For Charlotte’s 9th birthday in 2004, she decided to skip presents and ask her friends to bring food donations for a food drive organized by our local post office. At the time, this alternative to presents for a birthday party was new to us and her friends’ families. Since her birthday is in May and the weather was nice, she set up to greet her friends on the back porch. Without adult direction or supervision, she and her friends began organizing the donations into a pyramid formation. They had fun doing this and involving other children as they arrived.
This was a wonderful alternative from a parenting perspective: we didn’t need to gather the children to sit while one child opens a bunch of presents, there was no cleanup of wrapping paper, Charlotte was able to celebrate without materialism as a focal point, no thank you notes were needed, and we didn’t need to incorporate more things into Charlotte’s surroundings that she didn’t need.
Everyone was able to feel good about whatever was spent on this gift alternative. These gifts from her friends provided Charlotte with the opportunity to drop off a large quantity of food donations to our local post office, which extended her birthday celebration. When kids are young, just doing things is fun and this was a new and colorful experience for her. She was very happy to be out and about and interacting in the adult world.
Charlotte received this letter of thanks from the National Association of Letter Carriers!
A National Service Initiative - Starting in Kindergarten 