A Great Birthday Party Idea

My grandchildren were invited to a birthday party almost every weekend this year. Part of the reason is that the school rule is if your child is having a party they must invite the entire class so as to not hurt anyone's feelings. This means that my daughter is always on the hunt for a birthday gift. Not only is it time consuming to purchase and wrap the gift but it's also gets costly. She always includes a gift receipt because the odds are the birthday child will  have already received the same exact gift or have one like it at home. But this past weekend two parents of children celebrating a birthday came up with what I felt was a terrific solution. The joint party was held at our local park and everyone, including siblings and parents of guests, were invited. The only gifts they were asked to bring was a book, which could be new or used. Then during the party they held a book exchange and each child got to choose a book they could take home. Yes, I realize that the birthday boys didn't get to open presents and oh and ah over them. But from the parties I've been too the kids rip through their gifts and then toss them aside. Anyway, this is an idea to consider for a future party. It's a great way to encourage reading and recycle books.