Gift suggestions for a God Daughter?

January 17, 2006 8:58 AM

A very dear friend has asked me to be God Father to his young daughter. My friend and I go back 20 years - he's like a brother to me. What is an appropriate gift to give my soon-to-be God Daughter?
posted by stiffpicken to society & culture (21 comments total)

In my family, the God Father usually gives some sort of small religious gift -- a crucifix, a rosary, a guardian angel picture, a bible -- and, depending on the age/stage in life, a savings bond. But we're Catholic, so YMMV.
posted by dpx.mfx at 9:02 AM on January 17, 2006

Is this going to be a role in a specific religion? You could get a nice holy book or religious symbol for her room.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 9:02 AM on January 17, 2006 [1 favorite]

How old is she, exactly?
posted by cior at 9:03 AM on January 17, 2006

She is 6 months old.

Forgot to mention, they are Protestant. Thanks
posted by stiffpicken at 9:17 AM on January 17, 2006

I so read that wrong - God has a daughter?!?

anyhoo... I would go for a nice piece of jewellery (like a charm bracelet perhaps?) something that she would treasure in years to come. My GF has a lovely little silver bracelet with lots of ittle intricate charms around it. The great thing about a charm bracelet is it can be added to as the years and her interests progress. Get a little teddy and perhaps a crucifix on it at the start. Then, as she grows up you could get her ballet slippers for her first dance lessons, a musical note for her first music class... whatever.

Saving bonds would be very sensible. Would give her a nice start in life when she is older.
posted by twistedonion at 9:17 AM on January 17, 2006

Second the savings bond.
posted by Zed_Lopez at 9:30 AM on January 17, 2006

I got savings bonds.

It's also traditional to do some baby-stuff -- a silver spoon or a dish or something, probably engraved with her name and DOB and date of baptism. These aren't to be used, but to be saved as keepsakes.

You might also want to ask other members of that church, or maybe the pastor, to find out what's commonly suggested (for a gift) or required (duties, not gifts, I mean) there. Traditions differ a ton between denominations and even between congregations.
posted by booksandlibretti at 9:38 AM on January 17, 2006

Third the Saving Bonds. My God Parents did this for me as well. When I was 6 they gave me the bond receipts which looked damn impressive to my little eyes. The stipulation was I could use it anytime, but if I waited and used if for university, they would match the final amount (I think they bought 2 bonds and just gave me 1), which I did.
posted by Razzle Bathbone at 9:41 AM on January 17, 2006

Why not an RESP instead of a savings bond? At least you know what it will be used for.
posted by purephase at 10:08 AM on January 17, 2006

I gave both of my godchildren silver teething rattles from Tiffany (for the boy, I got one where the rattle side was done up as a baseball).

I know it sounds useless and ostentatious, but kids seem to love to teeth on the silver rings.
posted by I Love Tacos at 10:11 AM on January 17, 2006

Oh, and if you want to give some sort of savings bond, I'd go for an I Bond. They're being offered with very good rates, right now.
posted by I Love Tacos at 10:13 AM on January 17, 2006

Savings bond is good.
Or maybe a small silver bracelet inscribed with her name.
posted by Radio7 at 10:23 AM on January 17, 2006

A short note addressed to her to be opened upon her xx birthday (18th or 21st or whatever) about your relationship with her dad might be nice to include too. Think about including an old photo of the two of you together. We did this with the first child born to friends of ours right out of grad school and also included a small savings bond. It was well received when we gave it and when it was finally opened a few years ago.
posted by jvilter at 10:29 AM on January 17, 2006

An RESP would be usefuless if she decide not to attend college of university. Another vote for a savings bond plus small religous-gift. The charm bracelet idea is very nice. See if you can find something that will "grow" with time so she can wear it as a small child and still wear it later as a teen and adult. Put a little cross charm or something like that on it now and add to it for other special occasions.
posted by duck at 10:38 AM on January 17, 2006

umm...the word usefuless is a little-known way of saying "useless". Ok, it's not. I just made a wierd typo.
posted by duck at 10:39 AM on January 17, 2006

For a great future gift: on her first birthday buy copies of her local newspaper, major newspapers, a dozen or so magazines, some pictures of you/her/her family, and a couple of comic books. Seal them all in plastic bags, put everything into a tupperware bin, duct tape it shut, shove it up in your attic and forget about it. Present at a future (18th, 25th, 30th - any other year you like) birthday.
posted by mikepop at 11:21 AM on January 17, 2006

I gifted my Goddaughter with books for her birthdays or whenever I saw her, growing up. Now she's in college so I help out with her tuition. The books I gave her had nothing to do with religion or spirituality (athough I'm an athiest; like me, she was raised Protestant) and the books I gave her were kiddie picture books, then nature books, and finally, the annual compendiums of Bone comics.

My Godson, also my nephew, gets comic books now (and his dad receives a couple savings bonds every year, building my nephew's college fund).

Previous responses seem to be from people who only gave their godchildren a single gift, early on. That was not my way.
posted by Rash at 1:27 PM on January 17, 2006

Savings bond...or start a savings account/trust that you can add to over the years. Token gifts to go along with that, as she gets older, since she won't appreciate the monetary gifts till later on in life.
posted by Mrs. Smith at 1:34 PM on January 17, 2006

Savings bonds are the best way to start, but perhaps some sort of keepsake like a quilt would be a nice meaningful gift as well.
posted by k8t at 1:48 PM on January 17, 2006

Saving's bond? That's so- unsentimental.

Silver cup, small, engraved initials and date. (Pewter if money is an issue.) A hundred years from now it will be way cooler than some debased currency. (And ditto Rash, this oughtn't to be a one shot deal.)
posted by IndigoJones at 2:25 PM on January 17, 2006

Saving's bond? That's so- unsentimental.

I agree, despite my recommendation of a specific type of savings bond.

Previous responses seem to be from people who only gave their godchildren a single gift, early on.

My god-children get birthday, Christmas and the occasional Just Because presents from me, but I wanted to give a special gift when the title was first bestowed upon me.
posted by I Love Tacos at 2:46 PM on January 17, 2006