"No presents party" - would you still bring one?

[Eurydice84]

DD (4yo) got an invitation to one of her classmates' birthday party. The invitation specifies: no presents please. Would you still bring one? I have never gone to children's parties without a small gift, not sure what the reason is?

It's a social norm to take a present for the birthday person to their party so that's why it feels awkward not to, I suppose. I don't like it though and it is nice to see some signs that a few people are moving away from it. Or trying to.

I'd stick with their wishes about no presents. We've recently had Christmas so their kids probably accumulated a lot of stuff then and just don't need any more.

I still might consider £5 or £10 in the card. They then have a choice then of what to do with it. If they don't want the child buying more tat then they can pay it into savings for them.

No means no. If your DC get on v well with the birthday child, then perhaps a heartfelt thank you to the parents and an invite for a play date in return would be more meaningful than a pile of tat that in my DCs case ended up at school fairs. What they remember best about their parties was the event - we always had big parties as lived in a small flat so had to rent a hall - the cake and the fun of going to other parties in return.

A 4 yesr old probably doesn't even realise that there may be presents at a party and just be happy about the party.

The parent probably doesn't want 30 potentially pieces of tat especially so soon after Christmas.

If you must the fiver in a card is a good idea but also don't be surprised if they donate this to charity.

😂