new to this: "Trunk Party"??

nyermom · 07-11-2012, 12:59 AM

Is this what we have to look forward to? DD is a rising senior and she got word that an acquaintance (a recent HS grad) is having a "trunk party" and is "registered" at several stores that are well-known for their dorm decor items.

Seriously? Maybe I'm naive, but it sounds totally over-the-top and I can't believe this is a trend along the lines of a bridal or baby shower? Am I just hopelessly out-of-date? FWIW DD thought it was crazy too.

LasMa · 07-11-2012, 01:47 AM

Never heard of it. If we had, we'd have refused to participate.

SEA_tide · 07-11-2012, 02:07 AM

This would seem to be the going to college equivalent of a hope chest. Many people like to give gifts that the high school graduate will use during their college years and a "trunk party" may be just a formal way of encouraging this. That said, while stores advertise that recent graduates should use their gift registries and there are benefits of using a gift registry such as fewer duplicate gifts, many people will think that the idea of using a gift registry for high school graduation is over the top. When I had my high school graduation party a couple of years ago (I'm a guy, but my friends of both sexes had the same format), all I requested was that people come (if available) to celebrate my graduation and eat some of my favorite foods. They were welcome to bring a gift (cash for the college fund is very much appreciated) but if their financial situation doesn't allow or they don't feel the need to give a gift, that's perfectly fine too. While the idea behind a "trunk party" seems nice, it is ultimately up to the gift giver what gift, if any, they should bring.

Classof2015 · 07-11-2012, 07:36 AM

I guess depending on how close you are to the mom and kid, this will either strike you as way over the top or a great way to help launch the HS senior...

SteveMA · 07-11-2012, 07:45 AM

WOW--that is pretty rude of that family. Here it's common to have a graduation party for high school graduates and people do bring gifts (adults, family friends, rarely their classmates) and often those gifts are dorm related or usually just cash. However, to have a party for the sole purpose of outfitting your dorm room would NOT be looked upon favorably, nor would registering for said stuff.

Proudpatriot · 07-11-2012, 10:07 AM

Tacky tacky tacky.

moonchild · 07-11-2012, 10:30 AM

Crazy. In my kids' circles, graduation gifts were not the norm even at a private graduation party. The point was for the kids to get together. We neither gave nor received gifts at HS graduation (the parents sponsored the grad night party, and everyone got gifts at the party-what more do they need?) and only gave to the kids we felt especially close to for college graduation.
The only registries that I feel are legit are wedding registries. Everything else is a retail industry ploy.

emilybee · 07-11-2012, 10:54 AM

Oy vey.

10char

lilmom · 07-11-2012, 11:03 AM

Terribly tacky. I long for the days when we gave gifts because we wanted to and we got to choose them!

OMG, I think I just quoted my mother!

blueiguana · 07-11-2012, 11:30 AM

I think it's over the top, but then I think spending $10k+ on a sweet sixteen party is insane as well and that is just a regular weekend in parts of the country.

nyermom · 07-11-2012, 11:44 AM

I just hope it doesn't catch on.

89wahoo · 07-11-2012, 12:02 PM

That's beyond tacky. Seriously? In all honesty, they are going to need extra long sheets, which nobody likely owns, but if finances are a true issue can't they grab a towel from the linen closet? Desk light from their room? Etc? How much can they honestly need? No way my kids are doing anything like that.

amandakayak · 07-11-2012, 12:24 PM

Just playing devil's advocate but maybe they have a large extended family and want to make sure they don't end up with a bunch of stuff that won't be used? I have a small family and still ended up with two standing fans - which we haven't had a use for since ds has always had a/c in his dorms. May be tacky to guests who are just HS buddies who prob won't bring anything to a party, maybe a card, but I see the genius in this for family who will come bearing gifts.

prefect · 07-11-2012, 12:29 PM

Never heard of this. Did the person in question have a graduation party also? Graduation parties seem to be pretty common here, but at a lot of them, gifts are not the norm, especially from fellow grads. Gifts seem to come from adults who are neighbors/parent's friends who have known the grad since early childhood.

GladGradDad · 07-11-2012, 03:09 PM

Ridiculous. I've never heard of it and certainly wouldn't participate in something like this.

I don't go along with the whole concept of 'registries' in the first place and refuse to participate in such a thing. To me it's not only asking for a gift, it's even specifying what the gift should be, which I find pretentious and tacky (I know I'm probably in the minority with this view of registries in general).

Doing this for a HS graduation is way over the top. I wonder if they did it for 8th grade graduation as well, and elementary grad, and kindergarten grad.