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Christmas presents

3 replies

MrsNuthouse · 26/10/2015 11:53

Hi all, this is my first time writing here and I have a bit of a silly question but it's something that I can't get figured out so would appreciate some ideas!
My little girl is 2.5 years old and I can't think of anything to get her for Christmas... The problem is that she is the only grandchild and the only niece from both sides of the family so you can probably imagine the amount of toys she has been spoiled with every Christmas and birthday...! She has everything possible I could ever imagine she could want or need...
My husband and I have always been on the same page thinking that we get her one big thing for each occasion which we have been doing up until now; there's nothing left to get her. I don't want to buy toys just for the sake of it as I'm concerned she would end up being too spoiled.... So what can we do? would it be enough to just get clothes as she will be getting loads of toys from the rest of the family? What else is there I could get for a girl her age? I could really appreciate some ideas here?

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malteser17 · 26/10/2015 15:03

Hi MrsNuthouse and welcome to Mumsnet.

At 2.5 she's really not going to understand the concept of Christmas beyond getting more toys to play with or more books to read. My advice would be to get her a card and something small that you can give her from "Mum and Dad" but then just put the rest of the money you would have spent on her in a bank account where it'll do far more good. It sounds like she'll get tons of presents from relatives and really won't miss any gifts from you.

Hope that helps :-)

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Bimblywibble · 27/10/2015 14:32

I agree, she won't be missing out in any way if you just get something small. You could mentally 'owe' her a gift and then get a balance bike,swing or climbing frame when you feel she is the right age for it. Or just put the money in her account as PP suggests.

I am firmly in the 'less is more' camp toywise and giftwise, I very boringly tend to think in terms of what toys she "needs" developmentally and try to get things with lots of play value. Nursery or preschool is a good place to get ideas. So whether she has 2 dolls or 20, she doesn't need more dolls but doll clothes and 'baby equipment', and a basket she can carry it round in can expand her play options a lot. Generic things like a shoebox can be used for all sorts of things. Even I wouldn't give her a shoebox as a present, but you could give her a couple of presents in xmas paper-wrapped boxes and keep the boxes for general incorporation in her make believe. You can get her things that get used up like bubble bath, paper and crayons, glue. Or could she have real tools like a trowel (and a patch of soil or sand in the garden), or a rolling pin, biscuit cutter, and silicon mat for baking. A placemat or plate with her name on, a child sized set of 'grown up' cutlery. But if you genuinely can't think of anything she needs or wants, don't spend loads for the sake of it. They only get more expensive as they get older! And genuinely, there is such a thing as too many toys IMO.

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MrsNuthouse · 27/10/2015 14:53

Thanks for your replies, I totally agree with the less is more, I never wanted her to have too many toys but the extended family love buying her pretty much everything under the sun!
I think I won't be getting much of anything then as I know for sure she is getting all sorts from everyone else. Besides last year she was very overwhelmed with all the presents, so this year definitely less would be good!