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Original poster

Dd wants a (in my opinion) rubbish present for Christmas.

367 replies

Florencenotflo · 21/10/2021 09:02

Dd is only 5 and already doing her Christmas list. She asks for the (attached) present every time we go into the toy shop and has even asked to buy it from her own money.

I am usually quite happy for let her spend her money on things she chooses, but I think this is really rubbish! And I know it will be top of her list again this year. Our budget this year for Dd is around £100 on presents for Christmas so to spend £40 of that on one present seems daft. The reviews of it are terrible, the case is pretty flimsy (not really usable as a suitcase) and the contents are mainly paper.

But at the end of the day, she's 5, it will make her happy, do I just suck it up?

(Plus, I can now see why my parents never bought me a Mr Frosty for Christmas when I was a child, although I'm still salty about it 😂)

OP posts:
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Rollerdecks · 21/10/2021 10:15

WHO was the marketing genius that came up with the Mr Frosty campaign? I don't remember even seeing one, other than in the Littlewoods catalogue (or on tv in the ad breaks between Dramarama and Danger Mouse, come to think of it) but the need was so real.

Actually, maybe that was the plan? 'Never, ever let the kids see one in action... until our Mr Frosty warehouse is empty and they have used it thus rendering the returns policy invalid, bwah hah hah!'

Pasithea · 21/10/2021 10:16

It may make her the happiest girl on the planet. But if plastic shit doesn’t stop being bought there will be no planet.

Chesneyhawkes1 · 21/10/2021 10:18

I'd get it. I still remember never getting Mr Frosty too 😭

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WhenISnappedAndFarted · 21/10/2021 10:19

@prettybird

I never forgave forgot my parents for not getting me Tiny Tears even though in hindsight she was too expensive for them at that time Shock

I'm 60 now Grin

I forgot about Tiny Tears! My sister had one, my brother one day made the doll cry then somehow broke the doll and it was crying for hours on end.
Didiplanthis · 21/10/2021 10:21

Ds is 10 and we still shudder about the day he didnt get blublu the baby whale... the thing is he DID get it. He just didn't get it under the tree from Father Christmas first thing.. I wanted the kudos of the big present so gave it to him from us after lunch .. my bad... he has autism and we hadn't yet worked out how stressful he found Christmas. Not made that mistake since ! He now chooses the 'most wanted toy' i show him we HAVE the most wanted toy in advance and he gets most wanted toy first thing. Then the anxiety settles and he can enjoy his other things. It was a traumatic learning process all round... I need read these threads and feel an urge to go and buy the item and drop it round to the OP to suppress my memories of that day 🤣

Redcrayons · 21/10/2021 10:22

We all have a Mr Frosty moment buried deep down.

Break the cycle. Get her the princess suitcase filled with tat

AliceinBorderland · 21/10/2021 10:24

@Redcrayons

We all have a Mr Frosty moment buried deep down.

Break the cycle. Get her the princess suitcase filled with tat

It's actually really sad that so many people remember what they weren't given rather than what they were.
Stokey · 21/10/2021 10:25

We bought a couple of things that DDs campaigned wildly for when they were little - Baby Annabelle and Lucy the dog spring to mind. After the initial Christmas buzz, they barely touched them. I agree with other PPs. Buy her a small pink suitcase, cover it with Princess stickers and get some better quality Princess accessories to put in for Christmas Day. She'll love it and won't realise she hasn't got the original tat.

ilovepixie · 21/10/2021 10:26

If it's what she wants buy it. She's 5 and still believes in Santa. Don't destroy her dreams.

Stokey · 21/10/2021 10:26

Also agree with not letting them watch adverts si they don't know about this rubbish in the first place. CBeebies and Netflix all the way!

Original poster
Florencenotflo · 21/10/2021 10:27

@Kiduknot oh fuck, I forgot about the coin maker. She wanted that too! Although it's not been mentioned since so I might get away with that one for now. Her birthday is January so I can always get it then!

OP posts:
Whatamesssss · 21/10/2021 10:29

It's actually really sad that so many people remember what they weren't given rather than what they were

I remember all the good presents. Tiny Tears, a green plastic tree house thing with little people and a dog. BMX etc.... but Mr Frosty was a longed for toy I never received as my parents probably realised what a waste of money it was

SylvanasWindrunner · 21/10/2021 10:31

God, another Mr Frosty coveter here. I don't actually know anyone who got one, probably just as well as I'd have been so jealous. I too have contemplated buying one as an adult.

I used to go through the Argos catalogue and mark things I wanted Grin

WeAllHaveWings · 21/10/2021 10:31

After reading some of the reviews on it, I absolutely would not buy.

Highly likely she will be disappointed when she opens it on Christmas day.

SixTwirlingTutus · 21/10/2021 10:32

If she is really into it then I would go with it. And not buy cheaper versions either. I remember really wanting a cabbage patch doll. Finally my parents relented but got me one of the cheaper knockoffs. I am 48 and still recall how devatsated I was, and how hard I tried to hide it. There is something about it that appeals to her completely. We might not undestand it, but that's how passions work.

allsorts1 · 21/10/2021 10:33

That case looks amazing. My inner 5 year old still wants it. So plasticy and pink - dreamy! Grin

allsorts1 · 21/10/2021 10:33

I still remember not getting the pink barbie convertible.

allsorts1 · 21/10/2021 10:36

She will absolutely be able to differentiate between a pink suitcase with a sticker and this one - getting a handmade knock off would be way worse than not getting it at all!

CaptaNoctem · 21/10/2021 10:37

Either buy it or buy something completely different.

Putting together a better quality equivalent for her will be a huge disappointment for her when she's really wanting "that one". My parents did that to me as a child and I can still remember the feelings of let down even now. I never played with them.

BarbedButterfly · 21/10/2021 10:38

When I was a kid I wanted so many presents that my mother must have thought were utter tripe and she was right. But I would lie awake thinking about them and I still remember the morning I opened up my snail with a lockable shell. Sure it broke after about 3 weeks but I was so happy I cried when seeing it for the first time. Christmas for me is about getting that moment of utter happiness even if it seems an utter waste of money to me.

kwiksavenofrillsusername · 21/10/2021 10:38

I wasn’t allowed Polly Pocket because it was ‘tat’ and I’d ‘lose all the pieces’. But one glorious year my cool aunt bought me one. It was her Paris apartment. I played with it for hours and still have it, minus one tiny chair which I think may have been eaten by the dog. You never know, she may hold onto the suitcase for years.

AliceinBorderland · 21/10/2021 10:38

It can't even be used as a suitcase. The inside is fixed so it can't be used to carry anything else.

Dd wants a (in my opinion) rubbish present for Christmas.
VexedofVirginiaWater · 21/10/2021 10:38

I would buy it for her (2nd hand if possible) and then when it turns out to be rubbish or breaks - whichever comes first - suggest an alternative, better quality pink case and accessories - maybe even have them ready if you see one (again second hand).

I remember my favourite present was my doll and cot with beautiful bedding - which I though Father Christmas had chosen specially, but which I now know was made by my mother.

BarbedButterfly · 21/10/2021 10:38

Oh and I got a Mr Frosty. It was utter rubbish Grin

EerieSilence · 21/10/2021 10:40

I remember getting the very practical presents when I wasn't asked for my opinion, even in teenage years.
I once got a pair of boots. Maybe lovely but I really didn't like them. DM was peeved because she spent lots of money on them but this was Christmas, I wanted something else, cheaper, trashier and it was ignored because this was a practical and expensive present.
I prefer to ask my DD what she wants and get her some of the trashier stuff she wants. It's her Christmas.