to be fed up of the school run christmas present competitions...

[Nemostwonderfultimeoftheyear]

seems like most of the mums are competiting for who has spent the most on their children for christmas...

How boring they must be. I may have mentioned a couple of things I have bought ds but certainly not in a competitive way, in this economic climate it is a bit crass.

Can't say this conversation has come up in my neck of the woods. Far too busy competing over who has the worst cold. Naturally, I won.

the thing is you can say what you have bought your dc but doing it is quite another ......i have a friend like this and generally its her parents who actually buy the gifts and choose them however inappropriate and she merely tells everyone.

I know it doesnt make things feel any easier for those of us feeling the pinch but money doesnt equate to love.

TBH the very fact they are boasting about it makes me wonder why.....does it make them feel wealthier? better parents?? etc etc.

How strange-and utterly boring.

it is boring and quite strange. One of the mums was like oh i bought a wii, and games, and a ds and games and lots of toys[over£300] and clothes fromxyz shop. Now this is for one 4yr old and they live in a council house..so all othe mumswere jumping in with i bought this and that and precious johnny is having £500 spent on them.
Stupid thing is I didnt say I only spendmax£50 per child..lol

I would actually feel sorry for them-they don't understand what is important in life-they are equating love with possessions.

Are they competing or just comparing? maybe you're being a bit hasty OP. Sounds like ordinary Mum at the Gate gossip to me, and the issues may well be yours.

How odd. It hasn't even cropped up with any parents I know

no it seemscompeting when one says oh i got xxxx then someone else says oh xx already has that so we had to buyxxx

at least the school mums actually talk to you . at ours if you're not from round there it's hard to get much convo out of them.

aww Tc havng a crap time at the school gate?

Tell them to give some money to the salvation army christmas appeal!

I've noticed the more well off the parent, the less the spend, or at least boast about what they spend on their children at Christmas.

I think it's party a class thing.

My Johnny is having only a yo-yo, I'm so posh1

The ones that have nothing to prove i would say

My lad's getting a lump of coal. Does that make me posh?

This came up last year. Inverse ratio between poshness and amount of crap bought at Christmas.

Something to do with compensating for all these middle-class kids having all this money spent on them throughout the year on ballet lessons and horse-riding and tennis, of course, because that's what we all do (snort).

agree with LynetteScavo - no one has comented it at ds' school yet
I wouldn't say how much even if someone asked
probably safer just to say I haven't started shopping yet

/hijack

the one lovely friend I did meet at the school gate moved schools partly because of the unfriendliness, so it's not just me being para. It's not a major problem, but it does kinda rule out playdates - on which note I really should visit you and your brood some time soon!

But UQD- there may be some truth in the money spent throughout the year hypothesis...
DD's birthday is v close to christmas, and as she is so young it is silly to go overboard and overwhelm her with presents.
If she needs things in the summer months (developmentally I mean, as she is still little) then DH and I just get them- eg sandpit, trike, hundreds of books etc.

Perhaps it is also that many mc people aren't actually fans of conspicuous consumption, and don't like to go overboard on that account?