Best Gifts for Second Child's 1St B-day Party

I have a lot of friends who simply say, no gifts please. If you are having a party, you could always have people bring new or used books or toys to donate to a shelter in the area. It seems rare these days that I go to a party and bring a gift. You could also have people make a donation to a charity in the child's name.

Instead of a card, have them bring a book and write a note in it. They read board books all the way through 1st grade! My daughter was just invited to a party where they asked for Grocery store gift certificates to buy food for the local food bank, they are in so much need these days. They felt like they had too much "stuff" too. Good luck!

Hi J.- if a guest REALLY wants to buy a gift, how about asking them to buy, in your child's name, a flock of chickens or ducks for a family in an impoverished country? Our extended families don't need more stuff, and we've decided to give each other these "gifts" instead. For $25.00, you can buy 24 chicks for a family in Kenya, which will give them an entirely new source of food and income. These families are then encouraged to help their neighbors by giving some of the subsequent offspring away, to start other new flocks. You can check out Samaritan's Purse at https://giving.samaritanspurse.org/p-135-gift-34-a-brood-...
There are also a lot of other organizations who do this sort of thing, as well as other kinds of animal donations.
As a mom of three teenagers, believe me when I say you really don't need any more Little Tykes type stuff- it's expensive, takes up a ton of room, and they play with it for such a short time. Boy do I wish I had half of the $ I spent on that sort of stuff!! But here is a way to acutally change a little corner of the world, giving a family hope and health, for the same amount of money. You can also use this opportunity to start teaching you child that we are blessed with things so that we can turn around and be a blessing to someone else. Hope your birthday party is lots of fun!

If you want to be really selfless, tell your guests to bring a gift that you will donate to charity. There are lots of families these days that aren't so lucky.

Is there something you would like your boys to collect? Why not start them a train set collection. People could buy track and train cars for it. Or maybe there is something else you would like your boys to collect.

You can ask for gift cards , My Daughter recieved alot for toys r us and Target. This way you can get things you really need. Most people like to give gift cards.

When my second daughter came along, I found myself in the same position - tons of toys, clothes, shoes. There was no need/reason for more "girl stuff". I finally started asking for the basics - diapers, lotion, shampoo, soap, all the baby stuff that was still needed by was constantly running out since I had two in that stage (my daughters are 18 months apart). Just a thought.

I found a woman in Darien who makes ceramic pumpkins and snowmen with the child's name carved on them (on the pumpkin, the name is where the mouth would be and on the snowman, it's carved into the fullest part of the tummy). They're unique and even though it's out of season, it's something you will display for years to come. Her website is http://www.ceramicscraze.com.

Our daughter loves the 2 gallon fish tank we got for her. It was not expensive and goldfish are really cheap and easy to replace :)

This year, we let our 3 year old pick out her own bed linens and redecorate her bathroom as a gift from us. We transitioned from the crib early, but maybe some big boy beddings are not too far off?

As for toys, the water/sand play tables have been a big hit in our house. Also, a bike trailer to go riding with us. Both your boys would fit in that-I think the weight limit on most is 100lbs.

Hi J.,
I would be honest. Let people know you are inviting them to share your son's special day and that you don't really need anything in the toy department. If they realy want to give him a present how about a savings bond for his college fund. If you aren't comfortable with that then such accept their gifts and maybe return them later and add the money to the account yourself.

Each of my girls received a growth chart for their 1st bday (cute ones from Land of Nod). They look cute in their bedrooms, and we get to add a new sticker every 6 months to record their height. My girls are about the same number of years apart as your boys, and I found that it was nice to get new clothes for the little one because some of the hand-me-downs from big sis were stained, too small, or outdated. It's nice for the younger child to have some new stuff that's just for them. They are always coming out with cuter and cuter stuff! Have a great party!

clothes for an off season...what i mean is the my son was born in nov. so there is his bday and chritmas back to back, i never will need to buy winter clothes for him. so i tell my family when summer stuff goes on clearance, stock up for him. less i have to buy for him in the summer, spring and fall. they love it they get tons of stuff at a great cost.

another summer idea would be that little tikes beach ball sprinkler. my kids love it!

Answer- He is really into books- I read to him everyday! I'd like to expand the boy's library.
"Maybe you could get him a copy of your favorite story(s)"
"or books about . . . ."

On the invitation:
"Bring a toy to donate or books with inscriptions for the birthday boy's library"

Books are great , take up less space, there are millions to choose from, the cost adds up, and they will be reading them for years!

Good luck . . .
. . . . .Let us know how it goes . . . . . .

I like to give books. A 1-year old isn't usually that into the gift receiving thing and so it's always a good time to build a great library! Books never get old!

You can suggest summer clothes since the stores are startng to stock up. Just go up a size or 2 depending on your son's build. Books are also a good idea. This way you can start a library for them if you haven't already.

You can ask for a magazine subscription like Highlights (great mag.) or at that age my daughter LOVED the Baby Bug book series that you receive in the mail. We never order it due to the cost but whenever we found them at garage sales we picked them up. It's a great grandparent gift. We also ask for tickets to a show such as Elmo or memberships to museums.

Hi J.,

I too have two boys and everything we need and more, so for my 2 year old's birthday, I put on the invitation that "your presence will be my son's present". He loved having everyone around and blowing out candles so gifts seemed unimportant. Having said that, everyone did bring "a little" something but it relieved a lot of the pressure and the gifts were small and really fantastic. A thrift store Dr. Seuss book, a cookie cutter set, a coloring book. Good luck.