I feel physically sick at how much grandparents spending on Christmas

What subscription do they have? We’re looking for new ones.

Honestly, I'd just sell it on vinted and use the money for a nice family day out. She clearly wants to do it, and will be hurt if you say no, and you definitely don't want all that shit in your house - sell it and let someone else get a bargain that their kids will love. If your mum asks just say it got broken or the batteries are being changed.

My late grandma used to send a small gift and money in a card to buy the children their next winter coats. That was so thoughtful.

My DH tells me that when his DD was three her mum spent £1,000 on lots of presents, "to see her magical face". By the end, DSD was so bored with having to open yet another present.

She's now in her 30s and doesn't remember that Christmas at all.

It's such a waste - and just for the sake of the OP's parents' feelings.

Hmm… I would let the kids open every gift and then ask them which one they wanted to take home, because the rest have to stay at the grandparents’ house for when they come to play there. And if grandparents insist on you taking them home, conveniently forget to do so. if they bring them over to yours next time they visit - bring them back to the grandparents next time you visit and just state you have no room for them. What a shame when present xxxx wpuld have been so useful.

Maybe.. ask them to cut the purchasing in half and if they want to spend that much put the remainder into the children's savings accounts.
I liked the idea of family passes... We used to buy them for nearby attractions when offers came up and it was a godsend for school holidays or very bored on Sundays after sports.

Which of your parents is the driving force behind this behaviour? If it's mainly your mother, I would try to tackle your father and ask him to support you in stopping it. For the amount of money they're planning to spend, they could have an extra holiday!

Ask they to put the money in bank accounts instead. Say a limit of £50 fir a gift.

Just tell her how overly generous that budget is. That it's not necessary. But Lucy would love x and Joe would love y (1 bigger present each but more like upto 100 in cost) and they really don't need anything else. Send links to the exact items.

I agree with @Easilyforgotten . Tell your mum space is an issue so you only have room for a couple of physical presents each. Anything else will have to stay at hers. If she doesn't want that to happen she could simply buy 1 or 2 presents or get something like an annual zoo membership

That's really awful of them. They don't have to go as far as giving the kids a certificate saying they planted a tree in Africa as their Xmas gift (yes, my mother gave her 5 year old grandchildren that), but just getting them one nice thing each, with a few small stocking fillers for the fun, would be fine. She could buy them bikes for that money.

I’m a gm and I’d love to buy my dgs loads of gifts but I stop myself as there wouldn’t be enough room in their house.
Instead I buy a few gifts from B&M and donate them to the children’s Christmas present charity. I can buy them at B&M and just leave them in the cages I store. Very easy to do.

Ugh we have this with my MIL, she won't stop buying stuff from Alibaba and Temu. Im the same as you, I just bin it because it's not fit to give away. I wouldnt want to endanger other kids!

I dont have any solutions, just to say I understand. I do make sure it doesn't all end up in my house, but it's so wasteful and unnecessary.

Could you suggest they buy tickets to an experience they could enjoy with the kids instead? Or as their main present. One of those Christmas light trails etc.

Open it all at their house and leave it all behind 'so the kids have something to do when they visit'

Could they pay for you to have a holiday instead?

My children have absolutely loved theirs. It literally is the gift that keeps on giving as they get excited every week!

That's awful.
Most people probably know, but in case anyone doesn't:

Small magnets are incredibly dangerous around little kids. They can be life-threatening if swallowed as they can cause internal tears.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwy7wy54wyxo

My in laws used to do this. But like someone has said, they never took them out for a meal when they were at university or paid for a driving lesson. There is no savings account. It was all just about stuff. When my dc were little I used to take the stuff straight to playgroups and doctors waiting rooms. Some years I didn’t keep any of it. When my oldest was three, we told PIL we were buying dd a kitchen so they also bought her a kitchen.

Just say no? You’re the parent ffs. £250 worth of presents is crazy and overwhelming for parents let alone their kids.
I set a 1 present limit last year. It was glorious. Would recommend wholeheartedly!

Thinking about this maybe you’re right. I do think we can learn from others though when we look outside our own lives for a moment. We do have living parents, but they’re super old, the days of being able to chose gifts for our kids or look after them. I am very grateful that one set will give the kids £40
each and the other will ask me to choose a toy for them to that value and buy it and then they’ll wrap it and give it. Obviously lots of toys is a lot, and a lot of small plastic toys is overwhelming. There’s so few christmasses when they’re little though and so few Christmases your parents will have to spoil them - maybe just suggesting, that considering everyone in the picture and their ability to choose and care is precious and it’s so short lived x

Could you suggest that they put the money they want to spend into doing an experience all together as well as a couple of little bits the children will really want (or maybe relating to that thing) could you use the excuse that you havent got a big enough house for lots of toys?

This is a brilliant idea x

Is it that they’re spending that money or that they’re spending it on something you don’t want? Do the kids want it?