Is it now taboo for kids to open up their presents at the party? No one does anymore... and people used to. It used to be part of the party! Now, everyone takes everything home and they open them there. Is this because time is so limited at party places? Is this because they don't want the kids to open their presents and make other kids jealous? Is this because they don't want kids to say things like, "Oh. I already have one of these!"? Is there another reason? My son has been to several parties this year for kids turning 7... this has been the case for all of them. A couple years ago, people opened presents at the party. What has changed?
None of the parties that we have attended with our daughter (4 y/o) have been like that. Part of the fun of the party is seeing the guest of honor open the present you picked for them. On a developmental level, I think it helps the younger kids come to terms with the fact that other people have birthdays too, and that giving can be a rewarding experience.
All of our neighborhood birthday parties have been like that. I've also noticed the trends toward shorter parties with lots more people. For my daughter's 3rd birthday, we had something like 30 kids and 50 people. We also do "No gifts" but some people bring them anyway. So we don't open them in front of everyone.
Ouch! We have manged to keep with a "the number of kids = the kids age" rule (with a little flexibility) Keeps it sane and (IMO) the little ones can't really relate to that many people. Plus there is the "Keep daddy out of the poor house" factor
The parties that my little one has been to (and had) have been open-the-presents-later affairs. I think they are more structured now than when I was a kid -- what I can remember about birthday parties I went to as a kid was that there were some basic games (e.g. pin the tail on the donkey), and then there was presents and cake. Now most of the parties we go to have a scheduled entertainment -- a lot of them are held at gymnastics-type places (e.g. MyGym) where a couple of hired hands run the kids through some obstacle courses while the parents hang out on the sidelines, and then there's pizza and cake, but the presents get taken home, and then thank you notes show up at day care the next day. For my kid's 3rd party last March, we had a "Music & Movin'" party where a guy and his wife came and played music and led the kids in a sing- and dance-a-long, followed by pizza & cake -- the presents went home and got opened up later. My kid was already stressed out about the party -- if he had opened his presents with his buddies from day care around grabbing his new stuff, he would have flipped out.
We can't do that. If we just invite the neighbors, that's 15 kids and another 10-20 parents. We also get invited to just about every birthday party at day care/school. And from other miscellaneous friends, such as people from MBA program and just plain old friends. This past year, we were invited to 2-3 parties a weekend from mid-May through mid-September. It's kind of interesting, all the neighborhood kids play with each other anyway, so there's a sort of order there, as there is with the day care/school kids. It's the random friends who we don't see as part of a group that have to find their way in, but they end up clustering together. This last time, we had all those people, and there was only 1 minor spill the whole afternoon! It was amazing. I ordered 10 pizzas, made the cake myself, and Banjo Man provided the entertainment. Next year will be a little more sane. As the kids get older, they're less interested in having everyone over. Already, the four kindergarten girls in group of neighbors aren't interested in playing with my daughter and her cohort of three-year olds.
I've never heard of anything like that. All 7 of my oldest daughters parties along with all of her friends parties have been where the birthday kid opens their gifts at the party.
Is defend on the parents how they going to present or do the programs of the party..... Teach your children explain to them the value of giving a gift.. that it's better to receive than to receive
Almost all parties we go to are not held in someone's house nowadays. And nobody opens the gifts. They just bag them and take them out to the car. Our two are four years apart and four days apart for birthdays. So it's always a question of doing a party at the bowling alley or party gym or a smaller affair at home. I don't mind the family and a few friends party at home since the big parties are complete insanity.
haha... well the way I read it was: 50 people total, including 30 kids. Wow! That's still a lot of people. At 3 years old the kid is barely aware of his/her own existence, much less 50 other people's. Oh well... nothing wrong with having an excuse for parents to get together I suppose.