Should kids register for gifts?

TEXT OF STORY

JEREMY HOBSON: We are less than two weeks away from Christmas. Sorry, I know that can be a stressful thing to hear when you still have shopping to do. Especially if you have to buy something for little kids. What do you get for a two year old? Well, a growing number of parents say they’ve got a year round solution: gift registries for children.

Sally Herships has the story.

Sally Herships: I’m in Maplewood, New Jersey, about to hit a party. It’s for one-year-old Asher Friedland. He has an older sister, so his mom Danielle has lots of birthday experience. But this year, she tried something new: registering for gifts for both kids.

Danielle Friedland: My daughter’s 5. She doesn’t tell me that much about her friends.

Friedland says picking out presents for other people’s kids can be tough. Registries, she says, are convenient. So, are gift registries for kids tacky or do they just have a bad wrap? Time for another party.

Birthday boy Dovid Lavender is 2. His family lives in Brooklyn. While his mom Nora cooked lunch for the partygoers, she told me a registry could seem rude. But she likes the idea of being able to suggest presents.

Nora Lavender: We have limited funds so the idea of saying ‘These are the kind of clothes we like’ has some appeal to it, although I didn’t register for him. It’s probably the tacky factor, although I registered for my wedding, so I guess it’s not that different.

Or is it? I’m still confused. So I asked Amy Dickinson. She writes the syndicated “Ask Amy” column.

Amy Dickinson: In my view, the whole idea of registering for gifts for a one-year-old is cuckoo, crazy.

Dickinson says a birthday for a young kid should be a family celebration, not a gift grab. And she says parents who register could miss out.

Dickinson: I’m a mother of five. And I might want to give your one-year-old something that you haven’t thought of.

But Asher’s mom, Danielle Friedland, says she tried to make her kid’s registries thoughtful. And she only gave out information if people asked.

Well, at least there’s one group who just doesn’t care.

Herships: What did you get?

Child: Cars! Spider Man! Toy Story!

I’m Sally Herships for Marketplace.