

When my cousins were not so little (say maybe 8-12 ish) my aunt would regurarly have her kids write out lists that she dictiated of things they could and could not receive for gifts.

For example, we would get e-mails written by one of her kids (or they would come up and tell us) asking us not to give them:

Certain types of candy
Certain types of clothes
Gift cards to certain stores (Wal-Mart is okay, Target is NOT)

Apparently we were supposed to think my cousin came up with those ideas all by herself? Yeah right!

It was beyond tacky. My mom LOVES to go the candy and gift card route for her neices and nephews, so she always had a heck of a time buying gifts. Luckily, I think they have gotten over that stage now.

 

[Redpepperflakes14]

Here is a PERFECT example of "Helicopter Parenting" and "Snowflakes"... thought of you all her the SECOND I opened this email...

This is an invite I just got to a family member's son's 2nd birthday...

"...I am buying _____ a big wooden "train table" that uses Thomas the Tank trains that have the magnet on the front and back (not the hook together ones)....one can never have too many train cars! (Except don't get him the "James" train car - he is a mean train).

"Remember that _____ does not watch tv, so he doesn't know any of the Sesame Street, Dora etc. characters. (_____ doesn't know the Thomas the Tank show either, but he just likes trains and I am getting the table from someone who is moving and can't take it with them) _____ also loves cardboard books and wood puzzles (make sure non-toxic)...no plastic toys please since so many plastic toys have been recalled or are on a "danger list". (We have researched The Thomas the Tank trains and they are on the "ok" plastic list)."

So, okay. I am limited to wood toys or Thomas trains ONLY. Why get the kid anything at all?

I wonder just how long they think they can shelter him from the world... and from plastics.

The bolded part is what's interesting to me. All these stipulations for a second-hand table? And, no, I'm not knocking second hand items at all, some of my most treasured items are hand me downs.

I say get him a $10 gift card to Toys R Us and let him go crazy.