This is a very old thread (more than a decade!), but I have read every comment because I was just invited to a gift card shower and am very turned off. Unfortunately, it is my brother’s fiance’s shower, so I cannot just send my regrets as I would in another case. (My mother is also mortified and when she heard it would be this type, she shortened her list of close friends to invite.) i have a few thoughts: I have come to question the ritual of showers now in many circumstances. The history of bridal showers comes from a couple of centuries ago when townspeople would send off young brides with small things to start their households. It has evolved into more formal parties over the years and it seems the expectation of how much should be given has increased significantly from even 20 years ago. The purpose of a shower is to help a couple start their home. Now that the majority of couples are getting married when they have already established themselves, are combining households, or are getting married for the second time, they often don’t need many household items. I need to preface the rest of my post and say I actually love attending showers. I love an intimate shower and take great care and thought in showering a bride. My husband and I have three children and do not have a lot of extra money, but I take great pride in still doing my best to choose a meaningful gift (typically off of a registry, but choose one of the items that is something I also love or reminds me of our relationship), wrap it beautifully, and come genuinely happy for the bride and ready to celebrate. I struggle with “trends” like an unwrapping assembly line, where the shower is so large that a bridesmaid unwraps the gift I wrapped with special paper and ribbon and pass it to the bride to make it faster, instead of her seeing the special touches I made because I love her. I struggle with a gift card shower where I feel like my budget is on display. Even if the bride isn’t announcing dollar amounts, I’m sure the friend taking notes for her thank you cards is, and I feel like I have to come up with more. I am happy to give a gift small in physical size or send the gift to the bride and wrap a printed photo of it so she can be surprised and announce to other interested guests. If someone is invited to a shower, they should be close enough to the guest of honor to know if they are traveling or moving, and most guests will take that into consideration without being told. i am happy to spend my money and take the time to shower someone I love or the spouse to be of someone I love, but no one likes to feel like they are being used for a gift and most people don’t have lots of extra money sitting around. Please also take intonconsideration that I will also be giving you cash for your wedding, potentially traveling to get there any staying in a hotel, paying for a babysitter, maybe new clothes, possibly going to/paying for a Bachelorette Party. If you don’t need anything, please don’t ask for my cash just because you think you should have a shower. i am editing to add: If you had a gift card shower and think your guests loved it or thought it was fine because they didn’t say anything to you, it’s because they won’t. Graceful guests do understand that the party is about the bride and would not want to burden her with stress as she is planning her wedding.

My little dog has a ton of toys but she particularly likes a small round hedgehog toy with a very cute sounding squeeker. I buy them at bed bath and beyond. She now has several of them because I worry what will happen if I can not find them, so I just bought several. They are her menions! She has jobs for all of them. There is one in the window in the front of the house guarding the front, there is one at the slider door in the sunroom watching the back. The others have various stations around the house including at her food bowls. She plays with them for hours, she rolls them, throws them, bats them around like a soccer player and she usually has one in her bed or in our bed. She is hilarious to watch with her menions. I have bought the same toy for my neighbors black lab who loves it, and for one of my best friends little min pin who won't let anyone else touch it she loves the thing so much. I don't know what it is about this particular toy but every dog just loves them. I have seen other hedgehogs and in fact bought her another type and she leaves it in the toy box untouched. This is exactly the one she loves, she has several of the small ones which she loves, we found the big momma one and bought it but she won't play with it at all. Talking Hedgehog Plush Dog toy

Ours were the arms & legs toys. Although they are thinner than the booda, they weren't so thin that a normal dog would destroy as quickly as old gal. I did ask about the booda bone because they are very sturdy, and vet says no. I guess you have to make a judgment call as to whether your dog will gently chew the toy vs. my old gal who destroys anything you give her. I think his concern for me is that should old gal have an obstruction at any point, there would be no surgery option. We have found only 5 toys in 12 years that she hasn't destroyed. The Kongs are great, but there are only a couple of styles, we have balls that look like a world, a very hard rubber bone and the "chill pill" which was a Christmas present from my parents (they have 2 labs and know the potential for destruction by my old gal). The feed store where I buy their food will give me a call now and then when they want to try out a toy, the litmus test is old gal. LOL The real treat is a marrow bone, cooked 10 minutes in the microwave, marrow removed and rinsed. All three each get one during the summer months when they can be outside to chew on them. They are a real mess. The dogs go nuts. They know what they are when they are on the counter and then cooking in the microwave the group is circling. I will say they are very oily,and from the stains that they've made on my deck, I wouldn't want that on my carpet in the cold months. I also wouldn't give it to a puppy under 6 mos. since it may upset their young stomach. I have a great number of those old marrow bones in the "toy bin" that are now licked clean and they seem to be what my guys will pick out rather than a toy. There are times where I see chipping and at that point I take them away. I try to buy the thickest marrow bones offered at the meat department. If there are no really thick ones, I take a pass. I definitely don't keep bathroom or any other area rugs with fringe. They would be gone!

I so appreciate all the suggestions. And hopefully they'll inspire someone else too for things to do with your children. We have done a lot of the area specific items already, but doesn't mean some couldn't happen again especially if she really liked them. It is funny that iFly was mentioned as she was there Monday for a school field trip and came home and said she wanted her birthday party there. She is semi-athletic as in only specific sports. We've been to several college sports events, but not paid athlete type events. She is much more interested in seeing women play than men at this point so we've seen the Women's Basketball at UT and several volleyball games there. The sports she likes, besides going to Friday High school football (I think because her friends are there) and other high school women's sports. She loves rock climbing and that would be a fun one to do at more of a dedicated place vs. Witte Museum and at the trampoline park which is where she'd done it before. I really like the simpler suggestions too as it would be nice to have some less expensive alternatives too and the simpler things. The mani and pedi are making the list for sure. Going to the mall with a friend with some money is going to make the list too (with me hanging back) as well as ice-skating. I could combine ice-skating and mall since they have ice-skating at the mall in Memorial city. We did that one year for her birthday and she loves it. Bowling is another one that I will put on the list since it is only 30 minutes away so a more simple and not as costly adventure. I really like the idea of learning to navigate public transit for all children. I knew this by 6 years old. Luckily for her she has that covered as we travel and will use public transit so she can currently navigate Paris and Stockholm. I think once you know one others it is easier. She's also great at navigating large airports. I think she would love a chocolate tour if I could find one in Austin, Houston, or San Antonio that would be a good one. She has a lot of catching up to do since she's only been able to eat it for a few years due to an allergy. We've done the cooking class - that is a great idea though and maybe I should look at different options of what is available there. Maybe a baking one with a friend. We have a local store that carries all kinds of kitchen stuff and they have cooking classes. We've done a couple of those together and she's also done the summer camp ones. She really liked it and likes helping to cook. A sewing class might be just the thing. She really likes to do those things and a friends mom taught her how to make a quilt when she was babysitting her for a few days. I use it on a regular basis and since then she's mentioned it. She's used my machine to make some doll clothes and also sewed some panels to put around the bottom of her loft bed. She used to love the tea thing, but I'm not sure anymore. Things are changing a bit fast right now. A year ago I would have jumped on that one. Maybe just give her a dinner trip to a favorite restaurant with a friend. Daddy and I can sit at another table. I think she'd like that. I will also look at other classes like painting, pottery and stuff like those. She really likes that stuff too. Although I think they would work better with a friend of hers vs. me and daddy. I'm not good at that stuff and I prefer more active things and daddy is not interested in these things. Go-carts I think will make the list as it is something the whole family would enjoy. Need to run some of these things by daddy, but that would be his top choice. I don't think I'm going to add volunteering to this since it is something we do anyways and it is weekly at the moment, but it is a good suggestion to do with your kids. All great ideas! bbstx - we've done the Blue Bell tour before then stopped doing them. At the end you would get ice-cream too. Yes Schlitterbahn already has an annual trip with friends, but there is a closer one we could do that she likes - although she soon is outgrowing it.