Birthday gift/goodie bag debacle

[Ceila]

Cynical much?
For one of my daughters birthday parties I gave out skateboards to the boys rather than the bag of crap and these skip it things to the girls. The skateboards were 19.99 and I had gotten them at 90 percent off at the end of summer clearance so they cost me a whopping 1.99 each (cheaper than a bag o crap!) and the skip its were 15.99 each at 90 percent off they cost me 1.59 each. Certainly didn't need to be "well off" to do those goodie bags!!! The kids seemed very happy to get those instead of a bag o crap and I know the parents were happier! I could not have cared less if some kid gave a 5.00 gift and took home a 20 dollar skateboard in return- most gifts she got at that age ended up being donated anyway--how many barbies does one kid need anyway LOL...its more about being with friends and having a good time!

I do the same. When I catch the really good sales I stock up on things I can use for this kind of thing. My daughter is a Brownie and I'm as assistant leader, and I love making gift-basket-type things for them. The troop had a pool party over the summer and I used sand buckets I had bought the previous summer, put each girl's name on one, and filled them with flip-flops, bubbles, a water ball, a lei, and a couple of other trinkets. The girls loved them and I had fun buying the stuff and putting them together.

 

[mjkacmom]

I could not have cared less if some kid gave a 5.00 gift and took home a 20 dollar skateboard in return- most gifts she got at that age ended up being donated anyway--how many barbies does one kid need anyway LOL...its more about being with friends and having a good time!

If you asked me, without looking at what I wrote down, who gave my kids what, I'd have no idea (I write it down for the thank you note, since people here don't open gifts at the party). My go-to gift is a $20 Target gc (I stock up on them), and most give favors here in the $3 - $5 range (funny story - my friend once gave a Barbie as a gift, and the same Barbie was the favor!).

BTW, as for the late invitation, as someone who has had countless raindates for pool parties, I've found it best to just watch the forcast, and give late invites. OP, don't worry about it - it's fine!

 

[pyrxtc]

Come to my DD's party ~ I don't make goody bags!!

I don't make them either. I believe that you go to a party to have fun not to come home with presents. If there are presents, they are usually for the birthday girl/boy.

 

[Darsa]

Or maybe they just wanted to do something nice? I don't understand this attitude.

Cynical much?

LOL, apparently so! I'm sorry if my "attitude" offends you, but I'm only human (and apparently a rotten one at that) and that was the first thing that popped into my head; I'm pretty sure I'm as entitled to my opinion as everyone else is. Yeesh, lighten up, wouldja?

And thank you for your take on the discounts you got on skateboards and skip-its, that's great; I'm pretty sure that iTunes cards don't get clearanced out but hey, if you (general you, of course)can afford that kinda thing go right ahead!


Ooohhh, I see what happened! I forgot my usual "IMHO of course, YMMV" at the end of that post. I need to add that to my signature, I think...

 

[NHdisneylover]

I agree with the majority--you do not need to do anything OP. Goody bags and gifts are not a tit for tat kind of thing (or they shouldn't be).
As others have stated, some people really enjoy putting together goody bags and just want to do so. I have often (but not always, depends on the year and theme) done fairly elaborate stuff because we have fun doing it. Seriously, half the fun of the party for my kids is planning it--and they really do not care if their friends bring gifts or not. Putting together a themed gift bag is fun for some parents and kids. Most do it thinking that the kids receiving the bags will enjoy them--not to make you feel guilty or to show off.

 

[chloelovesdisney]

I think that's a great goody bag idea instead of the usual useless stuff. It was a pool party at home, a party at a venue would have cost much more so maybe the mom just put more money into the goody bags. Don't worry about the gift, it's not meant to cover the cost of the goody bag/party.

 

[FoxberryJam]

As others have stated, some people really enjoy putting together goody bags and just want to do so. I have often (but not always, depends on the year and theme) done fairly elaborate stuff because we have fun doing it. Seriously, half the fun of the party for my kids is planning it--and they really do not care if their friends bring gifts or not. Putting together a themed gift bag is fun for some parents and kids. Most do it thinking that the kids receiving the bags will enjoy them--not to make you feel guilty or to show off.

You just described my wife perfectly (and I suspect the vast majority of the Moms who put these kids parties and goodie bags together, as well). I won't flame those who feel moms do this with an expectation of an substantial gift for their kid, or that they are trying to somehow give off an impression of being "well off", bu I will respectfully disagree 100%.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

I have a tendency to go way overboard with goody bags, but I love them! They're so much fun to create and I love being able to get a good bargain, but if I see something that I MUST have for the bag, I buy it. For DD's 13th birthday I made CDs of popular music, put them in jewel cases and created both inside and outside labels (outside said "DD's 13th Birthday), inside was a list of the songs on the CD. Then instead of getting anything else, we did a candy table (which helped as it was also sort of a decoration) and bought goody bags for the kids to fill up with candy before they left. It was a HUGE hit and I got all the candy at 75-85% off because it was right after Halloween. For me, planning goody bags is just as important as planning food and decorations. If there's a theme, the goody bags MUST be part of the theme as well. I'm obsessive that way.

 

[bellebud]

I can't believe how fancy gift bags have become. One party I went to the hostess made up Huge sand pails with everyone's name engraved in fancy letters along with an entire bucket of stuff from the dollar store. I was actually embarrassed at the $20 gift I bought the guest.

This is hilarious, but you must have been at my house for this kids party! My wife made goodie sand pails EXACTLY as you describe here, and I see u are in Central NJ, which is where we are, haha!

I'm sorry u were embarrassed, but no need to be! My wife uses goodie bags as an outlet for her creative juices - she enjoyed making those things immensely!

I wanna know if this was the same party...

 

[danalee]

ok I was hoping to read this thread for ideas, not I'm not sure about anything

My DS will be 11 and his party is this Saturday and I have been pondering what to do about the goodie bags?

I will admit I am a goodie bag momma! I like them, what can I say. This year for what ever the reason I dont have them done yet

I'm liking that candy table idea

 

[FoxberryJam]

I wanna know if this was the same party...

HAHAHA, me too! If not, it's an wild coincidence!

 

[PrincessKsMom]

ok I was hoping to read this thread for ideas, not I'm not sure about anything

My DS will be 11 and his party is this Saturday and I have been pondering what to do about the goodie bags?

I will admit I am a goodie bag momma! I like them, what can I say. This year for what ever the reason I dont have them done yet

I'm liking that candy table idea

Here's a picture of the candy table.

 

[danalee]

OMG I Love It!!! thanks so much for the pic

 

[PrincessKsMom]

OMG I Love It!!! thanks so much for the pic

You're welcome. For the lollipops, I bought some of the green styrofoam in a craft store and stuck in the sticks of the pops in to make them stand up. Just an idea. And I must give credit where credit is due, I'd never heard of this before reading on the DIS wedding boards. Another great idea courtesy of the DIS!

 

[luvmy3]

Here's a picture of the candy table.

That is so cool. I was going to do a candy thing for my dd's 13 party using a "13 Rocks!" theme. I was thinking of Pop Rocks and Rock Candy and whatever else I can find with "rock" in the name. I love the bins you used and I'm pretty sure our $ store has them in all different colors. I was just going to throw everything in a box but I think its a great idea to let them fill it themselves. I hope you don't mind if I copy that

Just to keep the tread OT, I could throw itunes cards into the mix too.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

That is so cool. I was going to do a candy thing for my dd's 13 party using a "13 Rocks!" theme. I was thinking of Pop Rocks and Rock Candy and whatever else I can find with "rock" in the name. I love the bins you used and I'm pretty sure our $ store has them in all different colors. I was just going to throw everything in a box but I think its a great idea to let them fill it themselves. I hope you don't mind if I copy that

Just to keep the tread OT, I could throw itunes cards into the mix too.

I got my bins from The Dollar Store. Also got the matching table clothes there -- did each table in a color to match to bins.

 

[Hillbeans]

HAHAHA, me too! If not, it's an wild coincidence!

It's just a coincidence probably, it was from a party about 2 years ago in the Freehold area. It just made me feel as if my gift was not up to snuff, even though I appreciated the goodies from the party.

 

[FoxberryJam]

It's just a coincidence probably, it was from a party about 2 years ago in the Freehold area. It just made me feel as if my gift was not up to snuff, even though I appreciated the goodies from the party.

LOL, thats when our party was...and we live in Freehold. This is one big coincidence!

 

[PrincessKsMom]

It's just a coincidence probably, it was from a party about 2 years ago in the Freehold area. It just made me feel as if my gift was not up to snuff, even though I appreciated the goodies from the party.

LOL, thats when our party was...and we live in Freehold. This is one big coincidence!

Somebody won't be getting another invitation any time soon.

 

[FoxberryJam]

Somebody won't be getting another invitation any time soon.

Yes, the Hillbeans family have been deleted from our party invite list.

Just kidding! I really do think its just a crazy coincidence, as my screenname would be a definite giveaway as to who we are, to anyone who knows us.