To think my 2 year old deserves a proper Christmas even if I’m on a budget

[ChooseNight]

So I’m trying to be organised and I’ve nearly done all my Xmas shopping already and I’m honestly quite proud of myself because I’m not made of money and I’ve got everything from charity shops pound stores or Facebook marketplace and I don’t see the point of spending stupid money on toys when you can get loads if you shop smart

So far for my 2 year old I’ve got

big plastic ride on digger from Facebook marketplace 8 pound
12 bath bombs shaped like Xmas trees
4 different tool sets (one has plastic nails and hammers and screws)
huge bag of sweets from Home Bargains
Crayons
Sticker book with 900 stickers
3 soft toys (Cocomelon lion and a random blue bear)
finger paints
playdough set
bubble machine
glow sticks (a whole tub only 3 pound)
one of those microphones that echo REALLY loud
sippy cup with dinosaurs
dinosaur slippers
pack of marbles
face paints
a kids gardening set
plastic tea set
light up bouncy ball
2 stocking fillers full of chocolate coins and candy canes
kids tablet case (I dont have the tablet yet but will get on payday)

All this only cost me about 42 pound altogether which I think is amazing. I still want to get him more for his stocking so maybe some tiny toys from the pound shop, they had bags of bouncy balls for 99p and also small party bag toys which I think he would like

My sister keeps saying I’m over doing it and that he won’t even remember Christmas but that’s not the point is it I want him to have a MASSIVE pile to open so it feels magical. I didn’t have that growing up and I want it to be different for him. I don’t get why people spend like 200 pound on one thing when I can get loads for cheaper

AIBU and should I get MORE or is this enough. I just want Christmas to be proper and special. I don’t think anyone can say I’m being stupid when I’m literally saving money. He will love it.

Plastic tat and rubbish OP, sorry. How about a few meaningful gifts and lots of Christmas fun on the day? A cuddly, a couple of books, some pyjamas, some chocolate coins and a colouring set. Something like that?
A 2 year old doesn’t care about opening presents. My niece got overwhelmed at 2 years old last Christmas and her mum had to open them all for her. Niece then picked one teddy and ignored every other present.

Spoiling kids with rubbish just so you have a pile of presents isn’t great.

Also scrap the tablet idea and get him a balance bike if you feel you must have a 'main' present, worth their weight in gold far more than a tablet at this age

The ride on digger, finger paints and bubble machine would have been enough tbh. And you definitely cant give a 2 year old that much candy or a tablet.

This was about you, not your boy.

Christmas tree pile will look fab though!

Last year, my 2yo opened his first present (a book) and then just sat down and wanted me to read it. No amount of cajoling could get him to open more presents until it was read 😂

also, they get really overwhelmed by presents and it stops being enjoyable after a few - tears and tantrums start, like when they’re overtired.

on his 3rd birthday I stopped the presents halfway through the day because of this and then just gave him one every now and again over the next week till they were all open

a load of tat really that will end up in landfill. you could have got one decent thing with the 40£ that would last!

does it matter about the quantity of things?

I grew up with very little and Christmas was magical to me because:

• I got one or two presents.
• A stocking magically appeared on my bed in the morning
• We went to gather holly and decorated the house with it.
• We went to a crib service in our local church.
• We had a real Christmas tree with a wonderful smell (my dad would go into the woods and chop it down!)
• We ate special food with friends and family.
• We went carol singing and drank mulled wine.

I am a lot richer than my parents were and I still do Christmas in the same way. I honestly don’t think you need a huge pile of presents to make it magical.

As others have said marbles and glow sticks aren’t safe for a two year old - I can confirm from experience if bitten glow sticks will leak!

For the sake of his brain, no tablet!

Christmas memories are made via activities, not piles of stuff.

I never look at quantity, only that both my kids get what they like and I spend about the same amount on them.
Look at those crazy Christmas Eve boxes, I mean I’ll do them a posh hot chocolate Xmas morning.
The animals get a present each to unwrap, just make it fun. Kids won’t remember the stuff just the family.

I’m not skint. I will be spending £50 on my 2 year old, probably 5 or 6 items. Usually a bigger LEGO or Brio type set, some books and soft toys, a few little things like paints and animal figurines, and a car. I wouldn’t even have space for all the things in your list it would be a storage nightmare

Christmas is memories and fun, not piles of toys.
Some of them are not age appropriate, they are dangerous, and ultimately the big pile of presents is largely plastic tat for landfill. I think the joy of christmas is making traditions. Bake some christmas biscuits. Make some decorations. I'm 36 and my parents still have the toilet roll tree topper fairy I made when I was wee! That's what Christmas is about. Not destroying the planet with plastic junk.

OP I'd forget the tablet and concentrate on things that you can play with, with him - kids learn so much from play. Please rethink marbles as they are a choking hazard and be very careful with glow sticks and bouncy balls. A lot of things are not suitable for under 3's.

You've got a tea set and tool kit which are a good idea, and i'd really recommend getting some things like wooden blocks (can be used to build so many different things - towers (how many blocks high can you build for counting), houses, roads for toy cars or fields (for play farm animals/zoo animals/dinosaurs which you could also get and then make up stories with for him ie feeding and cleaning them and then one escapes type thing), jigsaws for young kids that you can make together and books with lots of big pictures and not too many words.

You've already got a big present with the ride on so I'd focus on things you can do together and that he can learn from now.

Two year olds often find christmas day really overwhelming because it is so different from other days. I suspect of you try to give him all those gifts as a big pile, he will have a massive tantrum and cry.

You have done brilliantly to get all that for £42 but I would just try one toy at a time spread out over the whole day and maybe think about saving some for his birthday. Also I would definitely save the tablet for when he is older.

A proper Christmas is not buying as much stuff as you can get

I think it’s waaaayy too much! I don’t think it’s in a child’s best interests to recieve that much stuff. There is lots of research about how it has a negative impact on his play. You have more than enough for stocking fillers.

@HedwigEliza I agree with the tablet but kids have always loved a bath bomb on Christmas Eve.

That’s more of a plastic Christmas than a ‘proper’ Christmas but I think the thread/opening post is bullshit anyway so who fucking cares

Ah Christmas isn’t about the presents! Stop there (do NOT buy him a tablet - buy some books to read together) you’ve done enough, and really well. Make it about experiences - looking at Christmas lights, bake some Christmas biscuits together. Paint some pictures and make paper chains.

I am impressed that you've got all that for £42. A lot of people could take that as a great example of how to re-use toys etc and the beuty of second hand items, but honestly your sister is wright. My child was 2 last Christmas and I put probably a quarter of that under the tree for him (maybe even less), and it was overwhelming chaos. Just ended up with a pile of stuff that didn't get touched and was actually a bit disheartening for me.

You'd genuinely be just as good wrapping empty boxes if you want it to look like a lot, but only put out a handful of those gifts, then basically drip feed the others to him over the next couple of weeks/months.

No marbles for a two year old… far too dangerous.

This.

It’s a good effort but the most important thing you can do for your child is spend quality time together. Now you have got most of what you planned maybe you need to shift your focus over to Christmas activities like visiting the library and picking some Christmas books or going to a Christmas light switch on.

Its lovely that you are excited about Christmas together though.

Proper and special Christmas has nothing to do with the amount of presents. Or with presents at all.

For a 2 year old?
WAY too much.

Do you want it 'magical' for the child or do you want it 'magical' for your instagram or tiktok and to humblebrag about your bargains and pile of tat that will make your child overwhelmed and grumpy and will cry by mid-afternoon when they want to play with the toys they have opened and still have another 20 to unwrap?

Digger. Soft toys and play doh are great. Small bouncing balls are a choking hazard at that age.

Why not get a game you can play together and some books to read to him.

I would skip the huge bag of sweets. Get a cute chocolate Santa and some chocolate ornaments to hang on the tree or a twig.

My experience of 2-year-olds is that they would get totally overwhelmed by all of that and don't want a big pile - it's too much - they won't be able to pay attention.

Loads of the bits you have there I would just get out over the course of year to play with.Giving them as a gifts now you risk they have so much stuff they only play with each thing for a tiny bit. Then they are bored of them when you want to use them

All the crafts are lush, but I wouldn't worry about giving them as gifts just get them out a day at a time on a dull day in the year. Wail til warmer weather, unless you have a big paved garden to give the digger and save the Garden stuff and bubble machine for summer. When they will be loved.

Give him the tea set, one tool set , soft toys and the other practical stuff like a sippy cup and slippers. Then play with him. Use the bath bombs in the lead up to Xmas.

Glosticks are toxic and not reccomended for under 3's at least. Marbles/bouncy balls are a choking hazard.

And throw all but the chocolate coins away. Candy Canes and other sticky sweets are horrendous for developing teeth.

If he is anything like mine, he will totally ignore it all and play with a box , wrapping paper or something random someone else gets.

It's enough, you don't need to get any more gifts for him! He will be so happy with that lot, I think you did really well on £42.

But the tablet ... he seems a bit young. I would hold that back for another year or for his Birthday if you think he would really benefit from one.

Too many gifts and sometimes kids get a bit overwhelmed or it gets to their Birthday and you can't think what to get them because you got them everything they wanted at Christmas.