For Those Of You That Don’t Do Presents And Parties......

[mrsp'slilpeeps]

This is a spin off from my last post, Cheerfuldom go me curious as to why not?

Some of you don't do special holiday crafts, birthdays, going away parties.

Not judging, I'm starting to feel the same way. I would like to know why you don't.

[Blackcat31]

That would be me.

I don't do parties because they aren't inclusive to everyone. NOT everyone celebrates Christmas, Easter etc. NOT everyone has a mom or a dad....

I don't do going away parties because I have served hundreds of children over the years.

Some stay from infancy until school age and others only a short while.

Parties disrupt my normal flow of things and I live by routine and consistency.

Parties are also something that seems to revolve around bad foods and bad behaviors....kwim?

I also think that just because someone is leaving my program, doesn't mean it is good bye for ever or for everyone as this is a smaller community and most these kids will go to school together no matter where they attended child care.

I choose to celebrate holidays with my family and not get overly involved in the commercialism of a lot of them with the daycare kids. The parents can do that on their time.

I offer art materials and supplies so the kids are free to make whatever they want whenever they want but I don't have a specific craft or product that is expected based on an upcoming holiday and/or celebration.

HTH

[mrsp'slilpeeps]

Blackcat, do the parents say anything or ask why not?

I have found that no one is appreciative of the little holiday treat bags or crafts/mom day/fathers day stuff anymore.

And frankly, I'm tired of wasting my money.

[Blackcat31]

I cover this topic and why during the interview so parents know coming in to not expect anything like that.

I haven't really had any parents be upset or wishful about it.

Most of them say, "Good, that's one less thing I have to buy a gift or contribute to".....

[crazydaycarelady]

I don't do parties either. For birthdays we have a treat (optional, the parents bring it) and I give a small gift. Recent gifts have been a large container of bubbles and some sidewalk chalk for around $5.

Other holidays we may have a treat, I may send home a treat, but no parties.

[LK5kids]

I am minimalist in the party/gift area. I have a birthday box filled with items from the $1.00 store.

I don't do a bunch of games for holidays. Maybe one simple beanbag game.

They do not dress up for Halloween here.

I have never done going away gifts.

I always did one simple treat for parties. This year I might be adventurous and have each family bring something and have a big smorgasbord!

I am not much for parties or field trips!

[cheerfuldom]

same reasons as everyone else already said. sometimes I will do little things but the reality is that I am a busy mom of four on a very tight budget. sending home things that the kids are going to trash or the parents are going to throw away is not even remotely on my priority list. I have never had a parent complain about it. In fact, it seems like I used to get A LOT more complaints when I did do more which is annoyingly ironic, wouldnt you say?

Now if I have the time and the energy, I will get something special going. If I don't, I won't.

but all that said, I dont have a large program of kids. If I had a large group with a structured preschool then yes, I think parents expect something like parties and holidays usually or at least something to replace those type of things.

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

Blackcat, do the parents say anything or ask why not?

I have found that no one is appreciative of the little holiday treat bags or crafts/mom day/fathers day stuff anymore.

And frankly, I'm tired of wasting my money.

I am a Christian daycare so we, quite obviously, celebrate Christian holidays here.

I do LITTLE gifts for Father's Day and Mother's Day. I do a $1 gift for birthdays, if their birthday falls on the day they attend (a coloring books/a cheap book from the dollar store/etc.).
For Christmas, they do a book exchange. They must bring in a wrapped book to exchange with "From: ___" written on it.
For Easter, they bring in 6 filled eggs.

Other than Father's Day, Mother's Day, and their birthday (maybe) I don't do gifts.

Parties? We do a special treat for snack on birthdays if they brought something in. We do a "Fall Festival" party in the fall that is a lot of fun (apple bobbing, face painting, dancing, etc.) and we do a little Christmas celebration in the winter which is when we do the book exchange and Santa comes (I own a Santa suit and have my Dad wear it). But, that's it as far as parties go. This year I tried a Valentine's Day party and I didn't like it. :: So, never again.

[SquirrellyMama]

I don't do them because I think it is very stressful planning parties. I am not a party planner

K

[Meyou]

I've found a decent balance by making cupcakes on birthday days (frosted banana muffins) and incorporating dance contests or races outside as part of our normal afternoon. I call them PARTY RACES and PARTY DANCING. The kids LOVE it and I really do nothing different than a normal day other than using the word party.

I don't do gifts or anything elaborate.

[Josiegirl]

I wish I had never started them. The kids expect gifts, they expect parties. They lose their sense of appreciation and sometimes I get those 'Is that all there is?' comments. Drives me insane. I cannot compete with the materialism of most families and I feel like I'm doing them out of obligation now.

[Play Care]

I wish I had never started them. The kids expect gifts, they expect parties. They lose their sense of appreciation and sometimes I get those 'Is that all there is?' comments. Drives me insane. I cannot compete with the materialism of most families and I feel like I'm doing them out of obligation now.

When I first started out I got a few kids from a retiring provider. She went out of her way for all holidays, birthdays, etc. And it seemed the parents expected that to continue. So I did. But I've started getting away from it recently and want to put something out there about not celebrating holidays and birthdays with gifts/parties. There isn't anything in my contract about it - but thought maybe the summer newsletter could have a blurb about it, but not sure about wording.

[Laurel]

This is a spin off from my last post, Cheerfuldom go me curious as to why not?

Some of you don't do special holiday crafts, birthdays, going away parties.

Not judging, I'm starting to feel the same way. I would like to know why you don't.

I don't do parties. I do buy each child a birthday and Christmas gift in the $10 to $15 range. I wrap them and they take them home wrapped. Nothing is opened at my house. To me it is to thank the parent for their business. I rarely get a thank you anymore btw.

For birthdays if the parent wants to bring a treat they can. Otherwise I light a regular candle and we sing Happy Birthday and have an otherwise normal day. They LOVE the candle with the lights out at lunch time. So it acknowledges their birthday but we don't really celebrate it.

Holiday crafts we do if I feel in the mood. Most of the time I feel in the mood to do one or two during the month of December but we do other crafts and art.

One time I had a 4 year old whose parents wanted to bring party things so I told dad that was fine. So he and his daughter made a homemade Blues Clues cake and he brought hats, blowers, balloons, etc. That was the best birthday party ever because I told the little girl we could do it her way. So for one activity we blew up the balloons and played with them, later in the day they wore the hats around and just spread it out over the whole day amongst regular things. It was soooo non stressful. I thought it was sweet that dad and daughter made the cake together instead of stopping at the store for premade cupcakes.

My provider friend does the full out party thing. She is doing a going away one today. Not sure why she does it as she always complains about it. For birthday's she has each child bring a party bag for each child. So each child gets 5 or 6 of them. Too much!

The WHY is because I thought it was excessive. I'd hear that we had a party at mom's house, at dad's house, at grandma's house and then at my house. Some of those parties were week long events. Geez.

For going away, if they have been with me for years, I give them a memory book. One of those for each year of school and I fill out the preschool one or give them a small photo album of pictures I took of them. If they haven't been with me long I 'might' give them a little present. Depends on the situation.

Laurel

[countrymom]

it all depends how I feel. Sometimes I feel like a party and sometimes I don't. And it all depends who is here. I do buy christmas gifts and birthday gifts.

this made me sad, I have dcg, who goes to another daycare 3 days a week (long story) so she is here 2 days a week. I asked her if they made something for mothers day and she said no, they don't celebrate nothing at the daycare. So we did something here. All my parents loved their presents. It was so appreciated. My kids brought something home from school too. I just think its so sad that nothing is being celebrated, I'm not saying to have a party (cause it depends what mood i'm in) but I do have a sticker and a crown that the kids do get when its their birthday, along with a present. Its the little things that the kids love.

[daycaremum]

I give the kids an under $5 gift for birthdays (usually a book) and under $10 gift for Christmas.
We don't do birthday parties but we sing happy birthday at lunch time. If the parents bring in cupcakes that's a nice surprise.
We do a special craft for holidays, (I prefer crafts that the children can do all themselves, I don't do complicated crafts that are super cute yet I end up doing all the work because it's developmentally inappropriate for the kids).
I give each child a "leaving" gift, usually a book.
I also give a treat bag for Easter and Halloween.
If I give the children something they take it home and open it there.
I agree that children have so much excess from their own friends and family, I don't need to add more to it.
I don't have any kids that don't celebrate the holidays and I've always had kids that have both parents.
I'm about simple gestures, not elaborate shows.
If we did big parties for all these things, between holidays and birthdays we'd being having a party every month!!!!