How do I not leave my DD out?

[anitagreen]

so I'm halfway through Christmas shopping and Im now stumped, my DD wanted the Lol doll house £179. And the purple ball thing !29.99. Plus a boy baby born £39.99 already over budget ,
So I've bought them, however I did ideally want a cap at £250 per child.

We have two, but my son is only 2. And the things he wants are £10-20. I am worried my DD will feel left out by a pile of presents for her brother and a smaller pile for herself? But it's the same amount? What would others do ?

I'd keep it a similar amount of presents until they are old enough to understand that expensive things mean less presents. At 2 he won't notice his presents don't add up to the same money as his sister.

I'm of the opinion as long as they get something the really want then it doesn't have to be even in either price or number it's about getting what you will actually use.

If I was honest I would probably stick to the same number of presents and not worry about spending the same amount of money. It will even itself out over time (£50+ a pop for computer games ) and at 2 your DS is likely to be overwhelmed by a huge pile of presents if you maxed out your budget.

If you really feel guilty about the inequality then buy something like a garden toy for him in the spring.

These are good ideas actually because his birthday is in November and it's usually difficult to then decide what to get for Christmas as it feels a bit of a waste bless him , I think I'll just buy less this year but things they actually will use and want.

I agree at their young ages the number of presents seem to matter more!

The two year old does not really understand presents anyway.

I have never aimed to spend the same on my 3 ds, I’ve just gone with the main present and aim for same number of small presents. So long as they get what they want then they are happy. In fact when the youngest was 1/2 he used to get wrapped up old toys that his older brothers had outgrown and had been put in the loft. It is crazy to spend £250 on 'stuff' for a 2 year old.

Wrapped up old toys 😱

Well it makes more sense than buying a brand new train set when the one they had out grown was in perfect condition. He loved it.

Agree with Aftershock, a preloved toy that’s in good condition is still a ‘new’ toy for a two year old. They don’t know any different and young children aren’t comparing quality.
Save money, it only gets more expensive later on when they might ask for less in the way of gifts but then they cost so much more.

DS had about 15 toys last year at 2.9. He was still opening them days later.

I'd get the same, smaller, number of presents and save your money for a few years when he's asking for presents at £30/£40 a pop or learn from past experiences and hide the Smyths catalogue.

A few, carefully thought out presents are much better than overwhelming your children with lots of toys they don't necessarily want.

Thanks for all the help it's made me more relaxed now on how to sort out the presents last thing I want is tears on Christmas Day lol x

could you get him a bigger thing e.g. wooden kitchen / shop , Train track ECT

I’ve generally gone for the same number of presents as well. I’ve based it on the terms of value to them not the financial value. A couple of years ago ds1 got an iPad ds2 wanted playmobil if I’d spent the same money on him he would have ended up with a ridiculous amount of stuff that I’d bought just for the sake of spending money.

My DH likes there to be symmetry under the Xmas tree. So we will often wrap two things into one. It then appears there are the same number of gifts.

On another point, you may wish to reconsider going forward how much you’re spending over budget because your children have named x items that they want, and your buying all the items. You’d be making a rod for your back and children develop unrealistic expectations.

Wow. £250 per child. I have two kids- I just don’t have £500 to spend. My youngest won’t care and neither will the eldest for now, but give it another 2/3 years she will- Christmas is going to make me anxious in the future I think. Our budget per child this year is £80. As I can’t get pay rises in my job I can’t see that changing 😢.

As a family I only have £500 budget for everything- food included (although not including the turkey as we home raise those!)

Nothing wrong with wrapped up old toys, can't believe you're shocked!

@Shadowboy it's only because this year we've had to cut back so much we can afford that now but it'll pretty much wipe us out. Last year I did it all for under £600 and everyone loved it and had a brilliant day you will to x

Wrapped up old toys are fine for small kids! We are traveling so my 6mo is getting a couple of token things just becAuse it would upset the 3yo if baby didn’t get anything.

I have 2 older boys they get same money spent and same amount of gifts
My youngest 3 get same amount of gifts and the same money as much as i can. X

Why dont you use the surplus money to spend on family days out? 2 years olds dont need stuff but they love trips out.

Mine are now adult but we have never price matched , they get what they want or what we think they will like and generally a similar number of presents and it wouldn’t cross their minds ( even as adults) to worry about who had had more spent on them .

Different idea - why not take your DS (2) toys out of large cardboard packaging and just wrap them?

This will reduce overall volume and mean that he isn’t frustrated on Christmas morning waiting for you to wemrestle with clips and retaining bolts they love sticking in under 3 toys!
Your DD as all small LOL crazy girls will be overjoyed at LOL hosue so I wouldn’t worry