AIBU to think it's OK to not have a 'main present' at Christmas

[helsinkihelen]

So I think we've got enough for the kids this Christmas - we've spent about £180 quid on one and can easily do that for the other. My partner keeps on saying they need a 'main present' but I think they have enough - eg one child has a 7" tablet, a collection of spy stuff, a Pokemon game, a flipslide game, some football gear and a medium sized lego set. Plus I will do them a stocking. But my partner is obsessed with the idea of a main present as apparently none of what we already have seem to qualify! Its not that we can't afford something else - I just don't feel we need to. Is it a thing that kids get a 'main present'? I didn't have much growing up but I feel spending £200 odd quid on odds and ends is just as good as having a 'main/big present'! Who's BU?

The tablet sounds like a main present no? I'm confused that it's not?!

I wuld consider a tablet a main present. The seems like a great list of gifts. I do not think your child will be wailing on Christmas morning.

The tablet is a bit diddy ( about half the size of an ipad) So that's why he doesn't see it as a main present. But I know they will love them. They are young enough to not to understand the value of money or costs. To them a tablet is a tablet whether it cost £40 or £400 (as it should be) . Lol, as long as it supports minecraft - they won't give a !

Op a "main" present isn't about how BIG it is but about it's use and desirability.

If it's abouit size, get them a beanbag each!

Kids don't value things on cost. The colletions of presents looks amazing. Let the kids decide which is the most prized - im sometimes suprised by the most sucessful present.

How old are your kids? Your OH may be holding onto the nostalgia of kids getting their first bike, first big dollhouse, etc. Maybe that's why he's thinking size wise or about the dramatic reveal? If it's the latter, maybe there's a way to wrap the tablets in an extra special way to make them stand out from the other presents. You could also physically position them in a specific place within the pile too.

You are giving one child six presents and that’s not enough?

Mine get one thing each.

Fffion but what you give is irrelevant.

Just because you do things differently, doesn't mean you're "right" about it. People can do as they choose!

The tablet is a bit diddy ( about half the size of an ipad)

Not necessarily. I have recently bought an iPad mini 4, and it's only 7.9" which is a perfect size for what I use it for. I don't think I'd want anything bigger for small hands to have to use.

But then that's me. When I bought my current laptop I looked at bigger iPads, but went with a Macbook because I just prefer the set up.

There is no rules for Xmas do whatever you want. The kids won't know about a main present unless you put it in their head and even then will likely choose the main one as the one they like most.

@Fffion Whether or not you give one present is irrelevant (and I'd rather give six than one, let's just say that!), that's not the point of the thread.

Nothing wrong with not having a main present.

Fffion what dies the fact you only give 1 present to your children have to do with it? Couldn't possibly have anything to do with an arrogant view that how you do Christmas is the best way and anyway who buys 6 presents is a spendthrift who is spoiling their children and Christmas is over commercialised anyway? Too many people like that on the other threads so I hope not!

For young kids lots of good presents to open that they like beats one big main present I think. To me a main present is for older kids who want something special that takes up nearly the whole budget and then you might get a couple of cheap things to go with it.

Surely the "main present" is the one they asked father Christmas for? One year my DD wanted a yoyo, and this year she has told father Christmas her little brother wants "a medium sized ball". He is 2 so wont care what he gets. DD is 6 and wants aquabeads, so that is her "main present" and only cost £15!! I'm enjoying the cheap years before they request phones and computers!

The tablets are a main present!

What does how many presents you give have to do with the thread? Mine has 15 so far, I counted yesterday. I give what I can afford and what I want to.

I reckon the tablet is the “main” present, definitely. DS1s main present this year is an iPhone which is tiny but it’s the “big” thing with other bits and bobs alongside.

I think it's absolutely fine. Sometimes kids want a central present, sometimes they don't.

For Christmas, the main present is a kitchen, but for his recent birthday DS didn't really have a big present. He did get a tablet, but was more interested in the Furby anyway.

I would definitely class the tablet as a main present regardless of size (and cost).

I am struggling to come up with a main gift for my two, I know it's not necessary at all but it's the last year of FC I think. So one last 'wow' IYSWIM

fffion what do you want, a fricking medal?

Mini iPad definitely a main present in my eyes. Not that it matters.

Sorry, I mean tablet

The tablet is the main present.

I don't get the mountains of stuff for christmas thing (which is what your DH seens to be more towards)

I agree the tablet is the main present

But yanbu there doesn't have to be a main present, sometimes there just won't be one big thing that a child wants/needs, there's no point finding one for the sake of it.

When my eldest was 5 the only thing he wanted was his very own packet of blue tack. His wish was my command!

My Ds2 is now 5 and his wishlist consists of a rubix cube, a domino game he has seen on tv and a hotwheels set. I will buy these but i also know his scooter is too small (this will only cost 20-30).

Tablet would be main gift here too, as for quantity of gifts I think that that is a personal thing