RE: BDay party w/out gifts - can it be done?
We did it for Elijah's second and third birthdays--and he shared his party both years with his best friend, Henry, who is two days older. The first year we asked people to bring a new or gently used, unwrapped children's book which we then donated to the pediatric ward of hospital where Henry's mother works. That helped guests not feel "weird" about not bringing gifts. This year we just said, "no gifts please" on the invitation. One or two people brought gifts anyway--like you did we just tucked them away and opened them at home. Neither of the boys were looking for gifts. They got them at home, from family members, and didn't seem to think that they were supposed to get gifts at their party.
We really like the low-key party idea. They have so many toys already, and what they really find fun is to play with their friends. We just had ours in a local park--playground equipment, balls, sand toys...what more could a pack of 3 year olds want? :-) Maybe just a piece of cake!
Hallie
DS #1 5/02
DS #2 1/05
DD 8/09