3yo wanting £175 Barbie dream house

[Sunshineandclouds11]

DD has seen advert a few times for Barrie dream house and keeps saying she’s going to ask Santa for it. 🙈 I don’t want to get it on the basis I think it’s too expensive (would spend that kind of money on something like a good quality bike) for a load of plastic and also don’t really want it cluttering up my house as it’s quite big.

Anyone with older DC have any clever tips for handling this? I was thinking about saying it’s too big to fit in his sleigh 🤣

Ehrm YT or just TV..?

Would she know the difference between a £175 dreamhouse and a cheaper one? You may be able to get a smaller one that is more affordable

I've bought one for DD this year and can't wait to give it to her. She'll be delighted! Her friend has one and they played for hours with it last time I was there.

If you don't want to spend that much there are dozens of second hand ones on FB or large dolls houses for Barbie sized dolls that are cheaper, by KidKraft or Jupiter Workshops.

I'm all for trying to make wise decisions with money and managing expectations etc etc but that's not the be all and end all.

My 4yo asked for a life sized robot that can talk and walk him to school in the mornings 🤷‍♀️ I just said Santa wouldn’t fit it in his sleigh.

Nooo..they are not the same. We have one at our nursery, kids lost interest after a day or two. They are pretty boring tbf.

Have a look on Facebook marketplace. I have one away a few months ago to charity shop and my friend also selling hers.

Yes exactly what I was going to say. My nearly 7 year old has been banging on about an xbox for months. We do not watch TV or adverts and he has never even seen an xbox so is purely from a friend at school

Thanks everyone for all the helpful comments and ideas! 😃 Was mainly looking for ideas of how to let them down gently or sort of influence them into wanting something else but I’m a little bit tempted to just get it now hearing how much other peoples DDs have played with it!!

Also quite enjoy the comments from all the people who are shocked a 3 year old might have seen a TV advert 🤪

You can get them 2nd hand I can understand someone not wanting to spend that, but not when you are willing to spend it on something else-she wants the house not the bike.

I think if it's in your budget for Christmas and she really wants it, then I personally would just swallow my dislike of the plastic tat and get it. They are only little and excited for Christmas for such a short time.

Totally different if it's out of your budget or there's something harmful about what she's asking for. But adult perspectives and child perspectives are very different, and just because it looks like junk to you doesn't mean it's not magical and special to her.
Just my take anyway.

@ThirtyThrillionThreeTrees you and a few other judgey Janes. 😂

If you’re gonna tell her that Santa is real you’re going to have so many problems like this

Maybe tell her that Santa has a budget for each kid

Santa only brings things that fit into a stocking.

I'd get it for her. She'll love it. It looks very practical and open - child can stand up and play with it, it will fit lots of toys in and can store them. If it's against a wall, it doesn't look like it'll stick out far.

Pooooochi Quite a few of his school friends are the younger sibling with big brothers. They chat!

Right, she’s still so young. At three, they still don’t understand.

If I were you, I’d start as I mean to go on: Santa only brings a stocking with a few small gifts (wrapped in different paper to tell it’s from Santa and not you).

This is what we do. We like the magic of Santa so would never say he doesn’t exist but we reeeally don’t want our children to be spoilt. It’s important that they realise as they grow up that their toys come through hard work and not all children have many toys. We don’t buy loads too despite being able to afford to buy more. We’d rather spend it on experiences as a family.

I wouldn’t spend that much on a plastic doll house for Christmas or a birthday.

If you don't want one in your house just say no and but her a small wooden one. Either learn to say No when she is 3 or you will never learn.

It is massive...... my three almost 4 year old at the time wanted hers for her birthday . I wasn't paying that much money for it. She was quite disappointed and then I felt bad.

Anyway, luckily for us, someone was giving one away for free on market place so I was very lucky to get that. She loved it , played with it for a week and now it's just sat in her room gathering dust.

If you are happy to spend that kind of money for something else, than you should get it for her. Just imagine how happy she'll be! My DD has had all the big dolls houses and she loved them. I had a big Sindy house in our living room for about 5 years when I was growing up. I still look back on it fondly.
They are only little once. This is our first Christmas when we aren't buying any proper toys and honestly, I'm actually gutted about it.

Risky when they want an iPhone 27 one day. 😁 Mind you, they’ll probably be too big to fit in stockings by then.

This. Have you checked on market place and eBay?

One of my best friends has perfected the art of saying no. Her kids just skip off now after being told no at 4 and 6. 😁

In our house Santa has a budget because he has to pay for every child in the world to have presents.

So he brings the stocking and one or two small presents worth no more than £30 in value.

And when she asks why her friends get more/less from Santa I say that their parents may have sent him more money to top it up or they didn't ask him for much.

FC brings stockings in our house with books and small toys etc. The big presents come from us. This can help with managing expectations.

However if she really wants it, you can afford it and it will fit then get it. They’re only little once. A wooden alternative is not the same.

Could you pass it on to OP? 🤣