https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Wed, 22 Apr 2026 18:41:53 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cultural-gift-giving#post-2607116 Fri, 19 Aug 2016 10:23:20 +0000 nana87 2607116@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We're Americanized Jews, and don't do gifts when we visit immediate family, for the most part (sometimes I'll bring gifts for my nieces if it's been awhile, or if I traveled somewhere exciting since the last time I saw them, I'll bring gifts for everyone--like when I went to Iceland I bought gifts for my parents and brother/sil as well as in-laws to give the next time we visited), but giving host/hostess gifts for people we're less close to is common, whether we're just going for a meal or staying over. But that's like, a bottle of wine or chocolates. But really, gifts are mostly limited to kids </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cultural-gift-giving#post-2607040 Fri, 19 Aug 2016 08:47:21 +0000 snowjewelz 2607040@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We're Chinese; within our families we don't really do much gift giving. But yes when visiting other people (people you're not as close to, or your elders then it's polite to bring something (fruits is a go-to haha). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cultural-gift-giving#post-2606957 Fri, 19 Aug 2016 07:08:29 +0000 SweetiePie 2606957@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My family is entirely American and we don't do a lot of gift giving. My sister and I don't even exchange gifts for everything and we are very close. </p> <p>My husband's family is all Israeli (as are all of his parents friends in the US) and they give gifts for EVERYTHING. My MIL stopped because I asked her to. But she still cannot come to our apartment (which is weekly) without bringing SOMETHING, even if it's bagels or a bag of donut holes. Lol. It bothered me for a really long time. And I still find it kinda annoying, but I also understand now that it's her culture and she really can't help herself.<br /> When his family is here from Israel (aunts and cousins) they ALWAYS bring something. Usually from a museum they visited here, they get a souvenir for us. It's weird to me but totally normal to them. It's usually nothing we can use or not my taste so I give it away. </p> <p>It's always so surprising to me that my husband's extended family IN ISRAEL sends LO gifts for birthdays and holidays. My aunts and uncles have literally never given me a gift unless they drew my name in a gift exchange or something. My husband's aunts and uncles get their great-nephew (my son) gifts. It's just so foreign to me (no pun intended). The only part that annoys me is that they send big bulky things (like ride on scooters) when I live in an NYC apartment. I feel bad but I just donate it to my building playroom. 😳 </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cultural-gift-giving#post-2606953 Fri, 19 Aug 2016 06:41:56 +0000 looch 2606953@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We kind of do this, when we visit my extended family in Southern Europe. My mom, for example, will bring something for her mom, sisters, and my cousins. I always send my one girl cousin makeup. She loves it.</p> <p>My dad will bring stuff for his family too, really random stuff, like beach towels and undershirts. He claims they love them, lol. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cultural-gift-giving#post-2603763 Thu, 18 Aug 2016 19:00:00 +0000 Boogs 2603763@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I was reading a blog post by Mrs. Bee <a href="http://www.hellobee.com/2016/08/12/arts-and-crafts-themed-gifts/" rel="nofollow">http://www.hellobee.com/2016/08/12/arts-and-crafts-themed-gifts/</a></p> <p>It got me wondering, is it customary to give gifts in your culture when you visit someone? </p> <p>When family visits each other from other sides of the country, we usually exchange some gifts. The same was true when we visited with family in another country, we took gifts for the households we visited. </p>