Unwanted pressies clogging up our home!

[MayaAngelCool]

We are constantly trying to clear out unwanted stuff. Why does so much tat go hand-in-hand with childhood, gaaaahhh! We're being pretty brutal, however, our kids' aunt, who has no kids of her own, is constantly buying them gifts - so sweetly, because she adores them. She says herself that she should stop buying them because she doesn't want the kids to learn to expect a gift every time she arrives. But, in her own words, when she sees something she thinks they'll like, she just can't help herself. And she knows we're trying to clear out.

Would you:

• ask her to limit gifts to birthdays & Xmas?
• ask her not to give gifts/ pay the money into their savings accounts instead?
• say nothing and keep the gifts?
• throw/ give away anything the kids don't play with? - by the way, she is the sort of person who would take deep offence to this, but part of me says tough shit, that's her problem

Any other suggestions?

We had this with a well-meaning friend. Every.single.damn.week she would produce a bag of presents. DD was getting spoilt, our place was getting so cluttered I was bordering on rage half the time. I was spending half my weekend carting it to charity shops.

I asked her very nicely to stick to just birthdays and Christmas. I have to admit it did take several polite but VERY emphatic reminders.

Options A or B. C will cause you to lose sight of the floors fairly soon and D will definitely end up with a family row, whereas A or B only may end up with a row. She's already admitted she knows she shouldn't be doing it, my own fancy is for A although the bit of me that's already shivering at the thought of university fees in a few years time likes the idea of B.

Why not ask her to keep gifts until birthday/Christmas, rather than limiting presents? I love buying little bits for my dn's and friends dc.

Wrt extra toys, tell her that your dc have enjoyed them so much but have outgrown them, but your local refuge would really appreciate donations for children who have to leave home with nothing - she'd have to be pretty heartless to be offended!

This is a difficult one and best done face to face over tea and cake methinks. Do not email or phone her about it.

Mmmmm, I think she needs to know the scale of your problem and perhaps next time a visit is scheduled you could just happen to be having a clear out for the charity shop and you could casually mention it. Could you ask her to bring clothes instead? Maybe she has no one else to buy for and it would be a shame to stop her completely. Suggest a clothes shop you like and maybe she could pop in there or bring some snacks?

Obviously the cash would be great but I think it is the gift giving she is enjoying.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions.

After discussing it with DP, we're going to:

Ask her, on phone/ in person, to limit her gifts to birthdays and Xmas.

Throw/ give away as and when we like, without consulting her - I don't see why we should. If, as has happened before, she asks about or even goes searching for the toys she's bought , we'll tell her they've grown out of/ broken them, or that they've been given to charity.