Above is a pic of my kids' playroom...on a GOOD day!! How this clutter and toy overload happened, I honestly don't know. I can literally count, on one hand, the amount of toys my husband and I purchased for our kids. It's not that we had set out to have a toy-free home, but we were amazed at how many toys had been collected after one year of birthdays, holidays or hand-me-downs from friends.
My aversion to toys did not begin because of the clutter but rather because my daughter rarely played with them. My daughter was more the type of child who enjoyed playing with the pots and pans in the kitchen drawer. She loved using my wooden cooking spoon to bang on plastic containers. Her favourite mobile toy was her old diaper box that we attached a belt to and pulled her around in. She loved colouring, so crayons and colouring books were always a big hit. Because of this, I had extreme guilt for those who had purchased gifts that my daughter rarely played with. I often felt as though friends and family were wasting their money (quick search on Google revealed that the average cost spent on a gift for children under 10 is $25.00. Multiply that by the amount guests and it's amazing to think how much money is spent on a child!!).
So by my daughter's second birthday, I attempted the "no-gift" party and it totally backfired. My friends and family are extremely generous and enjoy showering children. When I requested "no-gifts", they basically laughed and told me they'd be buying something anyway. That's when we decided to reveal the purchase of a swingset and I was surprised by how many guests requested to contribute towards it. 2 years later, my kids, friends' kids, cousins and neighbours have been playing and enjoying the swingset tremendously and the contributions made towards the swingset have definitely been put to good use.
Wishgift.ca was designed to make gift-giving simpler for both the gift giver and recipient. It allows for an item to be communicated while providing guests with an option they can choose to contribute towards. It is not limiting to a store's inventory or selection, and therefore the gift possibilities are endless. It's all about taking in to account the child's biggest passion at the time and for my 2-year-old, that was outdoor play.
