I often get asked if Deposit a Gift can be used for kids birthdays. Since we are a ‘virtual’ registry, the concern from parents is if their kids will feel like they are missing out if they don’t have a bazillion gifts to tear into on their special day.
It’s a valid, but growing question, since so many of today’s parents are reevaluating their priorities as the culture shifts towards a more experiential economy. Whether out of necessity or by choice, people are re-thinking how they want to spend their money and the message they want to send to their children.
From where I sit (on my couch!), a few factors seem to be influencing this shift:
- Growing emphasis on a greener lifestyle
- The Recession: people need to do more with less
- General distaste for our culture of consumption and feeling that their kids have too much
If any of you read last month’s birthday post, you know that I am a big fan of them, so my thoughts on how to revise the approach to gifts is not about making them less fun, but using them as an opportunity to get creative, have fun and send positive social messages to our kids.
To me, every new year of life is a celebration of our experiences, who we have become in the past year and how we will grow in the year to come. What better way to honor this than with the gift of experiences?
It’s a win-win for all because:
- Kids get to participate in dreaming up what experiences they would like to have in the coming year: piano lessons, gymnastics class, their first trip to Disney!
- Parents don’t have to prepare themselves for the onslaught of stuff that could make anyone’s head spin -Â knowing full well that the gifts will be tossed aside after a couple hours of play
Although this might seem like a foreign concept now, it’s all about the precedent you set for what is normal, and most importantly, how you engage your kids in the process so they feel ownership of the decisions. In a nutshell, you want them to feel like they are getting more than what they are losing.
Not sure how to position it to friends and family? We offer wording suggestions when you create your registry. Here’s an example:
Many of you have generously asked about a birthday gift for [INSERT NAME OF CHILD]. The truth is that [INSERT NAME OF CHILD] already has more “stuff” than he/she can play with, so this year we thought it would be fun to get creative with gifting options. Rather than physical presents, we would prefer the gift of activities to help him/her grow as a person and have fun doing it!
If you are so inclined, we have created the wish list below. It is filled with amazing activities that [INSERT NAME OF CHILD] would love to participate in to make this next year a child’s dream, full of excitement and exploration, creating memories to last a lifetime. We know it’s not the traditional gift, but we hope you’ll enjoy bringing these new experiences to life in celebration of his/her birthday. We promise to keep you posted on how he/she is doing!
With love,
[INSERT YOUR NAMES]
There are so many things that can be done to make a child’s birthday special, and this is just one of them! I hope it inspires you to think outside the box of what is possible — Now tell us, what are you doing to celebrate? Cheers!
[...] fun part is when I get to tell them all the uses for our service — as soon as I mention kids birthdays and holidays, their eyes light up and they start telling me about all of the (ahem) crap that they [...]