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Family Forum / Parenting / Parenting / May 2008How much do you spend on birthday gifts?
When your kid gets invited to a birthday party of one of her preschool classmates, how much do you spend on the gift? Please be honest :) I spend around $10. I ask what he/she would like and buy whatever I get for $10. I don't like giving or receiving expensive gifts. If your kid receives a cheaper gift would you be offended? Also, if you have more than one kid that attends the party, do you send two gifts or double the price of one gift? Thanks. > When your kid gets invited to a birthday party of one of her preschool > classmates, how much do you spend on the gift? Please be honest :) [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > more than one kid that attends the party, do you send two gifts or > double the price of one gift? Honestly, my thing is that I hate giving gifts that are going to end up as more useless stuff cluttering up a home, so my first priority is to get something that the child will actually like and use. If I'm not in a position to find that out, I'll go with something consumable, if possible. If getting something the child will enjoy means spending more money, I'll spend it. If I feel like there are too many parties or my kids aren't close enough friends and I start getting twitchy about the money involved, I just rein in the number of parties. I do try to keep the money from being over the top, though, because I don't want anyone to feel like there's escalation going on or that they have any obligation to spend a lot of money if my kids have a party. I don't think $10 is at all unreasonable, but I end up going over that not infrequently. If I have multiple kids going to the party, I will often send one gift, but I will feel less pressure to keep the price down. When it comes to receiving gifts, I think it is not my (or my kids') business to be offended based on how much money was spent on a gift. If my kids were offended at a "cheaper" gift, they'd get a serious talking to from me! As I said, I'm not a big fan of gifts that just become clutter; however, that's my issue, not anything I have any right to impose on anyone else, much less someone kind enough to give my children a gift. If my children receive a gift that is likely to become clutter, then they'll play with it for a while and eventually it will go away, but they'd better appreciate the sentiment with which the gift was given. Best wishes, Ericka > When your kid gets invited to a birthday party of one of her preschool > classmates, how much do you spend on the gift? Please be honest :) > > I spend around $10. I ask what he/she would like and buy whatever I > get for $10. It's been awhile since preschool, but $10 sounds about right. I don't like giving or receiving expensive gifts. If your > kid receives a cheaper gift would you be offended? I couldn't care less about the cost of the gifts my child gets. Also, if you have > more than one kid that attends the party, do you send two gifts or > double the price of one gift? I would send one, since that's what I would prefer if I were giving the party. I really wish children's birthday parties didn't carry the expectation of presents, because the last thing I need is more stuff around the house. Clisby > Thanks. > I would send one, since that's what I would prefer if I > were giving the party. I really wish children's birthday > parties didn't carry the expectation of presents, because > the last thing I need is more stuff around the house. i send books. i suppose they could be considered clutter, but i'm all for speading the bookaholism i suffer from ;) lee  SignatureLast night while sitting in my chair I pinged a host that wasn't there It wasn't there again today The host resolved to NSA. > > I would send one, since that's what I would prefer if I > > were giving the party. I really wish children's birthday [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > lee > -- Hey, at least they are biodegradable :) > >> I would send one, since that's what I would prefer if I [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > i'm all for speading the bookaholism i suffer from ;) > lee Nah, we have bookshelves all over the house. I'm thinking more of toys. Besides books, some of my kids' favorite presents at that age were things you could use up. One year, my daughter's favorite present was a big box of sidewalk chalk. Clisby > When your kid gets invited to a birthday party of one of her preschool > classmates, how much do you spend on the gift? Please be honest :) [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > more than one kid that attends the party, do you send two gifts or > double the price of one gift? My limit is $20, that goes for related and non-related kids. I absolutely do NOT feel offended at the price of a gift my kids are given, or even if they are given one. My purpose for having parties is to have freinds and family together, not presents. I've always hated the requirements of gifts at baby and bridal showers, because when I could not afford a gift I still wanted to celebrate but instead just wasn't involved. When more than one of my children are invited to the party, I still have my $20 limit. What we do is either give one gift from all the kids, or let each child pick out a $7-10 gift each, it depends on the children all agreeing on one gift. Marie >When your kid gets invited to a birthday party of one of her preschool >classmates, how much do you spend on the gift? Please be honest :) Usually $20 at the most. Maybe a little more if the recipient is a very good friend or the gift is something I know they will get a lot of use out of. >I spend around $10. I ask what he/she would like and buy whatever I >get for $10. I don't like giving or receiving expensive gifts. If your >kid receives a cheaper gift would you be offended? No. I really have no idea what someone spends. I usually buy gifts at local specialty toy shops, but I use coupons and most stores have reward programs so I never pay full price. The specialty shops around here are quite competitive. Also, if you have >more than one kid that attends the party, do you send two gifts or >double the price of one gift? You could go either way. Personally, I'd rather double up and give something special that the recipient would really love. But some kids love to give gifts and might want to have their own gift to give. JennP. > When your kid gets invited to a birthday party of one of her preschool > classmates, how much do you spend on the gift? Please be honest :) [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > more than one kid that attends the party, do you send two gifts or > double the price of one gift? I normally don't spend more than $10, but I buy gifts off Amazon when they are on sale for at least 50% off, so most gifts are valued at least $20 or more. In fact, I have some valued at $40 in my cabinet right now waiting for the next birthdays that I bought for less than $10 and free shipping. To answer your questions, I spend less than $10 but it always looks like I spent much more and the gifts are very nice, if I do say so myself. If my kids receive cheaper gifts, I don't really care, and some of the cheapest gifts are their favorites, and that's all that matters to me. I don't like it when people buy expensive gifts that the kids are not supposed to play with, like expensive dolls, because I don't see the point for them to keep them to hand down (to their own kids, who also won't be allowed to play with them). If more than one kid attends a party, I would probably give a little nicer gift. I typically spend around $20. I don't think I can find something decent when spending less. If multiple kids are going to the same party, I spend a little more, but just buy one gift. If it is someone very close, I spend more. Since you mention preschool, I could probably get away with spending less, maybe like $15. Sue (mom to three girls) > When your kid gets invited to a birthday party of one of her preschool > classmates, how much do you spend on the gift? Please be honest :) [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > Thanks. > I typically spend around $20. I don't think I can find something decent when > spending less. If multiple kids are going to the same party, I spend a > little more, but just buy one gift. If it is someone very close, I spend > more. > Since you mention preschool, I could probably get away with spending less, > maybe like $15. <snip> That's the thing though. why should we spend more for little bit older kids? Is that because we won't get anything for $10 or because we're "supposed to" spend more on them? I'm just curious. > That's the thing though. why should we spend more for little bit older > kids? Is that because we won't get anything for $10 or because we're > "supposed to" spend more on them? I'm just curious. It's more challenging to find something suitable at lower prices for older kids. It's possible, I think, just more challenging. The box of sidewalk chalk is great for the preschooler, but isn't going to thrill most 10 year olds. Books are great gifts, but the kids who are most likely to enjoy books as a gift are exactly the kids who are hardest to buy books for because they have already read so many books ;-) You can do a gift card to a bookstore, of course, but some feel less comfortable doing that. Best wishes, Ericka <janesire@gmail.com> wrote in message > That's the thing though. why should we spend more for little bit older > kids? Is that because we won't get anything for $10 or because we're > "supposed to" spend more on them? I'm just curious. Because it's harder to find things for older kids for less amount of money. An older child isn't going to be happy with a coloring book and box of crayons. Books are good, but typically books that an older child will read is more than $10. A CD or DVD is even around 14.99 or more if it is new release. Sometimes you can find a shirt for under $10 in the clearance rack, but again for an older child or even teen, it is going to be harder. I am out of the preschool crowd and in the teenage crowd so my perspective is different. Sue (mom to three girls) ><janesire@gmail.com> wrote in message >> That's the thing though. why should we spend more for little bit older [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] >out of the preschool crowd and in the teenage crowd so my perspective is >different. I didn't spend much on bday presents for other people, but my kids didn't go to that many parties. Maybe because we moved around so much, or maybe because we didn't do playdates at the pre-school age in those days (Those days were in the late 60s) I really don't think we had parties when they got to be teens. I would have said $5.00 (which because if inflation is probably more like $10 now). And I sometimes re-gifted stuff. If the kids got two of the same thing I put one away to give to someone else. Every now and then I still find one of these things. Now that I have grandchildren, I give them presents (often when they were pre-school, the gifts would be stuff I bought when traveling - quite often clothing), but after they get to be about 10-11 years old, I give them money. DD#2 complained that it was hard for her to cash her son's checks made out to him because he didn't have a bank account there, and eventually I said - well maybe it is time for him to have his own savings account. He just turned 14. With the oldest two grandchildren, I continued to give gifts for a long time, and as they got to college age, I would give them gift certificates to stores like Sierra Trading Post or L.L. Bean or REI. or Campmor or a place that used to be called WearGuard. I would decide what article of clothing I thought they might need, and then I'd figure the shipping cost and give a gift certificate that would cover that amount. This is kind of not really a gift because I think a real gift shouldn't limit the person as to what they could buy, but if I wanted my grandson to have a winter coat that would fit him and that he liked, then I didn't want him to fritter the money away on milkshakes because that was easier.. |
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