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

[HelenePA]

heck buy the kid a tv/dvd combo and load him up with dvds I'm guessing this is her first kid?

Oh and James is NOT a mean train.. diesel 10 is.. Make sure you get him him! http://www.just-thomas.com/shop-thomas-the-train-characters-diesel-10-engine.php

 

[scottishduffy]

My Brother and SIL are precisely the same way. DN's 2nd birthday is at the end of may and we have been limited to Toddler art supplies and bathtub books.

This past Christmas they banned all plastic and anything that used batteries. It had been OK with them before, but I purchased him some Tonka Wheel pals for his 1st birthday and he became *obsessed* with them. After that, Mom and Dad did not like the idea of DN playing with a plastic toy so much and banned all plastic (except for Lego-type toys which my Bro loves).

Now I consider myself to be a decent gift giver. I try to stick to Wood/ Open play/ non-noisy toys to start with... but I hate being told precisely what I *must* get.


I say get her the wood Tommy-gun!! Or they make some nice wooden swords, Maracas, or some lovely wood puzzles that come equipped with sound. Quite a few wooden puzzles come with noise!

http://www.chickorywoodproducts.com/guns.html

That site has many models of wood guns: 9mm pistols, revolvers, rifles, machine gun, pump action shotgun, even a sniper rifle!!

http://www.amazon.com/OyToys-194-Wooden-Gragger-Noisemaker/dp/B0014RGVBA

This is a toy entitled "Wooden Noise Maker". Have fun!!!

 

[hereyago]

Play doh, isn't that non toxic.and snowflake can rub it all into the carpet.

 

[4nana]

Sadly there's a couple of these kids/Moms in every class, poor Mom has a lot to learn as we can't bubble wrap them for life.

Guess they'll be no 'Pump It Up' parties (like we're attending next week-end for our DGS) for her little one.

 

[RitaZ.]

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!!

You beat me to it!

 

[sunnyday123]

My Brother and SIL are precisely the same way. DN's 2nd birthday is at the end of may and we have been limited to Toddler art supplies and bathtub books.

This past Christmas they banned all plastic and anything that used batteries. It had been OK with them before, but I purchased him some Tonka Wheel pals for his 1st birthday and he became *obsessed* with them. After that, Mom and Dad did not like the idea of DN playing with a plastic toy so much and banned all plastic (except for Lego-type toys which my Bro loves).

Now I consider myself to be a decent gift giver. I try to stick to Wood/ Open play/ non-noisy toys to start with... but I hate being told precisely what I *must* get.


I say get her the wood Tommy-gun!! Or they make some nice wooden swords, Maracas, or some lovely wood puzzles that come equipped with sound. Quite a few wooden puzzles come with noise!

http://www.chickorywoodproducts.com/guns.html

That site has many models of wood guns: 9mm pistols, revolvers, rifles, machine gun, pump action shotgun, even a sniper rifle!!

http://www.amazon.com/OyToys-194-Wooden-Gragger-Noisemaker/dp/B0014RGVBA

This is a toy entitled "Wooden Noise Maker". Have fun!!!

All of this, and then I would get him that dancing Elmo-what kind of mother deprives her 2 year old of Elmo?? He'll never learn to count, thats for sure. Or learn spanish.

My brother and his moronic wife try to do this, only they dole out lists with expensive stuff on it. I get whatever the heck I want to for the kids.

Usually loud and messy is the way I go.

 

[RitaZ.]

Whistles are always well received.

 

[Imzadi]

So is there a Birthday Registry for this kid? How will Helicopter Mom make sure that there are no duplicates of the same trains being given?

 

[Rora]

How does she know that James is the "Mean Train"? And how would the kid know that James is the "Mean Train"? Maybe James is just misunderstood...

Wow... poor kid has a rough, overprotective life ahead of him. I respect parents and their parenting but come on, no plastic toys?? And as usual, "gift ideas" are fine (and usually welcomed) if asked for by the party goer..

 

[bumbershoot]

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.

That's not a perfect example of anything at all.

Are you on the recall list? If not, get on it. It's astonishing the things that are recalled, week after week, for having nasty stuff in it. Claire's keeps selling things with cadmium and lead and all sorts of nonsense in it.

And what's wrong with letting people know that branded things might not be appreciated? Seriously, wouldn't you prefer to know what the kid is going to understand?

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. So the gift wouldn't be appreciated as much as something different would have been.

This is NOT a big deal.

 

[bumbershoot]

You may want to tell her that several years ago there was recall on the wooden Thomas the Tank toys. It's not the plastic, it's the paint that contains lead. So any painted toy could be a problem, not just the plastic ones!

It was only a few trains in certain colors (or just one color), and they went above and beyond in making it right.

Seriously, put this up there with doing the child more harm than good. I have a cousin who just had twins and they are into all organic crap. food / sheets / matresses etc. (no flames please).. but honestly, if these kids don't get germs at home, then they will be full of all kinds of allergies and sickly when they are older... that is why we have an immune system. Isn't it ironic how when we were kids you hardly ever heard of kids with allergies.. and now, it's like every other one has something.

What do organic things have to do with germs? They have to do with chemicals, not germs. We don't have an immune system to fight against chemicals, flame retardants, insecticides, etc etc etc.

Oh no, people are trying to reduce the chemicals their babies are sleeping on....

We have researched The Thomas the Tank trains and they are on the "ok" plastic list

I do believe that right there says that they are cool with plastic TtT trains...



Honestly, either drop the friend or don't snark about her. Also it's pretty clear that she's quoting/paraphrasing her little one, talking about the "mean train". She's just trying to not waste the money of her friends, by buying him toys that won't be appreciated.




DS finally went to his first b'day party this month. Before going, I was very thorough in asking the boy's mom what he had, if they had a philosophy on toys, what he needed and wanted. I was HAPPY to do it, so that my money wasn't wasted, and I don't see why others can't be happy to know what is appreciated as well.

 

[scottishduffy]

That's not a perfect example of anything at all.

Are you on the recall list? If not, get on it. It's astonishing the things that are recalled, week after week, for having nasty stuff in it. Claire's keeps selling things with cadmium and lead and all sorts of nonsense in it.

And what's wrong with letting people know that branded things might not be appreciated? Seriously, wouldn't you prefer to know what the kid is going to understand?

.....
This is NOT a big deal.

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.

 

[Ephany]

Melissa and Doug make some lovely wooden puzzles that make a sound every time the piece is placed on the board. They're recommended for the 2-3 year old age group. My DN loved his puzzles, his mom? Not so much after the first hour.

 

[mamacatnv]

There's one in every crowd

I think its rude and inappropriate. They want their kid to live in a bubble, fine, that is their problem not mine and they need not foist their ridiculous behavior off onto me.
I wouldn't get him a dang thing, he is only 2, he won't know. If he were older I would get whatever it was I wanted, its not like the relatives are going to give him a loaded gun for goodness sakes but at 2, forget it.

 

[daisyduck123]

Buy the Clifford's Manners Book.

or the Berenstain Bears Forget Their Manners book. Mom will benefit from it more than the kid.

 

[mjkacmom]

Honestly, either drop the friend or don't snark about her. Also it's pretty clear that she's quoting/paraphrasing her little one, talking about the "mean train". She's just trying to not waste the money of her friends, by buying him toys that won't be appreciated.
.

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!

 

[jrmasm]

That's not a perfect example of anything at all.

Are you on the recall list? If not, get on it. It's astonishing the things that are recalled, week after week, for having nasty stuff in it. Claire's keeps selling things with cadmium and lead and all sorts of nonsense in it.

And what's wrong with letting people know that branded things might not be appreciated? Seriously, wouldn't you prefer to know what the kid is going to understand?

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. So the gift wouldn't be appreciated as much as something different would have been.

This is NOT a big deal.

A parent's child raising philosophy is their business. Sharing it, unsolicited, in a party invitation/gift demand is beyond rude. That IS a big deal.

 

[minniebeth]

I agree that it is rude to dictate what type of gifts should be brought. It's one thing if someone asks what the child would like and then for the parents to make a suggestion. I like whoever said bring him a tv
Oh, and follow your own suggestion, for a hostess gift, bring his mom some bubble wrap and Purell!

 

[madcam]

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.

Yes!! Exactly!! I could not have said this any better.

 

[marcyinPA]

Melissa and Doug make some lovely wooden puzzles that make a sound every time the piece is placed on the board. They're recommended for the 2-3 year old age group. My DN loved his puzzles, his mom? Not so much after the first hour.

I have the transportation model of this puzzle in my preschool class. The children LOVE it....they fight over it!!! I think it would be a good gift!