I have read many blogs where people have no gift parties. Yup, no gifts from any of the party goers. I can see this being a positive thing but I think it is something a child has to be born into. All three of my children are use to getting gifts and I can't imagine they would be happy to not receive anything on their special day.
Other minimalist deal with birthdays by having specific rules to what gifts can be given. Such as book only parties, out door toys, art supplies or clothing. This fills a specific need in the birthday child's toys. I think this is an awesome way to go!
Personally, I am still trying to make balance our birthday and holiday gifting.
When buying birthday or Holiday gifts we use the mantra: One thing to wear, one thing to read, one thing they need, and one thing they want. 4 gifts and only 4 gifts. We did this last year at Christmas and it was difficult. I did find that only buying each child 4 gifts they enjoyed each gift more then the years where they each got too many to count.
Since moving to Wisconsin we have not thrown a birthday party with guests besides our family. I am a rather private person (aside from this blog) an do not enjoy the thought of having a lot of people I don't know very well in my home. So we have not had a huge influx of gifts from party goers in a few years, which I like. Not once has one of the boys, so far, asked to have a birthday party where they invite friends from school. We will cross that bridge when we get to it.
I do not limit the amount of gifts my family buy the boys for the holidays. My family know how I feel about having so much stuff but with all of our family living hours away and not getting to see the boys very often I do not feel like it is my place to tell them not to send gifts or to limit the amount of gifts they do send. Having said that, because our family does live so far away, many family members send cards with money.
This year we will be getting rid of somethings to make room for the new things. I purchased a new batman shirt for the youngest to replace a well worn a loved one that is way too small. We will be going through the toy boxes and getting rid of any "junk" or broken toys to be replaced with a birthday toy.
Birthdays are a time to be celebrated! You have made it another year, learned more than last year, seen new sights, and experienced new things. For parents, a child's birthday means that you kept another human being alive successfully for another year while, hopefully, teaching them how to be a good human.
I have been to many birthday parties where the child opens one gift and throws it to the side, sometimes when it isn't even unwrapped all of the way, to see what is next. I've experienced children crying when they didn't get the specific toy they wanted or the gifts have all been unwrapped. I want my children to celebrate their birthdays with the understanding that they are important and are not measured by the amount of gifts they receive. Before we implemented the 4 gift plan we discussed it with them, they now know what to expect at their birthday and we have never had any issue with a sad or upset child.
Solid advice
-TMW
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