Birthday invite/gifts question #3,732,461

[sarahsthreads]

DD's birthday party is two weeks from tomorrow, so I have to get the invitations done and in the mail by Monday. It's a combined friends/family party, and the plan is to have the kids (all 3-5 years old) do a book exchange and let our families do whatever they want in terms of gifts. (Bring on the licensed character, plastic, battery-eating, lead-filled toys. Sigh.)

Should I put "please bring a new, wrapped, soft-cover book for a book exchange in lieu of a gift" on the invite, or just tell the families in person/over the phone? The moms are all good friends of mine that I will definitely see and talk to several times over the next two weeks, I'm just slightly afraid if I don't put it in the invite someone will forget...

Do you think this will work, having a subset of people do the book exchange, but having DD still get gifts from her grandparents and such? Or will it be too awkward?

Also, I'm assuming I should still send thank you notes to the children that just say something along the lines of "thank you for coming to my party", right?

Thanks!
Sarah :)

[SnuggleBuggles]

I think it might be helpful to include the wording in the invite. My brain has been like a sieve lately so an extra reminder (one that I could have hanging right on my fridge) would be very helpful. :)

I would send out thank you's both for coming to the party and for participating in the book exchange.

Maybe consider having your dd open her family presents after the kids leave? A lot of times when we have had combo parties the families hang around longer than the friends anyway.

Beth

[Twoboos]

I'd say put it in the invite, and have her open the family presents after the other kids leave. And definitely send a thanks for coming note to the kids. (But I'm big on thank you notes. Don't ask why, that's my only etiquette thing!)

Ugh, birthday parties. :-)

[hardysmom]

Put it in the invite.

We've had several parties with books for donation to the library in lieu of gifts. I remember that I am supposed to bring a book- I forget if is supposed to be wrapped, gently used, new, etc...

Seems like everyone has that problem since the gift basket is always filled with a ton of books- some wrapped, some unwrapped, some board books, some puzzles, etc...

Chasing 3 kids, my brain is so scattered that unless it is writing and can be posted on the fridge, I forget details and have to call the other more organized moms in our group.

Stephanie