Birthday Gifts

Best Birthday Gift Ever: Survey Says

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I have a survey live on Surveymonkey that asks people to share their thoughts on birthdays. It is really fun to see what people have to say. Plus, it gives me fresh insights to write about for you, my loyal readers. I know you’ve been dying to know what my 40 random people who have answered my poll have to say about their best birthday gift. How could you not?

So, to keep you in suspense no longer, I hereby share the range of responses I have received to the question: “What is the best birthday gift you have ever been given?”

Best Birthday Gift: Technology

Laptops came up a lot as a favorite birthday gift. Though someone did pair their laptop and their Kindle together as the best gift. Getting both in one birthday? I bet that was a good year!

A Nintendo Switch made the grade for another of my respondents. An iPhone and an iPad made the list too. Plus, another person was happiest about a Smart Watch. That’s someone who might like to read about the people who go to the gym or do a specialized birthday workout on their big day.

Best Birthday Gift: Personalized

One respondent was happier with a “chain with my initial on it.” Me, I’m always thrilled to find something cool with a Q, so I can relate. Then, someone was most pleased with a Bible from her Dad. Another person was pleased to get a surprise party. I’m counting that as personal since it would be all that person’s family and friends who made the effort.

Someone else said “love.” Sappy but true. But a good answer because it’s a safe guess you’ll get some birthday love from someone every year. Even if it is from your momma!

Best Birthday Gift: Money

Show me the money! Of course this one came up more than once. Three times in fact. That’s as many times as I got a variation of “I don’t know.” So really, we can probably double that money number. You know those IDK folks just weren’t brave enough to put down money. As if we can judge anonymous users for being greedy!

I’m also going to put the “car” answer in this section. C’mon, a car? That’s the equivalent of a lot of moolah.

Best Birthday Gift: Miscellaneous

Then, there were the ones that are harder to categorize. Options included:

There was the gift recipient we all want to have in our lives who said, “I appreciate all types of gifts.” Another person responded “nothing yet.” But I’m going to take the positive perspective on this one. At least the person was optimistic enough to say “yet.” They remain hopeful a best birthday gift is on the horizon.

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What’s wrong with getting gift suggestions?

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I’ve been thinking lately about asking for gift suggestions first. A friend recently told me about her oh-so-thoughtful gift of a washer and dryer. Apparently, there’s a phone connection that lets her use the Internet of Things to start her dryer if she’s forgotten. Did she need a new washer and dryer? Nope. Does she care that it works with her phone? Nope. Much like the clothes steamer that is bigger and better than the one she already had, and consequently takes up more space in her closet, she’s forced to focus on the “it’s the thought that counts” mantra.

My mother shared a similar story of a sewing machine. It was a top-of-the-line sewing machine with all the bells and whistles. Just not any bells or whistles she would actually use in her sewing practice. So, more money was spent on stuff she didn’t need to “surprise” her with something she didn’t actually need.

I am guessing many women have anecdotes like this. My most recent comparable is asking for a weighted blanket after discovering at a massage the relaxation they can bring. I got jewelry instead. I know, who can complain about jewelry. But I spend a lot more time on my couch looking to de-stress than I do out in the world wearing a glitzy necklace.

Thoughtfulness is asking for gift suggestions

To give the givers of these gifts credit:

  • They’re trying to be thoughtful.
  • They wanted their gifts to be a surprise.
  • They are making the effort to get a gift.

OK, that said. I’m going to take this blog to suggest that what’s really thoughtful is asking the receiver for gift suggestions: “Hey, honey, your birthday‘s coming up…what do you want?”

Especially when it comes to something that’s going to take up space in the home. Something that the giver is going to expect the recipient to use day in and day out. Like an office chair, which makes sense during #WFH days, but sucks as a gift if the recipient finds it really uncomfortable.

I come from a family of practical gift givers who exchange gift suggestions of what we want from one another. Of course, I probably actually annoy the others because I tend to go off book (literally, since that is what all of them want) and try to also add something thoughtful. Yep, I guess I’m a hypocrite. (I typed that as hippocrite and wanted to leave it because of the fun image it brings to mind, but I don’t want you all envisioning me as a hippo). But, I do stick to the list and give them some of what they asked for; I only go AWOL for one item.

I know the ask for gift suggestions first perspective isn’t going to be popular with everyone. I’d love to hear the counter arguments. In the meantime, if you must go out on a limb and buy expensive gifts that don’t appeal to the actual recipient, can we at least agree you’ll be better tempered about exchanges and returns?

Birthday Dictatorship — The Gift Registry

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Good Morning America recently asked its loyal Facebook fans to weigh in on whether or not “it’s ever OK for parents to request gift cards or create registries for their kids when hosting a birthday party.”

Kids, of course, would love this. My own son would be at Target with his portable scanner beep-booping over Magic cards, phone supplies, video games…and then he’d want to go do the same at Dick’s Sporting Goods too.

birthday wish list

One parent, a mother of 5, was onboard. “[A] gift card allows the kids to pick out their own stuff and also shows them money sense,” she wrote. “They know how much they have to spend and they can spend up to that amount, or use their money and add to it if what they want costs more. Gift cards are a godsend if u [sic] ask me.”

Plus, she has five kids. Think of all the junk that would otherwise fill up her house after a birthday party!

Another respondent, though, made an equally good point: “A child should learn that any gift is OK…It’s the thought that counts. Too many spoiled entitled kids today.”

GMA asked an etiquette expert too. Elaine Swann said, “The bringing of gifts is a gesture of goodwill and when we start to set standards and ask for gifts in this particular instance, I think it’s setting the wrong precedence in terms of entitlement.”

A Generous Alternative

One of the respondents suggested what has become my favorite alternative to birthday gifts — giving to charity instead. I am happy to report it is becoming increasingly common for me to see a news story about a young person:

  • Doing a pet food donation drive
  • Sking for donations to a charitable organization in lieu of gifts
  • Donating their presents to a homeless shelter or Ronald McDonald house.
  • Getting people together for a birthday party where they make sandwiches for a homeless shelter.

Young people are using their birthdays as an opportunity to do acts of generosity for others!

I was able to get my son to take this approach for a few years, but then he got older and realized his friends were getting gifts, and he wanted the same thing. I suggest the alternative each year, but I’m not going to foist it upon him.

In the meantime, I’ve become one of those Moms who provides a gift card instead of a present. Yet, I won’t be allowing my child to openly ask for cash or register for gifts any time soon.

 

 

 

Birthday Surprise for Military Son

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I’m a fan of creative gift-giving. My friends did a scavenger hunt for me to find my present in college, and I loved it. I have aunts who sent the same plastic figure back and forth to each other embedded in other gifts. I’ve done the big box of empty to faux disappoint a child. Plus, a lump of coal for my husband one Christmas.

So, I get the idea behind the birthday gift prank played on the boy in this MilitaryKind video I saw shared on Facebook:

 

Birthday Prank

The boy is given a big box with more boxes inside of it. At one point he opens one to find a letter, which has him in tears reading out loud how his Dad won’t be able to make it home for his birthday. So sad. Then, he keeps on opening more boxes…Finally, he hits a note that says “Surprise” and out comes Dad — home after all.

Perhaps not as surprising is the mixed reactions on Facebook. Some people thought the whole thing so sweet — Father and Son reunion after all. Others were upset about the cruel trick played on the little boy.

One wrote: “Why put the kid through the emotional trauma of the first part of this surprise by first lying to him??? Cruel.”

I appreciated this response to that perspective: “…guess all of you saying how cruel this is have never done anything to tease anyone in your lives.”

Still, the comments made me view the video again in a different light. I’ve decided taking out the letter part, where the kid’s hopes are crushed, could have had the same surprise impact and softened the blow.

What’s the cruelest/cleverest thing you’ve done to celebrate a friend’s birthday?

Top 5 Ways to Spend $300K birthday present

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Birthday lottery winning

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It’s been a family tradition for years for family members to send Ervin Smolinksi scratch-off lottery tickets and chocolate for his birthday. This year it paid off.

The 94-year-old man made the news when he won $300,000 in the Michigan Lottery. His daughter-in-law bought the winning ticket as a gift for the World War II veteran.

“I’ve seen a whole lot in my life, and I don’t get worked up easily. I think my son-in-law was more worked up that I was,” Smolinksi said. In the CNN coverage the former sailor said, ”

I’m pretty frugal, I always shop sales and take care of my money and that won’t change.”
“The only thing that will change is I won’t have as much stress in my life worrying about money,” the former sailor said, “I’m pretty frugal, I always shop sales and take care of my money and that won’t change….The only thing that will change is I won’t have as much stress in my life worrying about money.”

Birthday Money

His win got me thinking though, as I probably too often do, what I would do if I won the lottery. Considering I don’t often play the lottery, it’s really a ridiculous game to play in my head. Yet, I enjoy the mental game. So, because this blog is often about giving, let me give you my top 5 ways to spend lottery winnings:

  1. Travel the world. Truly. Buy a tour package that has a travel agent set it up for you to get to every continent and live it up in luxurious hotels along the way.
  2. Pay off (or if you’re renting now buy with cash) house. Think of the joy of having a home that’s all equity. Come time to sell it, or pass it on, you’re sitting on value.
  3. Build up the college fund. With just one kid it’ll be easier for me to top up the account with some of these extra dollars, but putting it in his account in advance gives my family the benefit of accrued interest.
  4. Throw a massive — and I mean massive — par-tay for everyone I know and love in a destination location and with me footing the bill for hotels and travel and all that. Sort of like a wedding party, but I pay for it and we don’t have to say “I do” again.
  5. Donate. Find a few causes that you truly care about. Do the research about their credibility and give, give, give.

Those who are good at math might realize something here…I’ve probably overspent the $300K. Especially after the government takes the taxes out. Still, it’s fun to imagine isn’t it? Do you have a different top five? I’d love to hear other suggestions.

The 7 Ages of Birthday Gifts

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Birthday gift ideas

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Social scientists have long been interested in the exchange of goods as a moral rather than economic exchange. Yet no academic has been able to argue that there is an age at which we stop gleaning joy from giving or receiving gifts. As with Shakespeare’s Seven Ages of Man, we might also divide our reaction to gifts into seven stages:

 

…Our response to gifts having seven stages. At first the infant,

Drawn only to the shine or crackling sounds of wrapping paper;

And then the curious toddler, with a stack of gifts behind him,

More interested by far in the cardboard boxes they came in.

And then the enthusiastic schoolboy, ripping through the present

pile only needing to see what’s inside before moving on to the next.

Then a teen, full of strange ideas and ripe in smell, looking up from

Texting only long enough to acknowledge the cash or gift card,

Seeking an excuse to escape to the anonymous freedom of the mall.

Then the independent young man, full of book learning but burdened

By student debt, playing the part of gracious recipient while downplaying joy.

The sixth age shifts into the responsible adult, with claims of disinterest

In gifts and consistent embrace of his age as the youthful, well-saved 29.

Last scene of all, the milestones-only man more focused on making

Great plans for strange eventful trips when his age ends in 0, before oblivion,

Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

 

This bastardization is offered without the limitations of iambic pentameter, but with copious apologies to the Bard.

The Gift of Experiences

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The blogosphere is riddled with parenting pieces. One that caught my eye recently was entitled: “Why I Won’t Be Giving Your Kid a Birthday Present.” The title sounds more antagonistic than Victoria Fedden’s actual piece actually is. Her article tackles materialism and suggests that experiences matter more.

As the mother of “an extroverted 5-year-old,” she writes, about going often to “pretty over the top” events that net the birthday child “an avalanche of abundance.” She states: “Children today have too much stuff (my own included)…I’m not ungrateful, but I strongly believe that all of this excess breeds a terrible sense of indifference.”

On the heels of my own son’s 9th birthday, I heartily agree. In his younger years I was able to bring him onside with the idea of a food pantry or animal shelter drive instead of presents. But as he got older, and saw the loot his friends were bringing in, he resisted. Yet this year some of his presents remain unopened weeks later! He enjoyed the unwrapping part, but hasn’t actually taken the items out of their boxes!

Meaningful Experiences Matter More

Fedden’s point is that children remember the playing with their friends more than the presents. So her vow now is to gift kids “with something a lot more important: meaningful experiences.”

She suggests she will take a child to a picnic with her daughter, or the zoo, or a movie — creating a memorable experience for both the birthday celebrant and her own child. She writes: “Above all, the greatest gift we can ever give our kids is to teach them to build lasting relationships with others — relationships based on laughter and good memories and delightful experiences.”

I tried this idea of favoring experiences over goods on my son’s birthday this year by giving him a coupon book of experiences such as:

  • Going to a store for his favorite dessert
  • Inviting a friend over to watch a movie
  • Time at a trampoline park
  • Playing Frisbee golf with a parent

The one he was dying to use was playing one sport of his choosing in our cul de sac with both parents. We all went out and kicked the soccer ball around — and I think it’s safe to say we all had fun.

Favoring experiences over items is something I want to keep trying to value.

My confidence in the choice was only helped when I overheard my son showing his friends (over for a birthday sleepover) the gifts he’d already received and raving first about his cool coupon book of experiences.