baptism for a particularly non religious boy (DN)

[AnnieW625]

I need some help here, DN (9 mos.) will be baptized in a couple of weeks. I think I want to spend no more than $50 on the gift. BIL was raised in the Catholic church and went to church through high school I think, and I think has been to church than 5 times since our wedding in 2003 (he is the godfather to a Catholic friends' daughter so I know he went for that) and BILwife is Korean, but was raised by an American Baptist pastor so from the time she was 8 until not sure when she went to an AB church. They were not married in either church. They are baptizing DN Catholic, but from what I can tell from tidbits of emails is that they had some disagreement with the original church (BIL hasn't told DH, and told DH he tell us when we got there what happened; BIL loves to be the center of attn., and tell stories), but both DH and I think it had do with how little participation they may have in the Catholic church in the future. And FWIW DH is not the god father, infact we have no clue who the godparents are.

So what should we get him? We have only been to their house once since DN was born so all I know is that his room is Vintage Snoopy (total surprise and cute as I thought they would do the trendy modern stuff from Restoration Hardware as that is their favorite store) and I am not really on friendly terms with BILwife so I am not going to email her and ask what we should get him (I never know how she is going to react). I could get this cross (http://www.amazon.com/Mud-Pie-Classic-Keepsakes-Polka-Dot/dp/B003EIKYME/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1299711626&sr=8-5) that I gave a cousin's baby or this one (http://www.amazon.com/Elegant-Baby-Painted-Hanging-Porcelain/dp/B000G80T6G/ref=sr_1_8?s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1299712040&sr=1-8) that DD2 has (the girl version of), but I don't know if they would like that or not. FWIW, my ILs will give money.

I would love to get him the Tiffany piggy bank (http://www.tiffany.com/Shopping/Item.aspx?fromGrid=1&sku=18592347&mcat=148207&cid=316222&search_params=s+5-p+1-c+316222-r+-x+-n+6-ri+-ni+0-t+-k+), but that's a little out of our budget (since we have to fly), but Tiffany is a shoe in that they'll love it because they are brand obsessed.

(thanks for reading, I know this more than you were probably hoping to read!)

[kijip]

I piggy bank seems out of whack with baptism to me. So I would not feel badly about skipping that on price.

If they are having a baptism in the Catholic church, there must be some reason. I would not shy away from giving a religiously themed gift like a cross, a book of children's bible stories or perhaps a family bible with space for a family tree.

[WitMom]

I bookmarked this site several years ago. Someone else on these boards recommended it for a baptismal gift, and I think it is very nice. And affordable!

http://www.craftefamily.com/craft/block_baptism.asp

[ha98ed14]

The title says "non religious boy", and I thought, well, he might grow up to be religious, in which case, he might really appreciate the gift of a cross. I dunno, random thought. But if you yourselves are practicing Catholics, I think a cross would be very appropriate.

[naam]

All 3 of my DCs were baptized in the Catholic church. We are very religious but most of our DCs gifts weren't of a religious nature. They did receive some of the traditional religious gifts (crucifixes, Bibles, and the like), but they also received a lot of general baby gifts such as clothes, books, small toys, etc. Savings bonds or engraved items are always a good idea too. Or a nice frame for a baptismal picture.

[TwinFoxes]

DHs family, who are cradle Catholics and attend church weekly, often get a cute engraved trinkets for baptism. DH got his God daughter a engraved carousel horse. My SIL got my DDs piggy banks. :) (I bet you could find cute ones on Etsy, but I dont know for sure). I got my God daughter from a not very religious family a little cross. I think gifts span the spectrum, but I think a cross is always appropriate. I mean really, how can they be critical of a cross if they're having a baptism?

[crl]

Nice picture frame sounds like a great idea.

Catherine

[AnnieW625]

Thanks. You are all right a cross is a good idea, and maybe I'll include a nice prayer books too like I did for my cousin's baby. Who knows DN could end up religious you really just never know. If it helps any they gave DD2 an outfit for her baptism, and a little toy. I don't recall what they gave DD1 and it really doesn't matter as they made the trip to be there. I am my sister's godmother and I gave her a Minnie Mouse piggy bank for her baptism (I was 10, but she still has it and loves it!) that I picked out at Macy's myself.

[elektra]

Well, I I'm sure a few of DH's relatives felt similarly to the way you feel, except about DH and me.
DH never goes to church and is not really a practicing Catholic anymore, even though "he used to be an altar boy for crissake!" as he says. I had to remind him that it was Ash Wednesday today, and he actually gets annoyed when I do so because he can no longer conveniently forget he is not supposed to eat meat.
I am not religious at all, and being baptized as an older child in the Episcopal church because my baby cousin was getting baptized at the same time is the closest I had come to formal church activities until marrying DH.
For DH, I can't really say exactly what he believes or what his motivations are but I think he just can't really imagine NOT baptizing a child. For us, it was just something nice for DH's family and since DN was getting baptized at the same time, we did both my kids at that time too for a 3 in 1 deal.
So as to the gift- as the parent of a "non-religious DC" at DS's and DD's baptism, the gift I personally liked the best was a picture Bible. DD loves it and I think it's beneficial to know the Bible stories. DD could be on Jeopardy someday afterall.
DH's religious relatives gave us certain things I really had no clue about like The Miraculous Medal (?) Both of the medals are sitting at the bottom of my jewelry box and I did not know what I was supposed to do with them.
I would however have known what to do with a cross, so I agree that you can't really go wrong with a cross of some kind.
I did prefer the books though, myself.