Monday, March 17, 2008

Am I a Bad Mom?

A story I wrote for MomLogic is getting mixed reaction... what do you think?

Happy No Gift Day to You


Mom•Logic' s Jackie: For my son's 4th birthday, is it OK to forego the gifts?


When my son was a baby, a friend of mine mentioned she was going to put "no gifts" on the invitation for her child's first birthday. I thought that was totally wrong--her baby boy deserved to be celebrated and to deny him his gifts was just mean.

Flash forward a few years: I'm conflicted about the whole gift thing when it comes to my little guy's birthday. I think it's bad enough that between "friends" at preschool, the neighborhood and family friends--kids these days have birthday parties to attend every damn weekend--or so it feels anyway. But to expect the Moms of my son's classmates to run out and buy a present for my kid--who, by the way, the Mom barely even knows--it seems like asking a bit much.

Here's my plan: Close friends and family can absolutely share in the celebration with a gift, if they so choose. But I'm going to mention to those parents we barely even know that a donation to their favorite children's charity would be more than generous and truly appreciated.

Am I blazing a trail to changing the world or robbing my kid of his childhood?

5 comments:

RP Mom said...

I LOVE the idea of a donation. Your kiddos will learn so much more!!! What a beautiful idea (and one we will be doing for the kiddos bdays this spring and summer!)

Amy, Ryan, Aidan and Lauren said...

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I think kids' parties (with everyone bringing gifts) are totally out of hand--unless it's a small group of really close family and friends. If they've invited everyone in the preschool, I think it's too much. We had a big party for Aidan's 3rd birthday and put "no gifts" on the invitation, and a small party for his 4th and had gifts optional. It's worked out well so far. They always get so many presents from parents, grandparents, etc. no matter what.

Steve n Coco said...

I cannot TELL you how often I have thought about doing something like this... WAY TO GO!! Why in the world do our kids need more toys?? Not to mention the expense to other families as you put it. I hope you go through with it :)

Courtney

Megan said...

Hey that is a great idea I was thinking of a good solution too. I'm going to do that for every birthday after this one. It's Kimi's first b-day with us. I completely agree it gets to be present/toy overload for kids. On the other hand I love buying gifts for kids, I hope they all have a super special B-day as I always did growing up.
XOXO,
Megan

Megan said...

Hey that is a great idea I was thinking of a good solution too. I'm going to do that for every birthday after this one. It's Kimi's first b-day with us. I completely agree it gets to be present/toy overload for kids. On the other hand I love buying gifts for kids, I hope they all have a super special B-day as I always did growing up.
XOXO,
Megan