submitted by Laurie Thompson of Indiana
Anyone who has kids has probably had the dilemma of what to do about gifts for all the birthday parties they get invited to. My son, age 10, and daughter, age 9, seem to get invited to at least 2 birthday parties a month each. That can get really expensive, and time consuming, with the cost of wrapping paper and cards in addition to the gift.
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We were sometimes spending upwards of $25.00 per party and then not really knowing if the child would like the gift you purchased or if they already had one.
I purchased several movie gift cards in $10 and $15 denominations. I also purchased about a dozen generic boy and girl birthday cards at our local Dollar Store. I placed everything in a folder on my desk marked "Birthday Party."
Now, when the kids get invited to a party and want to attend, I simply pull out my folder and depending on how close of a friend the child is they either get a $10 or $15 movie gift card.
I no longer have to spend time and energy trying to figure out what the child would like, making a trip to the store to purchase the gift, and then wrapping it.
The gift is always a hit, can be used at their convenience and no worries about them not liking it or already having one. An added bonus... they get to spend some quality time with mom and dad at the movies!
Everyone we have given one to so far has loved it and it's ended up being about half the cost of a conventional gift with wrapping paper.
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