Anyone else have issues with GP's and presents?

[Pigleychez]

My mum has asked for a list for the girls. I emailed her some links this morning and now is saying i'll have to see what Santa brings.

Why she cant give me an idea of what shes getting i dont know! Its not like im going to tell the kids. I just want an idea so I don't duplicate on anything plus the Inlaws have been asking so what she doesnt want to get I can suggest to them. But now I dont know what to suggest to them as I dont know what shes going to be getting.
Grr.

Next year I will just give her one toy and say buy them that!

Anyones elses family awkward about presents?

LikeABlackFlameCandleBNQ - personally I'd go and buy choose a bauble and a stocking anyway. Your baby can have two of each this year. And by next year you'll have, umm, lost the spares.

[still bitter about SIL buying my dd her first watch]

haha, Puffins great idea. My mum has already bought it it's "toy it wont be able to go anywhere without"....yes, I can really arrange that before LO arrives?? Baby will be a traiter and fall in love with said toy, just to p- it's own mum off

Mum - i've got dd1 xmas presents
Me - lovely, what have you got?
Mum - not telling you
Me - but what if we've bought the same?
Mum - oh I very much doubt that [SMUG]

Dad phones back - this is what we bought DD1 xyz
Me - that's what we bought!!!!!

It's not a bloody competition or about one-upmanship!

Miserablemum - Do we have the same Mum?!

This year Mum knew we had already bought DD1 a Bike for her 3rd Birthday. Mum refused to say what she was going to get.. turned out it was scooter!!

I know not technically the same but still annoying!

My mum asks for a theme for the boys - this year they love anything hot wheels/spiderman/batman, and she buys something related to that. I tell her what they are getting from me so we dont duplicate.

Ex-MIL is a nightmare for going overboard - they end up with huge sacks of stuff on boxing day which are normally still full of unplayed with toys by the end of May. But I leave that to Ex-H to find space for now

The rest of my family thankfully is small and buys just token presents. I hated it when ex and I were together and his sister/parents would spend twice as much as me and buy things twice as big - like they wanted to prove a point about how poor we were.

leftmydignity that is my family exactly!!!!

DM asked what to buy DS1, so I asked for a couple of Octonauts bits & "FC" would bring him the cheap tacky orange plastic known as the "octopod" Only she has bought EVERY SINGLE octonaut toy in the range!!!!! When I said "well what will FC bring DS now" she implied that DH & I were being mean & tightfisted to the point of child deprivation for only wanting to buy him a few Octonaut toys & not the whole toy section from the Argos catalogue!

And she has now gone & bought DS2 a ton of ELC Happyland toys after I asked for one little £16 dinosaur set.

I sound really ungrateful but our house is heaving with toys & they really only play with trains & cars which they have plenty of. I really didnt want them to be spoilt with material things. And now what the heck will FC be bringing on Christmas Eve??????

MIL is the complete contrast - "Here is some money for the DS's as I would rather give it to you for when they need something, than waste it on a load of crap that they don't need." although she always also buys them some stocking gifts so that they have "something to open" from her.

I make a big list of everything I'd like my lo to have for both birthday and christmas that year and send this to everyone who will be buying for him. When I send, I ask that they tell me what, if anything they will be buying from the list as I will need to buy the remainder. If they choose to buy something else then that's fine as it doesn't interfere with what I'm getting.

Nobody has ever had a problem with it.