Baby Showers
Gift for a gender reveal party?
I am going to a gender reveal party for a good friend of mine coming up soon. I wanted to bring a little gift, but I am not creative at all and can't think of anything. I wanted to have one pink bag and one blue bag and have a small cute gift for either gender and then just include a gift receipt on both and she can return one depending on what she is having and then just get something else with the money.
Can anybody think of anything better? I wanted to steer away from doing something gender neutral because I thought at the end of the day she will be so excited about the boy/girl she will want something that is gender specific.
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Re: Gift for a gender reveal party?
~Benjamin Franklin
DS dx with celiac disease 5/28/10
He's the single greatest thing I've done in my life and reminds me daily of how fun (and funny) life can be. He's turned out pretty swell for having such a heartless and evil mother.
This. I'm fairly certain I would never attend one but on the off chance I did, I wouldn't bring a gift. It's not a gift giving event and if she's also having a shower, she's asking far too much from guests. If this is her second, third, or fourth child, I'd just wait until the baby is born and buy an outfit then.
This exactly one of the reasons why I hate these parties. People who throw them insist 'Oh, it's not for presents, it's just to celebrate the baby, blah blah blah" and you are validating that guests feel obligated (if not by the host, by the social pressure to not be the only guest without one) to go out and buy presents.
Honest question time: If your friend was NOT having a gender reveal party, would you feel obligated to (or just plain old want to) carry around two presents (one of each gender) for the moment she told you what she was having? Probably not.
When someone throws a party, be it birthday, housewarming, bbq, baby shower, wedding reception, retirement, what-so-ever, people feel obligated to bring something. Sometimes it's a present, sometimes a bottle of wine, sometimes flowers, but regardless, people who have been raised properly know and feel that it's rude to go to someone's house for an invited event and not come with SOMETHING to give the hostess/guest of honor.
He's the single greatest thing I've done in my life and reminds me daily of how fun (and funny) life can be. He's turned out pretty swell for having such a heartless and evil mother.
The question is not SHOULD I bring something, it was more asking for gift ideas. I am not trying to get her a big ticket item like a car seat or something, but I wanted a small gift to bring. Again, this is one of my very close friend and it wasn't a big party she sent invitations out for or something, so I know she isn't looking for gifts, but I would still like to bring one.
That being said, can anybody think of a gift since I am 100% bringing a gift whether it is what you would do or not.
I did give you an idea. Sorry if it wasn't good enough.
Maybe a plant or flowers with either a pink or blue bow?
It's going to be hard to find ideas, because going this over-the-top is still pretty new with the whole gender-reveal nonsenese.
Ha.
I think this is the dumbest party idea ever. One of my friends mentioned having one for the next baby she has and I just rolled my eyes.
OP, if you really feel the need to get your friend something, do as a previous poster mentioned and bring a plant, small dessert, etc. Aside from wasting money on two, separate, gender specific outfits, I can't think of anything I'd purchase for the occasion.
Well, do they favor any sports teams? You could get a cute little pink or blue onesie with the team's logo on it. Or, how about a simple set of bibs that are gender-specific? Have they registered? Maybe you could find out which brand of pacifiers they wanted and get pink or blue ones. Picture frame with something like "Our little princess" or "Little slugger" on it?
These are all great ideas, trying to think of super gender specific gifts, baby shoes come to mind, a pair of mary janes or converse sneakers. Or, if that's not MTB's style, you could go with pink converse or black converse. You can also pick up onesies from Target for under $5 that say "Daddy's Little Girl", or "Mommy's Little Boy" that would be cute. I agree that you shouldn't give them both though, give them the appropriate one after the reveal and return the other yourself.
I would take a gender nuteral gift...maybe something like a piggy bank or a small keepsake kind of gift (check out Things Remembered).
I too would take a gift! I dont get why people are so against giving others gifts (not just on this post, its as if people dont want to spend their money on others or something, come on be generous)! If you have the money go for it! Its a nice gesture
Some of these responses are ridiculous. I think it's sweet of you - and I would do the same. I enjoy giving gifts, regardless of occasion. My only suggestion is maybe waiting until after the actual reveal and only giving her the one gender-specific gift and returning the other on your own. Returning things is a huge hassle in my opinion.
Some suggestions: a pack of swaddling blankets, a cotton sleeper, a car seat toy (the rattle kind that you hang on with rings), a cute hair bow for a girl or baseball hat for a boy... good luck!
Proud Mama to cleft cutie
I agree. I think some of these people must have had dud baby showers that they didn't get any gifts at or something because if you look through old posts it's the same people answering always accusing people of being gift grabby and tacky. And their kids are like 2+ years old. Their showers must have been traumatizing.
Thank you everybody for the suggestions! I have some good ideas now.
Awesome. It's definitely the best policy to respond to people who don't give you the answer you're looking for by insulting them.
I had wonderful showers, got a lot of great gifts - some from my registry and some that people bought off registry becuase they're parents and wanted to get me things that were useful to them. No trauma here. Yet I agree with these "traumatized" people that showers for multiple babies, gender reveal parties, diaper raffles, and book-instead-of-card requests are tacky and come across as gift grabby. You don't agree. Fine. Have your own opinion. But when you ask a question here, people will tell you what they think, including their opinion on the etiquette that applies to the situation. The fact that their opinion doesn't match yours, or that it's said in a sarcastic/snarky way (which some consider a form of humor) doesn't mean there's anything wrong with their lives.
You didn't even respond to the original post, so I don't know why you are all upset. FWIW, people brought a book to my shower instead of a card and it wasn't tacky and a lot of people mentioned they loved the idea. Nobody on this board wrote the book of baby shower etiquette and I find it totally annoying that people responded to my question by telling me how rude my pregnant friend is for having a gender reveal party. I appreciate all the different opinions I got, and I can understand sarcasm. I'm not offended by internet strangers either and I am not going to let them sway my decision. I took the answers about my friends tackiness and didn't even pay attention to them, but then as I looked through other posts I realized just how rude the same people always are on this board. No need to try to shame somebody who is asking a question about a shower/party/gift/game playing that you don't agree with.
I have never been asked to attend a gender reveal party but if I were to go to one, I would probably take a small gift. I am also the type of person who absolutely loves buying things for babies. so I am definitely a sucker for baby showers and such. I always go overboard in the gift department. The gift won't be for the parents but for the baby, so I don't see the big deal in getting something small like a toy or a book. Something under 10 bucks should do the trick.
Save the bigger gift for the actual shower.
1) I'm not at all upset, just think you're being a bit ridiculous with your analysis of people as traumatized by their own baby showers. I didn't have to comment on your OP to have opinions about something you posted later on.
2) No one said it's a bad idea to give a book instead of a card - it's just tacky as hell to tell people they have to do it. If someone WANTS to give something as a gift, then that's great.
3) I don't think the people who comment on etiquette are particularly rude... their responses tend to match the situations being presented. If someone comes on here asking if a shower for their 3rd kid in 4 years is tacky (and, honestly, if they ask, they already know the answer), and THEN they argue with people about why it isn't tacky, they deserve the response they get. I do think you're awfully rude, to make broad sweeping judgements about people's lives based on your not liking their stance on what is/isn't appropriate etiquette.
If you don't want someone telling you honestly what you think, call your mom or other female mom-type figure. If you want honesty from people who don't really care how fragile your feelings are, keep posting here. You asked the opinions of people on the internet and you got opinions from people on the internet. It's obvious they weren't the ones you were expecting, perhaps your expectations need adjusting?
He's the single greatest thing I've done in my life and reminds me daily of how fun (and funny) life can be. He's turned out pretty swell for having such a heartless and evil mother.
OP, what if you give them something white that they can color or paint or put fabric on or something like that? Take something white, and let the MTB make it the appropriate color for the gender the baby is?
Or you could get two white onesies, and decorate one for a boy and one for a girl. That might be more sentimental, and might be cheaper.