Not buying my kids Christmas presents as other people spoil them !!!

[Infertilitylady]

anyways ! I have a 2 and 5 year old , every Christmas I tell my mother in law to calm down with Christmas presents , massive load of presents for the kids , I cannot stand it , she will not listen and wants to spoil them too much , very materialistic ! I don’t like it one bit , soo much clutter and nowhere to put them ! I am not ungreatful but I tried to say it in a nice way but she ignores my request . I don’t want my kids to be spoilt and they don’t need more than 2 presents each , but they get like 30+ from mother in law family . So this Christmas I am not buying even 1 present , let them buy it all then , because they don’t listen .sorry just a rant really . I’m not sorry I’m not buying my kids anything as I know they will get mountain of presents anyways ! X

I don't think it's fair to blame kids for being spoilt when it's adults who spoil them 😆

It seems mean not to get them anything at all. Why don't you allow the crazy gifting to happen but just have more clear outs? After Christmas day, tape all the boxes shut again. Then anything that's not had the tape ripped off by September gets cleared out.

I’m guessing from your user name that these are long awaited babies?
Enjoy them. While I agree that you can buy too much I think let them enjoy Christmas, if that means that the in-laws get joy through buying lots of gifts let them.

FWIW most of dgc presents from us (nowhere near that amount) stay here for them.

It’s a win win for you! You don’t like presents, you MiL does, she can buy them all and you don’t have to go Christmas shopping!! Bonus!

Does anyone else agree that this new generation seem to be so so materialistic and so spoilt ? I’d be happy to spend time with family and have a nice Christmas meal and that’s it . Money doesn’t buy love

I wonder did the last generation ask this about us? We got a pile of presents from Santa, a lot were small but it was still a lot. My friends say the same (when I push them because they’re talking about how much their kids have!!!)

@Changingplace hey ! Yes exactly , sooo much stuff , no need ! I try to tell them so nicely , please could you maybe buy a few less this year , I get - no we want to spoil them 😞 and goes in a mood because she thinks I’m ungreatful! So I thought okay , you go and buy all the presents and I won’t bother. My kids already have all they need and more so really they don’t actually need anything . If they do I buy them any time of the year .

But your MiL isn’t the new generation, so that doesn’t make sense?

😁

Waits for op to reformulate some further engineered outrage.

Nope. You’re just miserable and your kids will suffer for it.

I mean when I was a child , I got like 2 presents and I actually really enjoyed playing with it because I wasn’t overwhelmed by all the clutter . But these kids nowadays get like 30+ presents , half open the present and throw it in the corner never to be seen again because there is so many to open and too overwhelming . just hate it how people think the amount of money spent shows how much you love someone . I just don’t like the fact they are spending all that money when there is no need .

Dont know why your getting so much stick OP, 30 gifts is just ridiculous. I used to buy my niece a really expensive gift because I ... well i wanted get her 'nice' things...but I quickly realised that shes really spoilt and nevers bothers with half of if, plus DS flogs it all on ebay etc about 3 months later as they have no room to keep it all...so now I spend about £15!

I want my kids to grow up and understand that they don’t get everything they want and that money doesn’t grow on trees . I don’t want a 10 year to be asking me for an I phone £1000 , years later . I want them to appreaciate the little presents they get but if mil and relatives keep buying hundreds of presents , they will get spoilt and expect it every year !

I was a child of the 80s and I got heaps of presents and it was fucking wonderful.

@Torganer it doesn’t make me happier that mil buys all the presents , I would like to buy for my kids a few and maybe 2 from mil . She ruins it for me really and I don’t feel like buying more when she already buys mountain full of clutter . It just really annoys me that because they are the grandmas , they can do what they want and ignore what I say about my children and what I’d like them to have .

I also was an 80s child and got a great sack of presents! I never asked for a huge present, even in my teens. You don’t turn children into ungrateful spoilt brats in one day at Christmas. It’s how you bring them up in general.

I agree with you completely. If you kids are lucky enough to be spoiled by relatives then I would leave them to it.

Put the cash you would have spent in a savings account for them if you can afford to.

Satsuma AND Coal?? Spindrift!!

Why not donate the excess presents to those who are worse off?

I’m going to hazard a guess your kids won’t ask you for anything..

No, toddlers and preschoolers are not materialistic, surely the issue is your MilS generation. And unless you're totally skint, a 5 yo only getting two presents for Xmas is unusual. I#t doesn't all have to be new shiny plastic crap

@Desecratedcoconut 80’s and 90’ and early 2000’ kids were built different :) good manner and never spoilt . Even if they had lots of presents , they never really got anything else in the year . But this generation get new toy almost every time they go shopping 😭🤣

Totally agree with you.

Some kids get no presents and others get tens. It is so unfair.

Some grandparents have no sense at all.

Let her buy all the pressies, use the money you would have spent on family stuff. My kids are similarly spoilt so am taking them to see the nutcracker at the theatre then a night in a hotel.

@nonmerci99 i would donate some gifts to charity but this is not the point , why do they waste all that money in the first place ? When there is no need .