Kid's Birthday Party Bag of cr*p

[Piratelvr1121]

Ugh, hate goody bags!  Mainly because we NEVER get RSVP's but for my boys coming home and saying "yeah so and so's coming" or "Nope, so and so's not coming".  Why do I even bother with putting RSVP on the invitation anymore? I ought to put in cards a la wedding invitations that say "Attending" or "not attending" and write in the invitation "For your kid to give to mine". 

Okay maybe not really.  But I never, ever get the amount of kids I buy goodie bags for and often I end up buying too much. Actually around here it seems the only way you get a decent amount of people to rsvp and show up to your kid's party is by hosting it at one of those inflatable playplaces.

Have it at home? Ho-hum! Well too bad, we're not made o' money and home parties were good enough when I was a kid, gosh darnit!

Okay now that I'm finished that part of the rant, I hear you on goody bags. I hate them and 9/10 times most of what my boys bring home from other parties ends up getting thrown away and they eat all the candy resulting in a sugar rush.

When Pirateboy1 had his bday party this year we let him have his first slumber party since he was 10, but it meant he could only invite 4 people since our house is not that big.  Only one kid showed up so I bought enough t-shirts and dye kits so that my two and the friend could make tie-dye shirts and THAT was their favor.

I think I may do that from now on, have the kids do something cool and crafty and take that home as a favor rather than just some junk.

[NyaChan]

I still have fond memories of getting Lisa Frank stuff in goody bags   Still, when I was little, it was usually just a mix of candy, some pencils, cute erasers, small stuff like that.  Must be a pain for parents to have to come up with I guess, but as a kid I loved it! 

[cicero]

DS's birthday parties were at home with a few friends - mommy arranged games and such, we had a cake with candles, each kid said a few nice words, and that was that. a great time was had by all. Goody bags were cute themed bags that i filled with, well, goodies - crunchy stuff, pretels, a little sweet, and a "thing" (whatever i could find at the dollar store - those annoying rubber balls, key chains, etc). it's sad that parents are stressing themselves out so much all the time to find the better/more expensive "goodies" - i don't know who this is good for (other than the manufacturers of said goodies).

And just to clarify - this wasn't in the stone ages. By the time he was 4, he had already been invited to a few birthdays that involved clowns and/or magicians with tons of food and junk and goody bags. but i always felt that kids enjoyed the smaller "at home" parties with games and cake.

[JonGirl]

One year we gave out little plastic "chinese food containers" filled with wrapped lollies, balloons, whistles, and little notepads and pencils.
Everybody loved them. And I always make enough so if somebody who's invited dosen't come, a guest who gets one takes it home to their sibling.

[Perfect Circle]

I don't like goody bags either. But everyone does them here.

One family even had an Easter Egg hunt. On the first Sunday of lent.

[mechtilde]

One year we gave out little plastic "chinese food containers" filled with wrapped lollies, balloons, whistles, and little notepads and pencils.
Everybody loved them. And I always make enough so if somebody who's invited dosen't come, a guest who gets one takes it home to their sibling.

I do something similar- often some little pencils or crayons, pencil sharpeners, notebooks, bouncy balls and so on. I usually put a lolly or something like that in, plus a piece of fruit

[Bibliophile]

I'm 36 and they were at every birthday party when I was little.  It's not new by any means.

[MorgnsGrl]

I have no idea but I'm not a fan. Every year or two I go through drawers in our house and throw away all the little plastic toys that never got played with after the drive home from the party (and come to think of it the organizer tote in the back seat of the car is probably full of them, too.) We stick to candy when we give out favor bags, and have sometimes just gone with items from the "plot" of the party. (We had a Pokemon party in which kids had to find Pokemon "eggs," hatch them into stuffed (made up) new Pokemon, then had to find evolution stones and evolve their Pokemon into a new form. The kids got to take home the fancy "eggs," the painted evolution stones, and their evolved Pokemon. DH even made up some fake "Pokemon cards" that looked like the real thing to go along with the Pokemon. No one cared about candy, LOL!

[Oh Joy]

2. One family who always attends  the same parties that DD goes to, goes through the gift bags and takes out the stuff they don't like and give them back to the host. We have used them as an example with our daughter of how not to accept gifts, even if you don't like them.

DH and I are on a never-ending journey of awareness about the quality and quantity of things that come into our house.  But reading this makes me squirm in my seat.  Choosing when to accept or not accept gifts can certainly be a challenge, but sorting through a gift and giving the parts that aren't wanted back to the host?  In front of others who the host - presumably with the best of intentions - chose to give the same selection of gifts?  I can only see this causing discomfort and hurt feelings.

But I also can't believe the amount of junk food and disposable gifts that have come home from daycare with Bundle of Joy - and he's barely one year old and only attends two days a week.  We've got quite the road ahead of us!

[JillyJ]

I'm 36 and they were at every birthday party when I was little.  It's not new by any means.

38 here, and that's been my experience, too.  They were definitely the norm when I was a kid, and I know they still are in my neck of the woods. 

[bopper]

"Goodie bags" have been very common for years.  I, too, didn't like "bags o' crap" so we would try to do something else.   Sometimes we would do a craft at the party and that would be part of the goodiebag. One time (back in the day when Beanie Babies were popular) we had a Beanie Baby party and gave a Beanie baby as the goodie item.
Sometimes we would go to Claire's accessory stores and buy stuff on sale at 10 items for $10 and get some better items...in general it is good to look for stuff on sale throughout the year.

[Roe]

If one is creative it doesn't have to be a "bag of cr*p."  It can be something worthwhile and useful.  You've gotten some nice ideas here. I esp like the $5 gc to a bookstore.  I might have to steal that one. 


And they've been around a  LONG time.  This isn't something new.

[Redneck Gravy]

I never got them as a child and I never gave them at my children's parties.

I hate them.  Just another expense to you trying to host a simple birthday party while the other parents try to out do each other. 

Best party we ever had - backyard with a pinata filled with just enough small candies for everyone to get a couple.  I baked the cake and we had punch and foldover peanut butter sandwiches, all the kids ran around the backyard playing on the swingset. 

When the parents came to get their children two asked about goodie bags and I looked them straight in the eye and said, "I don't believe in them."  Never had any ramifications that I know of.

[JillyJ]

When the parents came to get their children two asked about goodie bags

 

What?!  They actually asked for goodie bags?!  Yikes!

[Bethczar]

I'm 36 and they were at every birthday party when I was little.  It's not new by any means.

Yup, I'm 40 and we had them.
Not everybody gave out goodie bags, but it wasn't unusual either. I best one I got had a Trixie Belden book & some candy.