Present pics on social media

[Bramleyyapple]

feeling disheartened at social media pictures people I know are uploading. Hundreds of presents wrapped for their babies that are under 1 years old. I haven’t been able to buy mine that many. Aibu to feel disheartened and not good enough

That was my exact thought, like the Christmas trees in shops. Empty parcels.

Our 3 children's first Christmas they had 1 present from us each. This year, our 3rd child's present is second-hand. Not a financial, but environmental thing for us and also fills house with tat. Frankly, if I could wrap up our saucepans and wooden spoons, I would. Also, we've noticed the more toys ours have, the less they play with them. They get overwhelmed and bored. Don't feel guilty at all. Less is more. Your kids ultimately want your attention and nothing else at this age.

Totally agree with this! All the families I knew in my 20s who plastered their amazing lives all over social media in their 20s, had divorced by their 40s. Such a show. Ignore it. Truly happy people just live their lives, they don't need validation of how wonderful it is by telling everyone.

If it makes you feel any better my son is 3 months and got nothing from us. My husband bought him a Christmas outfit from the supermarket. Dreading going to parents in law house as they’ve bought loads and it’ll be me who has to unwrap and sort through. I’ve had people asking what he wants for Christmas since he was born! I just think it’s all madness.

This.
Turn off social media and concentrate on your own child.

Not snobby at all, the sort of people who post the minutiae of their tedious lives in social media are not worth feeling snobby about.

Have a lovely day OP! Try not to compare, your baby won't be comparing (or let's be honest, even really know what's going on).

There are benefits to fewer toys, too, if you believe in the Montessori approach.

You don’t need to prove you love your baby by buying it shit it won’t need or posting all over social media. You don’t need likes for proof that your kid is healthy and happy. You have all you and baby need.

The pleasure of giving present is seeing the response of the recipient. Would imagine you could give your child anything eye-catching that would give a great response. It doesn't have to be expensive, nor do there have to.be loads of them. Dangerous precedent to go mad-sets up.a culture of entitlement. Cuddles, play time and quality attention is more important OP.

Babies like playing with empty boxes! Love is all a baby needs.

I absolutely hate the social media pics of 'Santa's been'. It's insensitive and showy. Also, anyone buying lots of presents for an infant has lost their mind! Don't give it another thought OP, I'm sure you're a wonderful mummy and your little one will have a wonderful Christmas (not plastered on instagram!) x

So I don't post those photos because it's not anyone's business how many presents I got for my son. That said, I have lots but it's only because I've got multiples of things and wrapped them separate. For example my son loves this YouTuber so I have 4 of the mystery boxes, wrapped separate for the fun of it.

My son is 7. I can tell you it's less about WHAT the gifts are and more about the idea of gifts (the excitement & msyery) and I can also tell you he has no memory of what he got last year vs years prior vs. birthday. Also, as he went to bed he reminded me to "put out the reindeer food".

He WILL tell you about going to the trampoline park for his birthday. He will mention certain parks. He slept at Grandma's last weekend and he's been talking about doing that again and playing with his cousin.

2 pearls of wisdom to pass on:

1. Something they want, something they need, something to wear, and something to read
2. Don't have the "big present" be from Santa. Kids talk to each other and I've heard about kids being sad that Santa didn't bring them a new bike (or XBox or whatever) but did bring one for (insert child from school).

For a lot of people that won't be toys...
Next clothes size up
Highchair
Car seat
Weaning stuff
Nappies
All the essential stuff!

And not just from the parents... my kids get presents from about 15 people, with grandparents having the tendency to go over board. If I were to post pictures (I dont) our tree would look disgusting. But its for four people... plus there is actually a big box underneath the presents of some of business equipment we have no where to store!!

I don't think it matters. I'm sure they are happy, and you and your baby will be happy.

I'm not a fan of slagging off people's social media posts. I find that tackier than anything I've seen posted there.

My baby is 14 months and I’ve got him a coat, some cheese puffs and an orange! The last 2 being his fave things.
I will make sure there’s a photo of him by the tree or eating some turkey and that will be what we/he looks back on in future years! Merry Christmas I hope you have a lovely day

Mine are teenagers now, but the things they remember from Christmas from younger years aren't the presents-we were talking about this yesterday-DD remembers asking for a giraffe-it took me forever to find a toy one-she meant a real one 😳but other than that, they remember games we used to play, putting out a carrot for rudolf, decorating the tree.

Don't look on social media-I don't mind seeing the massive present pile posts-but don't compare youself to them-I promise the presents won't be the thing they remember.

I'm in a Facebook group for adult lego fans. Grown adults are posting pictures of huge wrapped boxes (the £500+ sets by the look at them,). Now that us eye rolly...

Comparison is the thief of joy.

Your baby won’t mind in the slightest!

hundreds of presents are overwhelming for small children, and by far the most important factor in a wonderful Christmas is the atmosphere of warmth and love created by the adults around them.

stay of social media (which is miserable poison and adds nothing to the celebration of the day) and have a wonderful time with your sweet baby ♥️

I have never seen this. I even searched on insta and googled. Do people really post piles of gifts? To show off? Sounds so crass. I am old though.

Just look at it as a photo of a pile of wrapped up debt and disappointment which is exactly what it is.

We did exactly the same and I feel exactly the same now. It makes me cringe the amount we used to spend
on Christmas.

What a waste of their money! A baby isn’t going to remember Christmas. If they wanted photos, ONE gift for baby is enough.

The presents don't matter one jot, not at this age especially.
I've been that mum with shitloads of gifts for my daughter, at 6 or so she got bored of opening her gifts about halfway through and said something about Santa not bringing so many next time. Then came the chore of putting the bloody things away.
Other years, there were toys that never got played with... honestly now DD is 16, I just think, what's the point?
Get them a few gifts they'll enjoy but don't drive yourself mad for one day. Actually turns out DDs favourite Christmases were the ones without huge piles of gifts.
Now I know that it wasn't cheap, but the year we were on holiday for Christmas and she got her first phone and some spending money was her favourite Christmas she says. We didn't even have a tree, we wrapped a set of string lights around a pineapple.

It's the time together that makes a difference to them I think

Don't feel bad.

It will all end up in a landfill polluting the earth.