Birthday Gifts: Time-Honored Tradition or Exercise in Excess?

Fellow parents: we have a birthday gift problem. I mean “we” as in all of us who spend weekends schlepping to bouncy houses and hauling gifts no child fortunate enough to have such parties needs and no parent wants in the house anyway. There must be a better way.

That’s what I thought when I first put the question on Facebook last month asking whether people do gifts, or whether putting “in lieu of gifts please bring cans to donate” or something along those lines on the invitation has become the new trend.

My friends shared good arguments on both sides of the “birthday gift issue.” And to tell you the truth, I’m not as convinced now that asking for donations is always the way to go. I hope you’ll read my thoughts on the issue over at Kveller.com and let me know where you fall.

It comes down to this: If you allow the kids to get a pile of gifts are you a big grubber creating little grubbers? On the flip side, if you ask for donations, are you a presumptuous, self-righteous stick in the mud raining all over the birthday parade? SEE YOU AT KVELLER! 

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Nina Badzin hosts the podcast Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship. She's been writing about friendship since 2014, co-leads the writing groups at ModernWell in Minneapolis, and reviews 30+ books a year on her website.

Hi, I'm Nina

HI, I’M NINA BADZIN. I’m a writer fascinated by the dynamics of friendship, and I’ve been answering anonymous advice questions on the topic since 2014. I now also answer them on my podcast, Dear Nina! I’m a creative writing instructor at ModernWell in Minneapolis, a freelance writer and editor, and an avid reader who reviews 50 books a year. Welcome to my site! 

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Hi, I'm Nina

DEAR NINA: Conversations About Friendship is a podcast and newsletter about the ups and downs of adult friendship. I’m the host, Nina Badzin, a Minneapolis-based writer who accepted a position as a friendship advice columnist in 2014 and never stopped. DEAR NINA, the podcast, started in 2021, and has been referenced in The Wall Street JournalThe Washington PostTime Magazine, The GuardianThe Chicago TribuneThe Minneapolis Star Tribune, and elsewhere

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