Seewalds 43: Pants may Have Been Worn Or Not

[Markie]

Late December birthday girl here. My mom always wrapped my presents in Birthday paper and I had a cake. Sometimes parties were hard since people were busy on the holidays. I did have a friend who gave me a present “for both your birthday and Christmas combined” so I gave her one earring in July for her birthday and the other one at Christmas. We laughed and I made my point. 

[FleeJanaFree]

15 hours ago, BlessingsVonFundiePants said:

poor little Henry got open up an amazon box or envelope each day with a birdfeeder, some different books, a pair of binoculars that he has to share with Spurgeon and underwear. Yay for childhood! 

 

I nanny for a wealthy family. Even toy imaginable. They have a 2.5 year old boy...I honestly think my kiddo would be thrilled with these gifts. Loves bird watching. Loves books. Loves his big boy undies. I totally see him loving Jessa and Ben's gifts over more traditional toys/games everyone gives him that he will lose pieces to eventually. There comes a point when you have to admit you have too many toys in the house and get creative. I really can't snark on these gifts at all, I know my little guy would actually use them. I actually think the bird feeder is a fantastic experience gift. I use the bird feeders as distractions all the time during morning meltdowns, he loves counting the birds, he loves telling me where they're flying to/landing, and holy shit does he love helping pour new bird seeds into it. Maybe jazz it up with decorated bags you can reuse, but...I like it. Am I allowed to like it? ?

Edited February 12, 2020 by FleeJanaFree
ugh I always have a typo

[Queen Of Hearts]

37 minutes ago, FleeJanaFree said:

I nanny for a wealthy family. Even toy imaginable. They have a 2.5 year old boy...I honestly think my kiddo would be thrilled with these gifts. Loves bird watching. Loves books. Loves his big boy undies. I totally see him loving Jessa and Ben's gifts over more traditional toys/games everyone gives him that he will lose pieces to eventually. There comes a point when you have to admit you have too many toys in the house and get creative. I really can't snark on these gifts at all, I know my little guy would actually use them. I actually think the bird feeder is a fantastic experience gift. I use the bird feeders as distractions all the time during morning meltdowns, he loves counting the birds, he loves telling me where they're flying to/landing, and holy shit does he love helping pour new bird seeds into it. Maybe jazz it up with decorated bags you can reuse, but...I like it. Am I allowed to like it? ?

I don't understand the snark on the gifts either. It sounds very comparable to what I'd get my kids. In fact, my parents gave my daughter a bird feeder and a bag of bird seed a couple years ago for a birthday gift (I think she was 4) as she loves watching birds and it is still one of her favorite gifts. In my family we keep the number of birthday gifts reasonable (compared to Christmas where we admittedly go a little overboard) and we always include books with gifts so I guess Henry's gifts sound very comparable to what kids in our family receive. 

[Bobology]

Half birthdays, like @Chickenbutt and @medimus mentioned are a great alternative. My grandson's bday is in the summer and he has a big family party with lots of gifts. Now that he is in school they will be hosting a half-birthday party for all his classmates, with absolutely no gifts since he already has enough. If they want to give something, the other kids/families can donate something useful to the teacher for their classroom. My 6-year-old grandson is very excited about it.

[MathQueen]

The son of a dear friend was born right after Christmas. His name is Patrick, so when they were kids/teens the MathBoys always attended his birthday parties on St Patrick’s Day. It was a brilliant solution. I still send him birthday wishes on March 17, even though I do know his actual birthdate.

[AliceInFundyland]

I was thinking about it too. Maybe these little boys like birds? Duggars promoting a love/interest in animals is not the worst thing ever.

I like the idea of them playing with binoculars much much more than a tablet.

Until children are old enough to realize/remember what's going on, I think that a lot of this is us projecting.

 

Edited February 12, 2020 by AliceInFundyland

[Not that josh's mom]

1 hour ago, AliceInFundyland said:

I was thinking about it too. Maybe these little boys like birds? Duggars promoting a love/interest in animals is not the worst thing ever.

I like the idea of them playing with binoculars much much more than a tablet.

Until children are old enough to realize/remember what's going on, I think that a lot of this is us projecting.

 

Spurgeon got a bird book at TTH for Christmas.  It has pictures of the birds and a recording of each bird's song. It appeared he was much more interested in it than most other things. Maybe they do have a real interest?

[Thorns]

Gifts can be wrapped in newspaper and some festive ribbon, or just regular string with a flower or some other form of decoration (at least of adults). Recycable wrapping paper has become more common/fashionable as well

[AliceInFundyland]

1 hour ago, Not that josh's mom said:

Spurgeon got a bird book at TTH for Christmas.  It has pictures of the birds and a recording of each bird's song. It appeared he was much more interested in it than most other things. Maybe they do have a real interest?

Sounds likely. Man, these are the slivers of things that give me hope.

Send those bright little ones to school!

Ben and Jessa aren't stupid. But goddamnit Ben is besotted with Jessa and Jessa is the one who is following in JB's footsteps. So in that sense, she's stubborn as hell and the most evil of all of them, imo. She's the smartest and the one who won't ever do something that rocks the boat.

[Pecansforeveryone]

@AliceInFundyland, yes I think Jessa is very loyal to the Duggar brand. I think she keeps the brand afloat almost single handedly by being the most well spoken on camera. 

[allthegoodnamesrgone]

I rarely bought toys for my kids birthday's,  we liked to get something that they were showing an interest in, and encouraged exploration and learning about the world around them. I love the idea of binoculars and a book about birds, and a bird feeder. I would have probably bought a bird feeder kit that the kids and I could put together, together, but that isn't everyone's thing.

As for Henry having to share with Spurgeon, our rule was, today is X's birthday and they don't have to share anything they just got today, but tomorrow you need to share. They got ONE day to keep something to themselves, and then it was available for the asking. Most of the time they wanted the other sibling to play with them so it was shared anyway. 

[neuroticcat]

7 hours ago, allthegoodnamesrgone said:

As for Henry having to share with Spurgeon, our rule was, today is X's birthday and they don't have to share anything they just got today, but tomorrow you need to share. They got ONE day to keep something to themselves, and then it was available for the asking. Most of the time they wanted the other sibling to play with them so it was shared anyway. 

We did this with library books too because there was always fighting. First day, the book you checked out is 100% for you. After that, available to others...

[Bobology]

All this talk of sharing gifts and books made me remember when my 2 were in school. One had an even birthdate, the other odd. On even dates the even kid got to choose where in the car to sit and vice versa. They never cared that some months had an extra odd day, they were just content to have a system. 

[Vivi_music]

Yeah being born near or on a holiday is not always the easiest. Valentine's Day baby here (HAHA! ).

I'd say I am pretty lucky, considering as a kid, it did not really change anything. It's not like kids will be busy going on dates with their partner. If I compare to people I knew in high school, one of my friend was born on Christmas Day and another person January 1st. These two never really had parties. And it doesn't have to be on a special holiday. I remember a friend born in mid-june. During HS, we were always in final exam week on her birthday.

So yeah, being a little Valentine is fine. I saw a change more as a young adult. For the first half of my twenties, it was harder to celebrate on my birthday night considering a bunch of my friends wanted to go out for a Valentine's day date with their partner. I was also single for a bunch of my early twenties so yeah....

As for Jessa, I am not bothered with the idea of reducing toys TBH. I simply hope she will do something similar for Spurgeon if she decides to go down this route. It would be only fair.

Edited February 14, 2020 by Vivi_music

[SorenaJ]

You don't have to throw your party on your actual birthday. Look at Jesus, he was born in the summer, but we celebrate him in December. 

[front hugs > duggs]

@Vivi_music happy birthday!!! 

[HerNameIsBuffy]

@Vivi_music - Happy Birthday!

Edited February 14, 2020 by HerNameIsBuffy

[lizzybee]

@Vivi_music Happy birthday! 
 

My first baby was born late November and this past Thanksgiving was his birthday. My family has three birthdays within a week of each other right at that time so it’s challenging to find a good weekend to do his party every year. BUT he was supposed to be born a week before Christmas so I’ll take navigating around two other birthdays and Thanksgiving over that. I was already imagining we’d do a half birthday for him if he ended up so close to Christmas. 
 

And no, you can’t always control due dates like someone said above. That first born was a surprise baby after nearly four years of trying. I would have taken him any day of the year including leap days. I was just so grateful he was on his way at long last! 
 

My birthday is the day after Cinco de Mayo. It didn’t effect my life at all. What did was that I had like four other people I went to school with that had my birthday. I was always stuck doing joint birthday parties with other kids and that was no fun at all. 

[IsmeWeatherwax]

@Vivi_music Happy birthday to a Valentines baby! Its my daughters birthday today as well, she's 23 today! Best present I ever got ?

[theotherelise]

No kids, but I’ve got 7 nieces and nephews. Three have bdays in last 10 days of November. One the day after Xmas.

Im a hard core budgeter, so that makes equity of gifts pretty easy. We do $20 cash for birthdays (did do gifts worth that amount when they were little). Then we do gifts worth $25 for Christmas. Gifts stop after high school graduation. Only one niece is local, so usually bday cards with cash are mailed, but two of the thanksgiving kids and the Xmas kid usually get their card in front of other cousins. So it’s easy for them to see it’s the exact same.

Graduation=$50. 
Wedding=$40-50 cash
Shower gifts=$20-30 from registry

I don’t understand giving gifts for birthdays to adults for the most part. We just do cards for adults in the family. Maybe flowers or something for big bdays.

DH’s bday is very early January and he always wants to combine his Xmas and bday gift budgets and pick out his own gift. 

 

[Bad Wolf]

My former foster daughter's wife gave birth today. Woo hoo. Going to visit this afternoon.

[SassyPants]

16 minutes ago, theotherelise said:

No kids, but I’ve got 7 nieces and nephews. Three have bdays in last 10 days of November. One the day after Xmas.

Im a hard core budgeter, so that makes equity of gifts pretty easy. We do $20 cash for birthdays (did do gifts worth that amount when they were little). Then we do gifts worth $25 for Christmas. Gifts stop after high school graduation. Only one niece is local, so usually bday cards with cash are mailed, but two of the thanksgiving kids and the Xmas kid usually get their card in front of other cousins. So it’s easy for them to see it’s the exact same.

Graduation=$50. 
Wedding=$40-50 cash
Shower gifts=$20-30 from registry

I don’t understand giving gifts for birthdays to adults for the most part. We just do cards for adults in the family. Maybe flowers or something for big bdays.

DH’s bday is very early January and he always wants to combine his Xmas and bday gift budgets and pick out his own gift. 

 

I have 13 nieces and nephews. I currently have 13 great nieces and nephews with another due in March. I am very close with my own nephews(5) who are older teens and young 20s. I do gift them for birthdays and Christmas. I was also gifting the great nieces and nephews, until this year. Since January, I send out monthly birthday emails to the crew celebrating in that month. I just can’t keep up. For whatever reason, my husband’s nieces and nephews (ages 21-37) are for the most part prolific reproducers. The oldest great niece is only 6. So, that’s soon to be 14 kids for 7 couples in 6 years time! 

[OyToTheVey]

My bday is smack tad in the middle of the summer. I never had a school party. My mom even had to hold off my bat mitzvah til September so that people can come. I HATED it. So much. As a kid things like that hurt. 

[FluffySnowball]

On 2/14/2020 at 7:32 PM, theotherelise said:

I don’t understand giving gifts for birthdays to adults for the most part. We just do cards for adults in the family. Maybe flowers or something for big bdays

Giving non-cash gifts can be lovely for adults, too, on birthdays or other events. It depends on how well you know someone and how much time you want to spend thinking about and selecting a suitable present. My cousin (and one of my very closest friends) and I always give each other gifts for birthdays, Christmas, etc. Some things are bought, some things are handmade (she usually makes a lovely calendar for me every Christmas, I love to knit for her). Last year, said cousin and I started the tradition of bringing a homemade cake to each other’s birthday meetings. When hosting, we have enough to prepare anyway and an additional cake to count on is really helpful. Also, I love organizing birthday lunches for my close family members: I do the cooking, baking and decorating and we all have a blast. (I’m a major celebration lover) It’s much more personal and fun for us. So the notion that adults don’t want gifts (for birthdays) is wrong IMO. Life’s short, I love (love love love) to celebrate it. 

[SorenaJ]

My birthday is right in the middle of the summer holiday, so I would usually celebrate my birthday party in August (after everyone had returned to school), in a joint celebration with my classmate. Joint celebrations were very common, people would often team up for birthdays. It didn't bother me to celebrate it a month later. If people had their birthday during a holiday, they would celebrate it after. 

The party for my family was around my actual birthday, people just knew to not book holiday that day.