During an average year, how many birthday parties do your kiddos get invited to? For my two children, I'm guessing around 8-10 parties, but I have family and friends whose total is probably more in the high teens to even twenties. Birthday parties can be so expensive — spending $10-$20 on each gift. The financial investment may limit the number of parties you let your child attend, which is truly indicative of what our society has turned kid's birthday parties into and I believe it's feeding our kids to be more materialistic. No, I'm not against big birthday parties or my kid getting gifts, but I believe it's a shame when the focus is on receiving that celebrating.
I came along this new birthday trend and it is gaining momentum... the Fiver Birthday Party. I love it not only as a parent who attends multiple parties, hence buying multiple gifts, but also as a parent who throws birthday parties and honestly has no more room in our house for toys that my kids will probably not play with. Can I get an "Amen?" The birthday shouldn’t be about the stuff. It should be about the celebration of our child. Now, getting our kids to buy-in to that concept may be challenging, but the Fiver Party offers an amazing balance.
So, what is the Fiver Birthday Party? In a nutshell, your birthday invitation (in a fun tone) explains that your child is foregoing toys this birthday, but a gift towards his/her birthday wish for __________________________ (life experience such as a zoo visit, Pigeon Forge getaway, Dollywood season pass, etc.)
7 tips to holding a Fiver Party:
1. Make sure that you word your 'Fiver party' invite in a tasteful manner.
2. Kids love getting money. Well, my kids do, anyway.
3. Everyone wins. Kids get exactly what they want. Parents save by not having to fork out large sums of money for gifts 3.
4. It’s cheap. Obviously! All kids invited can afford to send a gift.
5. No cheap toy gifts that often get re-gifted or break easily
6. Save the environment with less waste and packaging
7. It's a great lesson for kids to learn to save towards something that means a lot to them.
Moms who have done it stress it's all about presentation to take the "huh" out of it. The key is to have your invitation worded tastefully, respectfully and with no pressure of any gift at all. For example,
We're trying to help "Jackson" focus on the joy of celebrating this special occasion with his cherished friends rather than on receiving gifts.
To that end — we hope you'll consider NO TOYS. We ask you consider NO MORE THAN a $5 gift card or cash that "h"e can put towards something special he's saving for __________ [insert gift experience here].
Thanks for understanding and celebrating with us.
Another invite idea could read:
Jackson is having a “fiver” party! He wants to save up for a [insert gift here], so if you wish to send a gift, please consider $5 in a card!."
Another reason why I love this idea is you can encourage your child to get creative in creating a one-of-a-kind handmade card for the birthday boy or girl to put the $5 bill in. I love getting homemade cards and they make better memories than store-bought. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm all about the Dollar Tree birthday cards in a pinch, but like the idea of getting creative with my kids on this one too.
There will, of course, be Fiver-haters. Maybe you think your kid “deserves” all those gifts, and you don’t mind the extra stuff. Maybe you actually enjoy shopping for gifts for your kid’s pals. Maybe you and your kids love the chaos of gift-opening at the end of the party. And for sure if your kid is still little—turning three or four, for example—you may worry that she won’t understand why there are no presents to rip open. The Fiver Party may not be for everyone. One great suggestion on the last point, is to have your immediate family buy a toy(s) and have your guests do the Fiver Party towards the experience gift.
I think the Fiver Party idea is BRILLANT! I actually used it this past weekend for a gift idea even though it wasn't a Fiver Party. My afterthought was to put a little note in the birthday card explaining "_______" [kid's name] could hopefully use the $5 for something special.
I would love to know your thoughts on the Fiver Party. Are you a Fiver Lover or Fiver Hater or undecided. Let me know in the comments.
