What have you bought your DCs for Xmas (in pictures)? Xmas lovers only please [title edited by MNHQ at OP's request, ho ho ho!]

[SeeChooJimmy]

Following on from the tits up thread linking to nm piture thread by a another poster, I am braving our own on here and dawning a flame proof suit... will do each dd individually

Proud christmas lovers, feel free to join in.

marne2 That is nice to hear :) I hope it is that way where I live when DS starts Primary School next year :)

personally i think the amount of money people spend at christmas is ridiculous.

my kids get a budget of £75-£100 each, in which they get one big present and about 4-5 others and some little bits for their stockings.

SkullytonFlowers But do you buy your children presents during the year?

I find the parents who don't buy their kids presents during the year spend a lot more at Christmas.

*Board

However, the people on this thread are making it clear that you should only join in if you're up for it and going to be positive I wasn't aware that MN had started letting posters decide who can & can't post on threads...or who can & can't have an opinion on the subjects...

Somehow my couple of parcels of secondhand duplo from eBay now seem woefully inadequate. for you that you feel that & to be fair, I can see why you would on the back of this thread, but you absolutely should NOT!! I bet your child will love it!

I work for a food bank & at Christmas we give parents the option to choose a little gift for their children. Sometimes the child chooses it themselves...their little faces light up & one I saw last year (first year of doing it) cried as she loved it so much, because it was probably the only gift she would get that year! She clung to it for her life...

Christmas is not about excessive amounts of food & presents....I hate the massive amounts of consumerism that go on at Christmas, under the guise of 'having fun' & I feel this thread is no better. I find it all "Look at me, look at me", if I'm honest.

Am I the only one who thinks this is massively excessive??? Nope, not the only one!

It's Christmas batches!!! How relevant...your phone is wise...

they get a few odds and ends, but we dont give pocket money so once a month they might get a little game or a toy or some new books for bedtime, probably up to the value of about £15.

I clearly stepped into something that was way more complicated than appeared on the surface last night. I had no idea that there had been previous goading and was rather bewildered as to why one person was taking it as a personal attack when she wasn't the op. I understand the back story now.

Everyone is as I said last night very welcome on mn. Of course they are after all they let me in but when people go on missions to insult other forums it is bound to turn nasty - it's just not nice. This is the consequence - confusing undertones appear which wind people up and I think this thread was intended to get people wound up. Some gentle ribbing between forums is fine, pulling out specific threads and people for ridicule is not.

So it's Sunday morning, a fresh new day and perhaps a good time just to chill out on this one?

In the words of Ebenezer Scrooge:

'You keep christmas in your way, and let me keep it in mine'.

Seriously, My first thought on seeing the mountains of presents was a bit 'wtf' but surely people should be allowed to buy what they want and post what they want.

DH and I probably spend about £500 on one another, but we don't do gifts throughout the year and it invariable includes a mini break somewhere. To be honest, it's no-ones ducking business but mine what I spend my money on.

I don't think you can tell how people use toys to interact with their child from looking at the toy/gift necessarily. I think you can in some respects...

Do many kids share trainers, perfume? How many parents in reality play xboxes etc with their kids...

Yes, not tonnes of parents will tell me that they do..

To be fair RJnomore I saw ONE game that could be classed as a joint activity, which is what made me go over & look at other photos...Your box of Uno would not have gone unnoticed. I got it for dd2 & am looking forward to playing it with her.

Are you really telling me that posters will playing dolls? OK!

*now

To be honest, it's no-ones ducking business but mine what I spend my money on. Of course it isn't, but if you put it on the internet, people WILL form opinions on it, regardless!

OYBK I'm a member of both forums and I'm sorry to see that the NM posters are still egging each other on to come on this board and shit-stir. Apparently we're all at the computer, wine in hand, slagging off Netmums while our husbands are off shagging the secretary.
Hiding this topic now, off Xmas shopping!

Oooh snow!

Good question. The sentimental part of me would love snow at Christmas.

My practical side screams "Snow... it can fuck off, as I think of the home delivery disasters, non gritted roads, living on a hill with ds2's wheelchair to contend with"....

But I do love sledging with DH and the kids

sparkles and kisses could be the making of this site ;-)

Fgs just no.

Look Laura, if you thought I was being bitchy about the kisses I apologise, but honestly they look absurd and more importantly they make it much harder to read what you are writing because the flow is broken up by random kisses. Sure there are a couple of posters who do it but 99% of posters don't, it really stands out on here and not in a good way. If you don't care that's fine and I hope you find a way that mumsnet works for you (it's fantastic, stick around!) but I'm giving you aheads up more than anything.
If I was looking to buy an ipad for a child I would be looking on eBay for a 2nd gen 16g they are selling for around £150, but try to find one that still has iOS 7 as 8 has been reported to be slowing the 2 down.

I'm telling you that I will be!

You are judging based on how you use things to interact or not with your own children.

And okay trainers aren't interactive but they're kinda something most of us would be getting our children anyway aren't they, so not really fair to pick out things like that. Likewise clothes, toiletries, perfume. I've never seen a complaint yet on a list thread that you shouldn't give clothes or toiletries because they aren't interactive (that they are boring for most children yes but not the interaction thing!)

And I know the op of this thread and I can guarantee it was not started to cause a fuss or get people wound up, oybbk. It was started because she genuinely loves Christmas and yes perhaps loves overdoing it a bit for her kids, but I know the reasons for that. And even if I didn't, it's irrelevant to be honest.

As I said, the photos are a complete red herring, the list threads are used for people to have this horrible type of attitude every year too.

Clash, couldn't agree more.

Of course it isn't, but if you put it on the internet, people WILL form opinions on it, regardless!

I know, I know. That was kind of the point I was badly trying to make.

People should be allowed to post what they want - but then shouldn't moan when people comment on it.

And I hope there is snow...just on Christmas Eve through to New Year's Eve...

Marne, not when they are younger perhaps, but now she is at high school Dd's friends all instagram their stash. It's v popular with teens. Along with the comments 'so happy with my presents' 'lysm mum and dad' #christmas #wishes etc.

Are they vindscreen?

I think the majority of posters here could cope with being trolled by a brigade of glittery sparkles and the lolz that would come with it.

If my DH is off shagging his secretary today I sincerely hope he reminded her to put an extra order in at Boodles for my Christmas stocking for the inconvenience!

Fair enough RJ, then I apologise to the op, though clearly then a huge amount of politics quickly came across into the thread.

Snow?? Well, on this mornings GFS, there is just the tiniest tantalising hint at the end of the month. Not enough of a hint for me to encourage to go and wax your sledge runners though!

You are judging based on how you use things to interact or not with your own children.

No I am not, it was an observation I made & I think a pretty obvious one too. The reality is, that many parents DO NOT interact with their kids & the toys like dolls, make up, trainers, xboxes etc.

I sit with dd 1 & 2 and get involved quite a bit, because 1] dd2 needs me to brush barbies hair because it resembles a hedge & 2] she is heavy handed so as soon as she touches her Lego it falls apart...(I have been known to want to Kraggle it)

It's not a huge leap to assume that these things are for individual play.

People should be allowed to post what they want - but then shouldn't moan when people comment on it. Gotcha! I guess I missed your point!

Yeah, point taken about trainers though!

And snow...we never get snow. Because we do Christmas in Summer...

It's so not the same!

Something tells me they'll be fairly easy to spot if it's true coconutty

No, it is a huge leap. I'd like to see your empirically proven evidence that many parents, especially the ones who are engaged enough to be excited about Christmas with their kids (regardless of how much they can or do spend) are then not engaged enough to interact with their kids using the presents they bought them.

It was another attempt to be sneery, it was unnecessary, and while you can defend it all you like you and I both know that.