No Toys Please.....?

mutley74

Its my son birthday soon (8).....and as he does not play with toys anymore (DS, PC etc taken over) all his current toys are just siting there. He hardly plays with his toys now even if i dont allow electronic games. I feel pretty disappointed as he has loads of really cool lego and transformers sets.

Rather than getting loads of more toys as presents on his birthday from other friends.....whats the best way of wording it on his invitation cards to say i rather have clothes or something rather than toys on his birthday???

sandiep

Don't assume that it's a lifetime thing. You may well find that he changes friends etc and suddenly everything he hasn't played with becomes the favourite stuff.

mutley74

sandiep wrote: »

Don't assume that it's a lifetime thing. You may well find that he changes friends etc and suddenly everything he hasn't played with becomes the favourite stuff.

i know what ypu mean, but i have tried getting toys out before....but he has so many just going to waste plus loads of unopened ones from previous birthdays...i just dont want anymore, and really prefer is his friends parents could consider something more useful.

(BTW I give lots of his toys new and used to charity)

sandiep

My 7 yr old didn't play with toys for years. she'd play with a box and old clothes and a spoon for hours. But suddenly she started playing with the dolls house, bratz and barbie stuff that she'd ignored for years. Now, when it's wet/cold she'll play 2-3 hours solid every day.

I always find it really hard to "ask" for presents, I know that you're not asking, but stating preferences feels awkward because its kind of similar. I have absolutely no sensible suggestions other than let them give presents, keep the labels, and recycle them as Christmas presents at the end of the year.

onetomany

my 7 year old is the same he never plays with toys just pc and ds

cte1111

We had a thread about this a while ago, which might be worth looking up. People seemed to on the whole think it wasn't great to say that you would prefer money for example.

However I was asked this by a friend whose daughter had a birthday in January and she had so much stuff that they said please could we give a fiver in a card if we wanted to give a present. I was fine with this, but other people thought it was a bit out of order.

Maybe just put 'No present please' on the invites. Or ask your son what he thinks you should put? He might be happy to say no presents or have a suggestion that would make it sound better coming directly from him.

jackomdj

I would let them give presents, save them to give on & give your son some money to cover the money you are saving on buying presents for his friends.

mrsa

Do you want money/clothes etc or nothing?? You say you give stuff to charity...so why not offer donations to a charity close to you?

My 2 sons birthdays are in Feb and they had lots of things left from xmas..so we said no presents and set up box with blank envelopes (can leave blank or write your name on) on a table at the party. Noone is obliged to give anything - and know that they will not be judged for a small donation or none at all.
You can choose with your child where they would like the money to go.
All the money we got went to our local neonatal unit on: Playstation, games, dvd's, toys etc. My son was very premature and we spent alot of time in the family room with minimal toys..they were overjoyed.
Best present I have EVER given. And the look on my sons face when they thanked him...priceless..!

bulchy

mrsa wrote: »

Do you want money/clothes etc or nothing?? You say you give stuff to charity...so why not offer donations to a charity close to you?

My 2 sons birthdays are in Feb and they had lots of things left from xmas..so we said no presents and set up box with blank envelopes (can leave blank or write your name on) on a table at the party. Noone is obliged to give anything - and know that they will not be judged for a small donation or none at all.
You can choose with your child where they would like the money to go.
All the money we got went to our local neonatal unit on: Playstation, games, dvd's, toys etc. My son was very premature and we spent alot of time in the family room with minimal toys..they were overjoyed.
Best present I have EVER given. And the look on my sons face when they thanked him...priceless..!

This is a lovely idea, and probably the only one I would feel comfortable doing.
Sue

Becles

You could do the charity bucket idea and let him use the funds to buy something from Oxfam Unwrapped. My boys would probably choose one of the wacky donations like buying a toilet

mutley74

Thanks for the suggestions.
My son does not realy mind if he gets no toys as presents. As i have said just got loads of really cool toys sitting there plsu many unopened, and thats after giving away loads to local hospital charity.
To be honest i would really prefer clothes! I had seen on some adult wedding party invitations the words "No boxed gifts" where i presume they are implying to keep gifts as money or vouchers.

I wanted to write something along the lines of "no toys please if you dont mind" byt not offend the parents.