IOU from Santa is 5 to young

[SparksFly90]

On a number of occasions I have asked DD (5). What they want for Xmas and the only 2 answer I get is barbie dream house which is way to big and she wants to go back to Ibiza last abroad holiday in 2022.
In our house you each get a present from Santa which is wrapped in red and the other presents are from us or friends and family. I already have main present from us a Furby.
So my question is from Santa do I get her something I think she would like or do I create her an IOU of a holiday for 2024. I would like to try somewhere different to 2022, but will be standard all inclusive holiday.
Any other ideas will be greatly revived, for context she already has loads of Lego, barbies and a smaller house ,sylvanian, doll and gneration doll, bike (pedal and balance) scooter etc.
Thanks

Swimsuit and a blow up flamingo swimming ring? For her holiday ?

I think asking Santa for your preferred holiday is going to be tricky as she gets older and it changes to Disneyland/Australia/shopping in NYC 😉

Bright minds website is worth a look. They do great stem toys for that age group. We had an interactive microscope with bug slides which was a massive hit for literally years.

I wouldn't do an IOU from Santa as that's too difficult to manage. Santa has to deliver the present and leave it under the tree at christmas.
If you need to do an IOU it should be the present from you - although I think 5 is a bit young. I would just get some small gifts you know she will like. By all means save some money back forwards the holiday but I wouldn't actually say the holiday is her present.

I'm sorry but you don't give a 5 year old a holiday for Christmas. Buy some presents.

Your family AI holiday isn't her present

She's 5. So if you take her on holiday she doesn't get a present? Harsh.

She has told you what she wants though. A barbie dream house. Can't you find an alternative? Is it too big in size or price?

The whole family will go on holiday. How is that being packaged as her Christmas present?!

You can’t give your child a bloody holiday for Christmas.

Look for second hand Barbie dream houses, or something similar.

Also, their Christmas list should be a ‘wish’ list, not a demand. You can choose to get something else.

You can't give an IOU.

Can you look for second hand Barbie stuff?

I don't know what your budget is but you can get smaller barbie houses which are about £49. You can't let Santa leave a note saying she will be going on a family holiday.

It can't be the holiday, that's not a present. You're going anyway and presumably would take her with you.

I'd get her some toys at only five.

She is 5 - a five year old doesn’t understand money or value.
However you don’t buy or promise stuff you cannot afford or cannot give to a five year old, you say ‘Santa cannot find the gift you want this year - what else would you like?’
….or you buy something else entirely of your choosing.

Would something like this work instead of a dream house?

amzn.eu/d/4A9e1jS

A family holiday is not a 5 year olds Xmas present. Shocking that you think it is.

Do not set her up to think Santa buys holidays. Next year when she wants to do to The Arctic for a month she'll just ask Santa and expect him to deliver.
Plus when she's back at school and the other kids got small presents, she's going to be Theo me going oh I got a big holiday from Santa!! No.

Santa is clever, he thought you'd love THIS

It's only November 7th so I wouldn't panic yet that you haven't got ideas.

No way would I give a five year old an IOU for a holiday at Christmas. As PPs have said, a whole family holiday is a totally inappropriate present for a child, plus you have no idea what the future holds and whether you would definitely be able to go on holiday in 2024. What if something totally unforeseen prevented you?

By all means ask her for other ideas if the Barbie dream house is out of your budget (I remember a thread someone started where loads of posters found used ones for a hell of a lot less than new so the OP was able to buy the item her dc desperately wanted, it was heartwarming to read). There's still quite a bit of time to get presents.

Your family holiday isn't her Christmas present and of course you can't give her an IOU- you're basically suggesting giving her nothing.

Either find a way to do the Barbie thing eg second hand or a smaller model, or choose some other presents you can afford and explain to her that Santa can't bring holidays or really big things.

A family holiday 6+ months later that let’s face it, you’d be doing anyway, is not a Christmas present from you and it’s certainly not a present from Santa. Shocking that you’re even considering it tbh. And no way would I give a 5YO an IOU, that’s also really weird. If she was a teen maybe money towards something but she’s not so get her proper presents!

Could the Furby be from Santa? You could
look for a Dreamhouse second hand; even if I were buying new I’d assemble so it’s ready to play with, so so long as nothing is broken it’d be impossible to tell. Would she go for other Barbie bits like the car, the smaller house or the campervan? Mine would love a literal bag of tat from Claire’s which is always buy 3 get 3 free so it looks like a lot. Bath bombs from Lush. Art sets from Smiggle. Stick on kids TV channels with adverts and see if she mentions anything. There are loads of options!

So your daughter's memory of Christmas would be an IOU for a family holiday that would probably happen anyway!

She's 5 and Christmas morning is about opening gifts from Santa. I'd buy her a few presents, they don't have to be expensive. Then tell her the holiday will happen anyway

Why can’t you gift a child a holiday? Are people really so entitled they think a holiday is just something everyone does anyway so can’t be packaged as a gift? Ridiculous. Holidays most often cost thousands of pounds so definitely can be a present, an extremely expensive one! My DS turned 13 this year and his main gift was a trip abroad, he was thrilled with it.

I would wrap up something related to the place you’re going and some fun things like a swim float if it’s that sort of a trip. Of course a holiday can be a present, it‘s a luxury.

I have done a holiday as a gift, but only because it was a child centered holiday like Disney, it was all booked, and it wasn’t too far away.

5 is the perfect age for the big wow like the Barbie dream house. Since you can afford Ibiza, I imagine by “too big” you mean physical size. I would buy the smaller model and then just figure it out unless your home is very, very small.

Presumably the family would be going bad not just the child. 5 is way too young to understand the idea of it. The holiday wouldn't be till next year which makes it even harder for the child to understand. By the time it rolled around, Christmas is long gone and the kid got nothing for Christmas.

And before you start that people are entitled. I'm not well off and have never been on a holiday that costs thousands, yet I still make sure my kids get good presents for Christmas.

That’s great that your DS loved his 13th birthday holiday, DH got me a weekend away for my birthday too! It was a lovely luxury.

You’ve surely got to realise though that a 5YO is very different in terms of understanding of stuff like time and money and that giving her a swim float she couldn’t use for something like 9/10 months (presuming the holiday is in August) is a truly shit present? It’s also a total cop out for OP as the holiday would be happening anyway and if the DD had asked for something smaller than the Barbie dreamhouse, say she wanted a £30 lego set for instance, then that would be her Santa present and there wouldn’t be any consideration of trying to repackage the family holiday!

The gift of a holiday to a 5 yrs old from Santa is inappropriate. Gift her a new summer dress, a swimsuit or pool toys and tell he Santa knows she is going on holiday next summer and got her these gifts.
Or if a barbie house is too much, get her some other Barbie ‘big’ thing, like the horse, or the car or whatever.
I don’t really think 5 years olds know what they want and it changes from day to day.