The Birthday Gift Guessing Game
Few things excite my daughters more than getting a birthday party invitation. I wish I could say it was just as exciting for me! Don't get me wrong, I enjoy celebrating birthdays as much as the next mom. However, the big events are a growing source of frustration for me because of the time spent agonizing over where to shop, what to buy and how much to spend on the birthday boy or girl!
I miss the good old days when my oldest was in preschool and invited to her first round of birthday celebrations. With just one child in the mix, it was manageable. I remember giving "Barney" books and anything else related to the big purple dinosaur, since he was all the rage at that time. I 'd surveyed a few friends what they spent on presents and felt fairly confident I was doing a good job of buying a nice gift without blowing the budget.
Pretty soon daughter number two was getting invitations. Barney was no longer an official "craze" and to make matters more difficult, she started getting invitations to several parties for kindergarten boys.
As the mother of three girls, I'm really lost when it comes to shopping for boys! Fast forward to my current source of birthday party gift stress, middle school! My oldest daughter's friends are turning thirteen and the "right" gift has never been more important. Yes gift cards are great, but I can't keep up with which store is the most "in" at the moment, Clarie's, Abercrombie, Hollister? Don't even get me started about the fact that my daughter seems to think I'm an ATM machine AND a personal shopper, all wrapped up in one (not so super) mom. The biggest question of all seems to be, how much to give? Does the gift amount go up with age? My daughter sure seems to think so! Should I make her pay for all or some of the present out of her babysitting money? At the same time, I'm trying to keep up with gift ideas for my six-year-old daughter's friends. Something High School Musical maybe or how about Hannah Montana? I say stop the madness and bring Barney back!
