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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