★ The Birthday Party Gift Solution

"We would have loved to say ‘no presents necessary’ to the invite of the party, but I don’t think that strategy works very well. ... So, stealing an idea from one of our son’s friends party, we went with an alternative idea. Rather than asking for a present, we asked all guests to bring 2 items instead: 1) A non-perishable food item, and 2) A $1 bill."