No boxed gifts?

[Kizza2]

will you put that on your first birthday invitations- or do a gift list?

for my DD's two years ago, we got unwanted things which we havent even unpacked, to avoid that for my DS we wanted to keep the boxes to a minimum- has anyone done this?

Yes, do a gift list asking for lots and lots of Moon Sand. It's great!

i think donating is a brilliant idea......we did that with the cloths we got and didnt use.

Rude rude rude. End of.

In some cultures it's considered OK to say this for a wedding.

But for a child's birthday? Not in a million years.

Hi we did no boxed gifts and we got lots of money, we almost covered the cost of the party.

I dont think its rude....we all had a great time and look fwd to doing it again with our second one

Hi in our family little red envelopes go round at weddings, 1st birthdays and parties filled with notes/cheques.

Its not rude at all- in my family we give money and recieve money.

We have an unwritten code that says no boxed gifts and no vouchers- and not sure about your family Kizza but we have some very wealthy relations who show up to events who are more than generous :)

good luck with the second party!

Seeker- In some cultures it's considered OK to say this for a wedding.

But for a child's birthday? Not in a million years.

Not in our culture.

McPhee-

Stop being such a snob about the type of gifts you might get from people. Believe it or not, people don't have a never ending supply of cash and will get whatever they can afford or see fit

I dont think Kizza's family are short on money, neither are mine.....and birthay gifts are no more than £300, we have people more than able to part with that.

Guiness- Rude rude rude. End of.

In your circles, not mine

We got lots of money, we almost covered the cost of the party
You could do this just as effectively and not so much more rudely by selling tickets.

In the Chinese/Asian culture for eg it is v common to give money gifts for everything from weddings to births to birthdays. Heck even deaths (funerals need to be paid for - or the money is given to a charity like cancer or heart foundation etc).

Chinese families would rather help you pay for the party/wedding etc so you don't get into debt than buy you another set of towels/Thomas the tank engine which you might already have (why does the child need two train sets!! ).

Assuming the op is from such a culture or lives amongst such people then there's no need to state it since they'll automatically turn up with little red packets of money.

If op is from the uk though... Or the family v British/English then i won't even mention it.

So you used the money people gave for your child to pay for their party?

Did you tell everyone you were going to do this? I wouldn't be impressed if I had give your dc a cash gift and you kept it.

DR asking for help towards a party is all fine and well, but hinting at money instead of gifts then keeping the cash is just plain rude IMHO.

How crass!

IMO it's wrong to assume that your guests will bring any sort of present.

The idea of the party is to celebrate the birthday, and invite friends to celebrate it with you.

If they choose to bring a present or money, that's very kind of them. But they should be welcome anyway. To specify what sort of present you want is grossly unreasonable.

You could put "no boxed gifts" on any invite you send me, but dont be offended if I come along with a 100pc jigsaw loose in my hands.

Fgs. Be a bit grateful. Or re-gift the stuff you dont use.

If someone asks if there is something you would like them to get your dc, by all meanst suggest something but a gift lst?

OP you sound like a firend of mine who was an absolute wanker.

you obviously arent.

no boxed gifts - i would tell HER to fuck off

My DSIL circulated an email to close family with suggestions of gifts for her 1yo's 1st birthday.

We were really grateful as it took loads of hassle out of scouring ToysRUs and meant she got something she loves and plays with all of the time.

Win-win!

I probably wouldn't put 'no boxed gifts' BUT I did produce a suggestions list on Amazon with ideas, because last year absolutely everyone in the family asked if I had any ideas. I made it clear that they were welcome to skip gifts, or buy something they liked, but that if they wanted ideas there was a list on Amazon they could look at which had things for all price ranges.

I don't think it's rude unless you're actually demanding and limiting rather than suggesting.

Why did you ask OP? Loads of people have told you it's rude. You're going to do it anyway.

How rude. Birthdays as well now. I would avoid like the plague and not go and give nothing. Or take the gift out of the box and give the gift. Or give a card with a note saying you'd made a donation to a charity. Or buy one of those Oxfam gift cards. I absolutely would not on principle give one penny in cash to anybody who sent me one of those hand over your money because that's all we're interested in. Greedy, entitled, ignorant, selfish ..... and the rest.

GnocchiNineDoors

You could put "no boxed gifts" on any invite you send me, but dont be offended if I come along with a 100pc jigsaw loose in my hands.

:o loads of the dcs' toys, including jigsaws, seem to come without boxes, they come in blister packs, and once you've chucked the package away you have nothing to keep them in! Very annoying. Sorry for irrelevant rant

On children's birthdays texts go between all our family checking what the child would like/need but no one issues a list.

However if I saw an invite with No Boxed Gifts I'd think you were rude and grabby and would come with something home made just to piss you off.

Viviennemary I'm going to nick some of your ideas if I ever get an invite with No Boxed Gifts on it!

We had an invite to a first birthday party that said 'little one doesn't actually need anything but if you would feel wrong coming without a present then' - and she gave a few low cost options.

I actually thought it was rather nice

the op's message about having done it before makes no sense. It looks like she's replied to herself.