Now that you've decided to buy a present, what type of gift should you buy? And how much should you spend?! Well you have a few options... But they all lead to one sensible choice!
ow about some clothes?
Firstly, you may not know the mother so well that you're able to pick something out that she's happy for her precious child to wear. Don't even think of getting anything that's not 100% organic cotton - her baby's skin is far too delicate for any other fabric. Even if the child's mother isn't so particular, what colour is best? Pink and Blue are the obvious choices but come on... yawn! The child has already got a wardrobe full of that colour clothing. Why are children's clothes so damn expensive? They contain only a fraction of the material needed to make adult clothing, yet they cost the same price. It's completely wrong. And to make matters worse, the growing child will outgrow any new clothes within a matter of months. Our advice, stay away from clothes as presents - complete waste of money and bound to disappoint. On the other had, you will find some very stylish and reasonably priced personalized clothing in some of our stores which are definitely worth considering.
hat about a toy or a game?
Well, where do you start looking? There are so many games and fun things to play with out there. For young kids it seems quite easy - the baby shops all offer a large range of activity sets and learning games. Again, as with clothing, the child is going to outgrow this toy within a matter of weeks. How can you possibly justify spending so much on factory-made pieces of plastic or wood when the child probably already has the exact same toy - and that one's still in its packaging at the bottom of a cupboard. No no no, toys aren't fun!
Now you're getting somewhere. Kids absolutely love books. The parents love them too - especially at the hundredth time of reading! And it becomes even more fun when half the pages have been ripped out, scribbled on or soaked in orange juice. Maybe you could buy one of those bath time books - you know, the ones with eight pages in that take 30 seconds to read. He'll never grow out of that! Land fill within six months.
omething unique, colourful, handmade, ethical, different?
Sounds good so far. What's the catch? Well, there isn't one really. If you buy from one of our stores you'll be supporting fair-trade, buying handmade not mass produced on an assembly line. This ensures that your gift is completely unique, ethically made and you get value for your money. Read the reviews - so many people can't be wrong.
reat. But what's the right amount to spend on a gift?
Well, the general consensus is that you spend exactly the same amount as the parents of the child spent on your child when they last bought a present. This rule can make things very tricky though so be careful. If you spend less than the amount they spent on you then there'll be a lot of disappointed head-shaking in the other household. They bought you that lovely set of wooden building blocks for $40 and you only got them a set of Dr Seuss books for $25 - why did you forget to take the Sale Sticker off the cover?! But even if you had removed the price tag, most presents are available in a large number of stores and the price can easily be discovered. Why risk it? Buy something unique, handmade, personal (and undiscoverable!).Should you spend more than the amount they spent on you? No no no. Also a very dangerous strategy. What are you trying to say? That you're more generous, better off, more thoughtful than they are? Trying to get one up on them? It's not worth it. Everyone knows not to spend a penny more on their child than they did on yours. Bring up your excel spreadsheet with the list of gifts that you've received and their prices, make a note of it and make sure you spend the exact same amount. It's not worth losing friendships over a soft cuddly bear.
What if you don't have any kids?! How do you know how much to spend on others? Now you have no choice but to use our spending guide for advice! Once you've worked out how much to spend, it's still always safer to buy someone unique, colourful, personal, handmade, ethical (at a price that no one can discover!). You'll find loads of presents that fit the bill in our stores.
But where did it all begin? Why do we buy gifts for babies? There is no real explanation to this question that has plagued us for generations. Maybe someone bought a gift for your child and you feel it’s only right to buy one back? Maybe your boss has had a baby and you want to get into his good books? Maybe someone you know is a well respected member of your community and if you don’t buy a gift of suitable quality you won't be invited to their next extravagant dinner party? Maybe you actually really like the parents and have an innate urge to buy a present for their child?
resent giving to friends’ children started 5,769 years ago when Adam and Eve’s good friends, Elaine and Stuart, bought Cain a hanging mobile and a 100% fleece blanket – in baby blue of course! This was the first recorded instance of present giving to a baby and Adam and Eve weren't’t quite sure how to react. They said ‘thanks’ as sincerely as possible and mailed a postcard with a photo of Cain on it with the words "Thank you" embossed on the top and a short note of gratitude.
When Elaine and Stuart announced the birth of their daughter, Sophie, Adam and Eve felt it only right to reciprocate with a gift of equal value to the one that Elaine and Stuart had bought for Cain. Adam and Eve, using natural dyes from fruits and berries painted the letters of Sophie’s name onto a parchment that they made from papyrus. Elaine and Stuart were so enamoured by this unique gift that they made a similar one for Abel, when he was born.
The giving of gifts didn't stop with Adam and Eve's beautifully handmade colourful parchment for Sophie. This tradition has passed through the ages and generations. Any why wouldn't it? Not only does it make the recipient of the present extremely happy and loved but it can also give pleasure to the giver of the gift (and don't forget that if we continue to buy things then the world economy continues to grow and the lost souls in Wall Street have something to cheer when they ring their shiny bell at the close of business each day).
oah and his wife clearly had the world economy on their mind when they went online and found a superb outboard motor which they gave as a gift to their son, Shem on the occasion of his Barmitzvah. One of Shem's key roles, along with his two brothers, was to row and steer The Ark away from danger. The new outboard motor was to make Shem's tiresome task much easier and give him time to tend the tigers and tortoises each morning. His hopes were destroyed when, on reading the operating manual, he had no idea where to get hold of the unleaded petrol he needed to start the motor. This realisation was almost as confusing to Shem as the moment he noticed that there were no trees on The Ark from which the giraffes could eat their leaves.
aby Jesus was the next famous recipient of celebratory gifts. To mark his birth he was fortunate to receive personal delivery from three kings from afar. It's not really clear why these wealthy heads of state didn't take advantage of the $25 International Express Delivery they were offered before checking out. Either way, they hand delivered their presents to Baby Jesus on the day of his birth - which coincidently coincided with Christmas Day, saving these lucky kings from having to buy two presents. But what did Baby Jesus do with his frankincense, gold and myrrh? Incredibly our history books don't tell us anything more of his birthday presents. The real truth is that his parents deposited the gifts in a basement security box at their local branch of Bethlehem Bank. The idea was that when Baby Jesus reached the age of 21, for him to be able to cash in the presents and use the money to put towards the deposit on his first home. What our history books forget to mention is that when, on his 21st birthday, Jesus went with the deposit-box key to withdraw his savings there was no gold, no frankincense and no myrrh. There was a rolled up parchment on which was simply written "Sorry mate, I was even worse to you than you thought, we didn't have any money to buy drinks for our staff Christmas party, lots of love, Judas". After that, Jesus's hopes of wealth and glory were shattered and he had no choice but to live a minimal, unpretentious and wholesome life away from the greed of Bethlehem Bank and, his so called friend, Judas.
Throughout the ages, the giving of presents has had a marked effect on our history.
n King Arthur's 30th birthday he received a lovely present from his girlfriend at the time, Guinevere. She took advantage of the free home delivery offered by IKEA and bought him a lovely rectangular oak dining table and eight chairs. In IKEA, whilst trying to find the shortcut from the bedroom to the dining area, Guinevere got completely side-tracked and ended up buying a whole load of stuff she didn't even want. She left the store confused at the amount of things she'd bought. She wondered what she would do with a paper lamp shade considering electricity was still a few hundred years away from being invented. But she was happy with the pack of a two hundred tea-light candles - they'd really warm up the castle nicely. 14 days later, right on schedule, she raised the portcullis and lowered the drawbridge for the delivery truck to cross the moat. The delivery men carried the table upstairs to the dining area only to discover that it was too big for the room - she had bought the wrong size. Even though Arthur had specifically asked for a rectangular table, there wasn't one in stock that was the right fit for the room, so he had to settle for a round one.
Mr and Mrs Da Vinci bought their son, Charlie, a beautiful set of oil paints, fine tipped brushes, a large pad of paper and a couple of blank canvases to mark to occasion of his third birthday. Charlie's older brother, Leonardo, being the jealous type, started whinging and stamping his feet as he normally does. Leonardo had just started school and was one of the better students in art class but his parents had never tried to hone his artistic talent. It was always Charlie that got the best presents. Mrs Da Vinci couldn't listen to Leonardo's moaning any longer and took the art set from out of Charlie's grasp and handed it reluctantly to Leonardo. "If you don't paint something nice, you'll never get another bloody birthday present", she told him. Leonardo snapped back, "And what if I do paint something nice mum? What will you do then?". "We'll find somewhere nice to hang it. Why don't you practice on your auntie Lisa? She's coming round for dinner tonight". "Aw mum, does she have to come round? She's always so apathetic", Leonardo grumbled.
Centuries later this obsession with buying gifts for loved one is growing stronger and stronger with every passing year. Although Shem, Jesus, Arthur and Leonardo received great gifts they would have all preferred something a little more personal. If only Adam & Eve, Noah, The Three Kings, Guinevere and Mrs Da Vinci had visited personalized-presents.org before rushing into their purchase the world would have been a very different place.
he simple name painted onto parchment that Adam & Eve invented has developed into personal wooden jigsaws, quilted bedspreads and even letters in the shape of animals spelling out the name of the recipient of the present. You’ll struggle to find a new parent, anywhere in the developed world, that isn’t thrilled to receive a gift that spells the name of their new baby as a welcome into our world. Young kids too love their own names. It's the first word that everyone learns to spell and having a unique piece of art made out of the letters is a wonderful thing for any child. And it doesn't have to stop with children. Teenagers like to mark out the territory of their room with a name plaque. Grown ups love them too (especially the fun loving kind). And what better present to buy your aging grandfather who can no longer remember his own name? Stick one up in his living room so he can't forget who he is.
So, as to why we buy gifts for babies, we are none the wiser. The choice of a unique, personalized, colourful and, if possible, handmade gift ensures that what we buy is not returned to the shop in exchange for a credit note. It also will be given pride of place in the baby’s bedroom and, if you’re very lucky, your unborn child will get just as good a gift when he squeezes his way into the world.
What about buying a book? Or a toy? You’ve seen all the toys in the toy shop. 0 to 6 months, 6 to 12 months, 12 to 24 months. They don’t last long. Before you know it, your carefully selected present will be crushed under a pile of the latest toys, or picking up dust in the games cupboard. A name – uniquely made, personal and colourful is a much more thoughtful present. It can be a work of art, hanging beautifully in the child’s room for many many years.
The story that began with Elaine and Stuart, in a busy shopping mall in the Garden of Eden almost six thousand years ago, looking desperately for a present for Cain before the shops closed for the night, needs a new chapter… Happy shopping :)
