to think there is an inverse relationship between how little money people have and how much they are willing to spend on presents for their children

[Twiglett]

am truly gobsmacked at some of the things that people I know are buying for their children

truly and utterly, spoilt bastard, gobsmacked

why spend that much money? why?

But swedes what makes you think its instant gratification- its Christmas, some kids I know make their lists in May! They could have waited ages with Mum putting away a bit each week.

swedes - isn't that the point of christmas though. It's when you get the things you want! My 10yr old has wanted a Nintendo DS for years and was told he could have one for christmas bakc in the summer but he's had to wait. I think that's a pretty good lesson.

birds nests sound great

must try on the dds

Christmas for me isn't about the presents at all. On Christmas morning in our house, Father Christmas presents (for believers only) are opened on waking together with stockings (which I make for eveybody including any visiting guests). We then go to church back home to fiddle on with preparation with lunch, we all go for a walk (or we have been known to play tennis) and then we all have lunch. We don't open presents until after lunch and all the clearing up/washing up is done and everybody is assembled around the tree. It makes Christmas day last much longer.

We open presents after lunch too swede. Not that is delayed gratification

The thought of children getting up and racing downstairs to rip open presents before their parents are even awake makes me feel sad. No matter how brilliant the presents.

OrmIrian - You have made your son wait years for a DS. That's not delayed gratification - it's child abuse .

But why do people assume that people are getting into debt by buying £600 bikes and WII's?

If they are, then obviously they are stupid, but if they have managed to scrape together the money somehow, with a bit of donation from other family members and they are not getting into debt from it, why is it still morally reprobate?

A lot of this thread has not been about people getting into debt. It's been tutting about poor people spending their money on inappropriate presents that we don't approve of. Which is why it's so bloody Dickensian and offensive.

Ah well, nothing like a bit of abuse to instill moral fibre swede!

I am guilty of over spending on my dd's, i don't do it to put on a show (they are too young to brag and no body comes to our house). I save all year for christmas so the children dont get alot durring the year (just a few toys from car-boot sales).

We have 5 kids between us (dh and i) and we spend £100 on each of them, this year i may have spent a little more on dd1)

My children don't think christmas is about pressants, dd1 is more excited about putting the tree up, singing songs and going to church than getting gifts.

I only work part time so im not loaded, i do like to spoil my dd's for one day of the year (x-mas). We don't go on holiday and we don't have expensive items such as plasma tv's and nice car's. I don't see whats wrong with spending some money on my children for christmas.

Political correctness gone mad. There is a correllation between Sky TV subscription, big screen TV ownership, not owning your own home, being poorly educated and having a lower than average income. Is that the Mumsnet equivalent of suggesting we hug a hoody? I am going to stick my neck out here. I think a disproportionate number of those with lower than average annual incomes are going to be buying Island Princess Head and £100 worth of other crap for their daughters this Christmas. There.

I don't care how much other people spend on their kids at Xmas.

It's their business.

There have been years where we've spent several thousands on ds's present and some where we've spent £50. Don't remember the expensive ones being any better than the cheap ones.

Gosh Swede, does not owning your own home or being on a low income make you on a par with hoodies then? And there was me thinking that many people who fit that criteria are disabled, or single parents, or ow paid hard workers, or carers, or OAPS's (poeple like my parents who saved hard then saw their pension funds collapse)

Dear me, must phome Mum and inform her she is receiving a hoddie for Chrsitmas, to enable her to advertise her low status!

I know 3 people with big TV sky apckages: one is on benefits yes, 1 is a trust fund brat and one is my sister who works bloody ahrd as does her DH and they'll have their mortgage cleared by 32. hardly a direct correlation (not that a correlation proves anything anyway)

Why is it 'classist bullshit'? I don't understand. Of course in RL it is completely up to people what they spend on their kids, but we all have our private opinions, and my opinion is that people who buy their 5 yr olds playstations and the like are bloody bonkers and setting themselves up for having spoilt, unappreciative brats - whatever 'class' they are!

Not doingthehousework- you sound like a lovely caring eprson, hope you get what you want in the next year

tiredandill - Well it can't be much of a degree if you don't even know what an Island Princess Head is .

Perhaps everyone should do this exercise
How much is your net household monthly income?
How much are you spending on each child for Christmas?
Now express the per child spend as a percentage of the monthly income.

So what if they are spending a higher percentage than rich people on their kids at christmas?

They spend a higher percentage of their inocme on heating and food as well.

And have you averaged it out over the year swede? Are they spending more than the middle classes on their children over the year?

I doubt it.

"Sky TV subscription, big screen TV ownership, not owning your own home, being poorly educated and having a lower than average income."

That's me!!!

Except DP isn't poorly educated, just me. And he is the one who wanted his plasma screen HDTV to go with his PS3, because he works fucking hard for it!

I must remember that being 'poorly educated' due to my mother being a whore that married a paedophile and decided t through me out at 15 when I finally got the guts to prosecute him, therefore having to leave school and work in MaccyD's to feed myself rather than the further education I would've loved to have done makes me somewhat less than other people.

throw me out!