My friend got an invitation to a birthday party for a kid, and in there was a registry to Toy's R Us. I'm not against anyone who would want to do this, but I personally never would. I know you make registries for wedding and baby showers, but this just seems different to me, maybe it's because I've never heard of it? I'm wondering if it is becoming the new thing or something? Has anyone ever heard of this?
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No. I feel weird enough making a registry for a baby shower.
My son is 5, and I got an email from Toys R Us to make a registry for his last birthday, but I thought it was ridiculous. If people want to know what he likes, he can ask me, and really, no one needs to get him anything anyways.
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I wouldn't and would just offer ideas about gifts if guest asked for them.
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I wouldn't. I'm not sure how I would feel about getting an invitation with one-- I always ask what the birthday boy/girl wants or needs anyway, but at that age, it's fun to pick things out. Like, if the parents tell me he likes puzzles, I get to pick out cute puzzles myself instead of picking up the one they selected.
Which reminds me, need to get my nephew his 2nd birthday gift soon!
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I plan on making Amazon wish lists for birthdays and giving the link to the grandparents. Anyone else would just find out through word of mouth.
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No, I think it's odd. I did make an Amazon wish lift for my son for Christmas, but I didn't go hand it out. I was asked my my parents and inlaws for ideas, and I had been keeping a small list for myself, so I emailed that to them when they asked, but I did't send out some mass email with it.
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We have an ongoing amazon wish list for her
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i wouldn't and i certainly wouldn't include it in the invite. birthdays aren't like showers, i don't think they revolve around gifts, so i think mention of them while extending an invitation is kinda rude. i keep wish lists on amazon for DH and myself just of things we'd like do purchase at some point and will do the same for a LO, if asked i'll share a link with a gift giver, but they're not public.
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I have an ongoing wishlist for LO too, and it's mostly so I remember things I want to buy her in the future. I could see myself sharing the link if someone asks for specific ideas. I think that's different than adding in registry info
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I feel like a registry/wish list are the same. I personally like that my SIL made them for my niece and nephew this year for Christmas (Amazon) because I don't know what they like and it makes them super happy when I buy things they were "wishing" for. It's the same thing as making a Christmas list, only online.
For birthday parties, that's a little much. I feel like for birthday, you get what you get. -
I think there's a lot of factors to consider when deciding whether this is a good idea. There is the child's age - my son is just about to turn one, so for us I think it's appropriate to have a wishlist/registry. There's the occasion - we most definitely had one for Christmas and since his birthday is at the end of January, all we did was update the list with the things he had gotten for Christmas. And then there's the family members and friends to consider, the people who will be coming to the occasion - do they live around the corner or across country? Do they see your LO often or do they see them once a year, if they're lucky? How old are they? I find that the older they are or the further away they live, the more comfortable they are just being told what to get your child. A lot of people we know, for example, are so out of touch with what to get kids and have no idea what our son's interests are that they -ask- if we have a wishlist online somewhere.
Even if they didn't ask if we had one, which we do with Amazon, I would probably keep one going until the kid gets old enough to make decisions on their own. Say about four or five. Why? Because I feel like there's a lot of good toys out there and few great ones. I'd rather make sure he gets things that actually have some longevity to them because there's multiple ways to play and use them than have something that's bright and flashy and doesn't last very long. I'd much rather have a simple, educational toy than a plastic toy that's not going to last but a few months before LO's attention is just gone.
But I guess I'm also looking at it a little more critically because we have another LO due soon. I want to make sure the toys we're given are going to last a while and aren't something he'll outgrow anytime soon since the time between Christmas/his birthday is so far. And if they last until the next LO? All the better. We just make sure that any presents we get have a receipt so we can return it if we need to because we've "already gotten one" from another family member. -wink wink, nudge nudge-
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I don't know if we will when we have a LO, but I have a few friends who've done it. They aren't pushy about it at all and are definitely open to gifts outside the registry, but I think they offer it for people who don't know what to buy.
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Nah I dont even like "wish lists" and such.
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I wouldn't do one but that's because the only people that I invite ti their parties are really close to us and know exactly what she is into so it would be pointless. I'm not against it though, it could be a good idea for some people.
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No. I think I'll ask for donations to a children's organization here, but no presents!
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I'm going to do an Amazon wishlist. I'm tired of getting crap that I don't need or want for my kids. But I won't make a registry per se. Most of the time, I say that I need money for X item.
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I don't know ..... I think other people come up with such cool gifts that I never would have thought of. If everyone stuck to my registry, I think lo would miss out. I do keep a list of ideas in my head in case people ask though.
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Friends of ours did that and I thought it was a little odd, but I wouldn't have any issue giving ppl suggestions if they asked for them.
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@NaturallyCathy: YES.
I have an amazon wishlist (I guess you could refer to it as a registry) for my son, and he will turn 1 in about 4 weeks. However, just as with wedding etiquette we did NOT put the wishlist link on his invite! I DO think that's impolite.
When people ask though, I want to be able to let them know what he actually needs and what I want for him. Like naturallycathy said - there are some toys I would prefer for him because of the longetivity, how they promote creativity and imaginative play and the quality. I have many etsy toys on his list, as well as what clothes he needs in which sizes, books, puzzles etc.
I'm not sure how many people will ask about the list - but I like having it in case they do. I'll probably send it to my mom so she has it in case anyone in her family asks for it.
To me it's just like suggesting something if someone asks me directly, except this time I'm giving them options and a wide price range. I always feel weird suggesting a gift not knowing what the persons budget is - do I suggest something $30? Or $10? Or what if they wanted to splurge, $50-$100? You never know!
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@Mrs. Pen: That's why I love our wishlist too - it gives everyone the ability to discretely check out the prices as well as decide whether to get a combination of things or just get one large present. They can tailor fit it to their personal style - this person's a pilot and hey look! There's a toy airplane on this wishlist, that would go great with X that I wanted to give him! Or they can start a theme - here's a puzzle that has safari animals in it and I saw this great safari book recently with lots of big pictures I'm sure he'll love...
We generally use the wishlist as a direction giver more than a 'you have to buy this' because I don't have time to sit on the phone and spell out all of the names for the toys they have these days for my grandmother who lives across state. Instead, I can email a link to my aunt that she can print off and go with my grandmother to the store to pick something out. Sure, you're going to have the people who look at it and toss the suggestions out the window but at least you tried. (And there's usually a receipt at the bottom of the bag if what they got you is truly terrible.)
Or in the case of my family, they may see something that we want on the wishlist and go get us something similar but better - like instead of a plastic open toy chest that had wheels and a handle for the living room, they're having a wooden toy chest with a lid made specially made for our son. A wishlist is meant to be more help than hindrance.
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Not long ago we were invited to a birthday party where they printed the one they had for their LO on the invite. Then you go to the list and it had about 100 items on it. It just all seemed a bit much to me.
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No. If people wanted to know what she needed, I'd tell them and/or send links, but I wouldn't do a registry.
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No, I would not do that. I wouldn't have a shower because I don't think its appropriate to ask for gifts. That's probably a cultural thing. So the idea of registering for a birthday party, is pretty out there to me.
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In my family it's not uncommon. I made a small registry for DS's birthday but I didn't advertise it. My mom let relatives know that there was a list at Target if they needed ideas. No one uses Amazon - these are 80 year old female relatives, so everything is at Target, wedding registries, baby shower registries, birthday lists, etc.
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I wouldn't ever do a registry, but the idea of an ongoing Amazon Wish List for LO is nice I think. Even if just for ourselves so we could keep track of wants/needs for LO, and if anyone asks, you can just say, "oh we have an Amazon list of stuff LO is going to need soon." I think that sounds okay. But definitely NOT on a birthday card invitation. Sorry, but IMO that's tacky.
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