to give my DD clothes for her 2nd birthday?

[LifeIsButtercream]

Ok, I kinda think I'm not BU, but several people have told me I am!

My DD will be 2 in a few months, I have bought her a little pram for her dolls, that I know she will love, but money is very tight and I can't really afford anything else, can't even afford to do a party.

Over most of the last year I've snapped up clothes in the sales and charity shops, in size 2-3. DD is into dressing up at the moment, and I was thinking of taking a few of the really pretty dresses/outfits and wrapping them for her to open as presents. Kinda to 'bulk up' what she has to open.

Several friends and family have told me that she won't appreciate clothes as presents, they won't 'be presents' to her, and one even went as far as to say she would be dissapointed to open clothes as presents.

AIBU to think "she'll be two, she won't think about things like that"?

[PoledrathePissedOffFairy]

DD3 got a high chair for her first Christmas (she was 6 months, we'd be needing it in the near future).

YANBU.

[Bluemoonrising]

YABNU.

Ignore them.

Your DD loves dressing up, and so will love to get pretty clothes. It's not like it's the only thing you are giving her!

[SmashingNarcissistsMirrors]

surely children only react to what they think are presents anyway? they feed off what the adults around them are telling them with verbal and visual cues. there's no intrinsic value to a small child in a doll's buggy either. it's the connotations that are taught them by the adults that give it a value.

wrapping up some clothes sounds like a great idea. most of the joy is your shared experience of opening the presents together anyway - the anticipation and the shared interaction.

children used to enjoy getting satsumas and an extra lump of coal for the fire from santa in their stocking.

[TallulahDoesTheHula]

you've got her a great present - a dolls buggy and it can only increase her enjoyment to have more things to open.
If she loves pretty clothes and dressing up then she will love opening the clothes.
I think its a brilliant idea!

[Dlamis]

YANBU. Our ds's always get a mix of toys and clothes for birthdays/christmas. And at 2 she won't care, she'll just enjoy unwrapping regardless of what's inside the present :D

[littleducks]

Get her lots of balloons, you can pick up a packet for 50p/£1 in superm,arket or poundland. I bet she will love balloons and unwrapping things more than toys.

[atswimtwolengths]

Have a nice day with her making a birthday cake or fairy cakes - let her decorate some of it with glace icing and Smarties or hundreds and thousands. She'll remember that better than any toy.

[LifeIsButtercream]

Thank you everyone! I am once again reassured by the infinate wisdom of Mumsnetters

I'm sitting here now looking at this big box of clothes, thinking "What the heck, I'll just wrap the whole box up" - I know DD will love digging through the it and pulling out all the clothes! And probably scattering them all over the house - bring it on! If she is happy I'm happy

[lospolloshermanos]

YANBU

i'm sure she'd enjoy a box and some pegs at that age if she thinks its a present

[femalevictormeldrew]

YANBU at all

[AlaskaHQ]

I think its fine. A 4 year old might be a bit miffed by clothes as presents, but a 2 year old - just the sheer excitement of being about to unwrap presents is very exciting, and if you say she loves clothes anyway, well I bet she will be delighted.

[LifeIsButtercream]

Oh, and don't worry - we will be baking an awful lot of cakes together as we will have family round.....

[smily-that-claims-that-Butter-won't-be-eating-all-the-cakes-herself]

[BornToFolk]

Someone once recommended blowing up a whole load of balloons, putting them in a big box and wrapping that up. What 2 year old would not enjoy a huge box of balloons?

YANBU at all to give her clothes. Sounds like she'll really love them.

[SchrodingersCatFliesToOz]

My 6 yo still likes clothes as presents and I hope she stays like that as long as possible!

[RueLaChesty]

YANBU

We are doing this for our DD when she turns 1 soon. But we have a large family and an older DD (2.5yo) and enough toys bought from family and friends that they don't need anything else from us.

we're just going to buy her something for the garden (thinking one of they little tike rocking horses) and then it'll be all clothes.

Sometimes kids can get too much toys! :)

[RueLaChesty]

too many toys!

Excuse my grammar! :)

[NoMoreChocBiscuits]

She's turning 2, she won't care what she gets! She'll get a kick out of having presents to unwrap and lovely new things to wear.

I love it when DS get's given clothesd for his B'day or Christmas. It takes the pressure off of us financially and he often gets things we wouldn't buy as there are different shops in the areas our families live, so he doesn't end up dressed like all the other kids in town.

So no YANBU.

[IslaValargeone]

YANBU, she's 2 she won't care.
Hope you have a lovely day.

[LifeIsButtercream]

Ooh I love the balloon idea! I think I'll blow up loads of them while she is in bed, so she comes down in the morning to a lounge full of balloons!

The more I think about it, the more I like it! At the end of the day, I can't spoil her with loads of expensive toys (no matter how much I'd like to) and is there anything wrong with her appreciating the less 'exciting' things that I can give her, like clothes and experiences together?

[Lollypolly]

YANBU. Our DDs have always got a new outfit for birthdays and Xmas - even DD1 at 6 likes getting something new to wear on a special day. Balloons are also a great idea.

DD1 got her bedroom decorated and moved into a bed from her cot for her second birthday - she was super excited!

[FindingStuffToChuckOut]

YANBU - I wrapped up a new 'big girl' carseat for DD (3) at Christmas. Didn't intend it to be a gift but it arrived just before Xmas. She was delighted!!!

[Foreverondiet]

FWIW I asked my DD what she wanted for her 7th birthday - and she wanted clothes - specifically to choose themself. We had a lovely shopping trip!

At 2 she would have been delighted with clothes I picked.

[FindingStuffToChuckOut]

Following on from the balloon idea, can you make her a cake? It needn't cost alot. I made DD a ladybird cake for her 2nd birthday and she talked about it for an entire year until her 3rd birthday. It had much more impact than any gift she got.

[LoveBeingAKnockedUp]

I do this, also wrapped some presents from her birthday 9mths earlier for Xmas cause she had so many/they were too old for her.