People that only spend about 25 pound per DC at Christmas ....

[nappyaddict]

Do they have winter birthdays?

Do they get a lot of presents from other people?

Are they too young to care?

Do they get toys throughout the year or just at Christmas and birthdays?

Would you like to spend more but can't afford it?

I know I spend too much on DS and need to cut back but unless I really couldn't afford it I can't imagine only spending that much. I mean even if you buy second hand stuff (which I do) it still wouldn't buy very much.

Do they have winter birthdays? No

Do they get a lot of presents from other people? I think so, but not compared to many of their friends. They get ample, but not an obscene pile the size of an Argos warehouse.

Are they too young to care? They are 4 and 2

Do they get toys throughout the year or just at Christmas and birthdays? I do buy them things throughout the year as and when they need them or I like them. Not indiscriminately though. I would buy jigsaws and books and anything sporty or educational if they had an interest in it, but I would not buy a Barbie mid year for no reason (whereas I might at Christmas).

Would you like to spend more but can't afford it? Nope. Could afford much more, just don't see the need. Nothing more depressing than a child bored by opening presents and not playing with anything because they are overwhelmed.

Ds will have £30 spent on him. I could spend more but he gets presents from others too. Summer birthday age 6. He hasn't yet managed to play with all the stuff he got for his birthday (from friends). Really, how much plastic tatt does one child need? I also don't do the weekly toy bribe for doing well in his spelling test (a whole other thread!).

DDs have summer birthdays, DC3 has a winter birthday. They get a lot from family, which is one reason why we don't buy them much ourselves. They are aged 6, 4 & 2 - no doubt my 6 year old would love a DS but I consider them to be too expensive for a child that age - something else that will get lost or broken.

Out house is crammed full of stuff, they already have bikes, scooters, dolls house etc. They also do a lot of activities, eg, swimming, ballet, violin etc all year round, which cost a lot. Christmas to me just doesn't mean piles of presents and I think they're too young to have hundreds spent on them. I honestly don't know what people buy children that age that costs so much unless it is a Wii/DS or a bike/scooter.

Bah humbug!

If I was spending £25 per child, I would buy as many little presents as possible I think. That way they will get loads, and be non the wiser. Especially if they are small, they hve no idea of the cost of anything but would have a mountain of stuff (think poundland).

Do they have winter birthdays? No

Do they get a lot of presents from other people? No, only one or two small things, family is abroad.

Are they too young to care? Yes, probably (3). I do however want to make sure the Christmas tradition of small presents for the children continues as long as possible, so starting out this way is probably the only way to go about it.

Do they get toys throughout the year or just at Christmas and birthdays? Yes, we get him (too much) things throughout the year, and a big present for birthdays.

Would you like to spend more but can't afford it? No, we can afford a lot more at the moment, but I think Christmas is too commercialised. He also has more than enough toys already.

Winter birthday - not really, spring.
Presents from others, yes, some, grandparents and couple of uncles/ aunts.
too young to care- maybe, more like , to young to know what stuff costs , hes just interested in does he like it.
Toys all year? pocket money bits n bobs, yes, and maybe a charity shop game / activity for school holidays.
I don't need to spend lots of money, I give DS something he would like for Christmas, this year its a Cars DVD and book. Last year it was wellies and gloves and sledge. Both years its cost under 20 quid.

BUT its not about how much it costs, it about will he like the present. IF he were big enough for a new bike that would be rather more than 20 quid.

Mine get PJs late on Xmas Eve as well as the Christmas day present.
Obviously I would have to buy them PJs at some point in the year anyway, but this is our family tradition and they love their Xmas Eve present.
I also put lots of things in their stocking that I would otherwise have to buy over the year-and I honestly believe that they are OK with this. It's just what we do. (eg sellotape, glue, marmite...plus something special/different eg finger puppet)

Wolf - you put marmite in their stockings?

Dd is 4, only child, no gifts from anyone but us. She is aware that there is only so much we can fit in the house (tiny house!) and that some things Cost Too Much Money.

I have no idea how much we've spent. We look for much cheapness on Amazon, Ebay and supermarket toy sections. My rule is: no more that will fit comfortably in her bedroom, some old things have to go to make room, and if we have really gone overboard and bought too much, things can be saved for her birthday in summer.

She gets very little through the year, just small bits and bats (yes, poundland!) or craft stuff / kits. Christmas is the time to go OTT if you can / want to - we have the rest of the year to be sensible.

I do worry that I over-buy to try and compensate for dd having no grandparents (dh's were lovely but passed away, mine are, sadly, horrible and possibly dangerous)

As yet she has never disrespected her toys, she cares for her things very well, is visibly upset if she has a friend over and they break something and has never been 'demanding' of things.

She has suggested that she should rub some things off her Christmas List in case it was too much for Santa to caryy

Ds is only 4, has a November birthday and we live in a very small flat. He also gets presents from other people.

We're buying him one "big" present (a marble run this year which is £15) a couple of other little things which he's asked Santa for and stuff to make up a Christmas stocking. We're spending just over £30.

He'll be completely delighted - I do think (until peer pressure raises its ugly head) that parents get into a tizzy about the number of presents/cost rather than it ocurring to the dcs at all.

Having said all that, as the 2 big present occasions for ds happen in Nov/Dec we do tend to buy things like a bike, which would normally be a birthday/Christmas present, for ds in the summer.

We could afford more btw, but he doesn't want it, doesn't need it, we don't have room for piles of toys and I think too many presents dilute the joy - that's partly because Christmas with just a few presents was part of my (very happy) childhood. Other people will have had different experiences/expectations and that's fine.

Do they have winter birthdays?

One of them does.

Do they get a lot of presents from other people?

Nope maybe from one other person in the family.

Are they too young to care?

no

Do they get toys throughout the year or just at Christmas and birthdays?

no but they do get second hand books for about ten pence each from time to time

Would you like to spend more but can't afford it?

Yes. But now that I haven't been able to and they are always very happy and never moan I think perhaps I wouldn't.

I buy things mostly second hand and they have a nice little pile of things that are lovingly chosen and that they really will love. I spend 30 pounds though not 25.

Do they have winter birthdays? - yes, both in the same week.

Do they get a lot of presents? - yes, especially from MIL who sees them rarely due to living far away. I can't and won't even try to compete .

Do they get presents throughout the year? - some summer things like bits for the sandpit or a scooter.

Would you like to spend more but can't affort it? - no, I'm not into this 'must-have toy' bit of Christmas.

I buy things through the year to save for Christmas. DH and I buy a 'main' but not expensive present and make up stockings (both from FC) and a couple of small things like jigsaws or cars/trains from dh and I.

I think it depends on age - definitely when dd was pre-school or even 5 /6 years old £25 would have bought an awful lot of crafty tat, plastic cars etc which is all she wanted.

Now she is 8 it is a different story She's getting a desk for her bedroom as her main present, definitely useful and wanted but rather more than 25 quid . . . then add on the computer game that she's desperate for, and you get the picture.

Takver I agree. Most people on this thread seem to have children around 6 years old or younger or would like to spend more but can't afford to.

My son is 2 and a half. He already has a lot of toys. Has a summer birthday, and also gets bits and bobs given to him throughout the year as I often find bargains in charity shops. I could spend a lot more on him but my house is in danger of looking like ELC. His dad's family are going to fill my living room with Happyland this Christmas. I'm giving him a stocking with about £20 worth of little toys and a load of books (half new and half second hand). My parents giving him DVDs of his favourite programs and books. I almost got him the Happyland farm but his dad's already bought him a couple of large Happyland toys, so I'm saving that for his birthday.

I could afford to spend more on my 2 (4yrs and nearly 2yrs) but choose not to at the moment because as someone else pointed out further down, that money might be more appreciated when they are older. They also have plenty of relations who buy them presents. I buy things throughout the year, but not toys so much - more things like craft supplies, books (new and second hand)

There is a sort of escalation thing that happens where the more presents they get, the more they expect so am trying to avoid this.

Honestly, I'd find it distasteful if they became grasping and materialistic at Christmas.

It would spoil the ,magic for me if I perceived that the DC were just going through the motions to get to the plastic tat at the end.

hence, I don't want to make a rod for my own back by giving them loads of branded advertised big stuff, and then find they expect it every year.

In fact, I've withdrawn from the ILs christmas day, because they do this thing where all the kids get woken early and open the presents together as quickly as they can. I didn't want my DC comparing and envying. I felt at it was more the adults projecting their excitement at having managed to provided all this stuff, rather than the kids being so desperate to rip through e pile.

I go heavily into cooking, decorating, going to Christmas shows, funny bulging stockings etc.

SylvanianFamily How old are they?

Do they have winter birthdays?

Yes, dd is 23rd Dec and ds is 11th Jan

Do they get a lot of presents from other people?

Yes, grandparents spend way too much, especially MIL who is locked in some competitive grandparenting competition with herself.

Are they too young to care?

Well yes, that helps! they are coming up to 2 and 4 but I want to instil the values at a young age too, if they grow up having reasonable presents then I hope that they will not have expectations of expensive presents in the future.

Do they get toys throughout the year or just at Christmas and birthdays?

Just Christmas and birthdays, very rarely I might spot a book in a charity shop that I'd like for them or ds finds a car in the 25p bin when I'm hunting for clothes for them. It does take a fair bit of planning ot do that, you have to think of what they will grow into over the next year and what they might need, for example ds will get a bike for his birthday so that in September when he starts school we can cycle.

Would you like to spend more but can't afford it?

In a way, yes. For instance dd is having my old doll house for her birthday and I got some furniture from ebay. I'd have loved to be able to buy her some new stuff for it or even just a nicer ebay lot (I got ikea stuff for £3, the nicer ELC stuff goes for around £30 for a full set). It would be lovely to get ds a brand new bike but I'll be looking in the local ads between christmas and his birthday for people selling outgrown bikes having replaced them at christmas.

I think really though, I just don't believe in getting loads of stuff. I have a bit of a hotchpotch belief system so will be telling the dcs about various things over the holida season but ultimately I want them to grow up understanding that it is a special time of year and that it is time to be spent with family. I try to go for small things at Christmas, books, clothes, perhaps a game and give a main presnt for their birthday which can be their special day to have a fuss made of them. I'm trying to persuade the grandparents to do the same but failing miserably.

solo, I don't know if this is any use to you, but the SanDisk Sansa Clip players are tiny little MP3 players [varying sizes, up to about 8GB]. If all he wants is the ability to play music, and nothing to do with video, they're useful little things. I've got a 2GB one which I bought a couple of years ago for about £15. Not sure though if that'd be doable for you, though it is a lot more affordable than an iPod! It's worth Googling a bit too as they can be very different prices in different places online.

6.5, 4 and 2.5 .

Tbh, this year will be more generous than in the past, because we're earning much better.

The year it got a bit awkward at MILs, Dd was 3 and got one doll, a box of biscuits and some clothes. Dd was content enough, but MIL was definitely bemused!

This year the eldest is getting roller skates (£30), and a few bits.

The four year old is getting a box of lego (£25 - but fully on clubcard vouchers), and pop up pirate.

The 2.5 yr old will have a playmobil set (£15 half price from tesco, ages ago) and something else, which may be a tea set or may be teletubbies DVD.

They all get PJs and sweeties christmas eve, and some new books. Two years ago Santa arranged swimming lessons; this year I think he might arrange some ice skating tickets and/or lessons.

There will be a joint family present: the new release of "Fantasia". Dh wants to give Dd his old DS, but I think we can stall a bit longer on that one.

Tbh, I could easily afford more, but if I get the urge I walk through the kids rooms and listen to the expensive crunching under foot. The urge passes.

Do they have winter birthdays?
No but we don't do birthday presents either.

Do they get a lot of presents from other people?
No because we ask them not to.

Are they too young to care?
She is 10, she doesn't really care but I think this is about upbringing rather than age

Do they get toys throughout the year or just at Christmas and birthdays?
She doesn't really have toys as such but we buy books throughout the year and pay for activities.

Would you like to spend more but can't afford it?
We can afford to spoil her we just don't want to.