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Birthday Party Trend???
Just Wondering.....
Maybe I did not get the "Mom-Memo"?
Is this just my area, or becoming a trend everywhere? When I raised my first set of children, this was not a practice.
Now it is the rule, not the exception.
What, you may wonder, am I referring to?
At the Birthday parties my girls attend here in "Welly-World" and other locations, opening the gifts in front of the guests is no longer part of the party.
NO ONE opens gifts during the party.
I understand when a party is held a a public location and the gifts may not be safely opened and transported (I have been at a party at Build A Bear where the gifts were stolen!) However, provisions can be made to secure the gifts.
Also, I understand the whole PC mentality of this...not wanting to create competition between the givers, not wanting someone to feel badly if they did not or cannot bring a gift,
not wanting to teach a child to "expect" a gift, etc. (Even though it is their Birthday!)
However, what about the giver who spends a great deal of time and effort searching for the perfect gift and then never gets to see the reaction when the receiver opens it? What about teaching to give and receive graciously?
I see both sides of this, yet, in general, I am in favor of opening a gift in front of the giver and giving verbal thanks as well as writing a thank you card.
Is this just my area?
How do you handle this issue?
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3 comments:
It goes both ways around here. We have always opened gifts at the party except for B's party last year. It was held at our neighborhood pool/water park. We only had the covered area reserved for 2 hours (at the ridiculous rate of $40/hour). I had ordered pizzas, invited the girls and their families, and we did cupcakes for a birthday cake. I didn't want to cut the girls pool time short by making them sit around opening the gifts when they all wanted to be swimming. So, we opened them afterwards at home. Generally though, I do think it is better to open them at the party.
Here is my comment... I have no kids yet but being an Auntie to many many nieces and nephews, I think it should be opened in front of the gifter. There are so many times that I have given a gift and not known if it was the perfect thing or did it fit (clothes) or did you already have it?! I absolutely hate it!!
In addition I was taught at a young age to ALWAYS write a thank you to show your appreciation. To this day I still write thank you's to my aunt's and uncle's. Even family & friends. I know not everyone is raised the same, But here is what I have to say about that... Silent gratitude isn't much use to anyone... I love it and live by it!
One day when I have kids they will open gifts in front of others. Awkward or not... and send thank you's.
News to me however I don't attend many children's parties anymore. Monkey Boy opened his gifts a few weeks ago and I'll let you know about Bear next month. :)
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