Lately, I've been hearing a lot about the idea of push presents.
According to wikipedia, a push present, (also known as a "push gift" or "baby bauble") is a present a new father gives a new mother when she gives birth to their child. In practice the present may be given before or after the birth, or even in the delivery room. The giving of push presents has supposedly grown in the United States in recent years.
I have friends who have been given jewelry, mostly. I have a friend who recently announced her pregnancy, and yesterday, we had friends over for Steve's birthday, and a friend's husband told her husband about this trend. He'd never heard of them!
I tweeted about them yesterday, and the opinions were split, for the most part. I personally think they are a bit silly. I mean, the mother "does the hard work," yes, and pushes the baby out, but does she deserve new diamond earrings for this? Isn't the baby the best present of all?
What do you think of push presents? If you have babies, did you get one? If you don't, do you want or expect one someday?
9 comments:
3 BIG baby boys ... 2 with hard deliveries (in my estimation) ... but no "push" presents.
I don't expect any though ... I'd rather had any $$ go toward our family not specifically ME or toward supporting our church or missions. For me, the baby IS the prize ... albeit hard work ... they are the best.
HOWEVER, I will say that a friend of mine received push presents for each of her 2 boys' deliveries ... a diamond bracelet and some other jewelry ... it was quite stunning! The father even put it on the baby's ankle to be found by the mom when she woke up in the wee hours to change and feed him.
But I still would rather sponsor a child for a year or something.
I can go either way with them... when my cousin had a baby about a month ago my other cousins and i pitched in just like $5 and got her a pink and white pandora bead for her bracelet for a push present.
I answered this on Twitter yesterday. I say no. The baby is the present. I think the idea of a lavish gift is a bit silly (although I wouldn't turn one down if surprised w/ one :-) ) I just wouldn't expect or assume that I should get something.
Plus...I had a baby shower and got so many nice gifts.
I recently posted about my "push present" which I actually got already even though I'm not due until December. I told my husband it would be nice but wasn't required by any means, like everyone says the baby is the best gift but the mother does go through a lot those 9 months and then labor so why not get her a little something just for her? I see nothing wrong with it if it's something you can afford. To me it's like giving your new spouse a wedding gift, to me getting married is the gift but some people like to exchange actual gifts. To each their own I guess.
I think alot of the PUSH PRESENT trend depends on where you live/ grew up. I had not heard of this until I got pregnant and all my Boston/NYC/and some DC friends were asking me what I would ask my husband for as a push gift- and I didn't know exactly what to do!
In our case I talked to my husband about it. Honestly his initial reaction was this trend is tacky as hell, but he still took the time to ask me what I thought. That took alot longer to get to; because personally I NEVER want to tell someone to get me something. I feel that then it's not a gift; it's a demand. While on the other hand I understood how some woman considered pregnancy as hard work and should be rewarded for it (not to say mine was hard, but it wasn't exactly all roses either- we had some big scares in there.)
In the end, and after a TON of discussion, we made the best choice for us- NO push present; rather we'd set aside some money to upgrade our daughters nursery when we move in December.
However I will say that while I did not receive a push present from my spouse - I did receive one from my parents (Boston natives.) They gave me a family heirloom ; my grandmother's amethyst ring. It was incredibly touching and very unexpected.
Basically that sums up my feelings on the matter best- presents should be thoughtful, and unexpected bringing the giver and the recipient joy. They should not be demanded.
Well, i certainly didn't get any push presents, but I've gotten lots of presents along the way!
And they just keep coming :)
I told tom about this and then we had a little fight about how I didnt get presents..I was being a brat....thanks a lot! hahaha!
KBL
I have heard of them, but I'm pretty sure the only way my fiance will ever is if I tell him. Having babies is still several years away for us, and I can't imagine he'd take part in the idea. But think that a present is always a nice idea.
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