Christmas presents help

[pickledolive]

Hi everyone. Just wanted to ideas on Christmas presents allocation . I have an older dc and several younger dc. The older dc wants a very expensive item for Christmas and the younger are happy with what toys they are after obviously the toys cost a lost less. Do you make the 'spend ' the same or give them similar amount of presents . If I make the spend the same my eldest probably won't get a lot apart from the expensive bike he wants or il end up buying crap for the younger dc to make the money up.i don't want a repeat of last year where the eldest dc said he didn't get as much even thought his presents were more money .

I think a conversation about how if he wants such an expensive item that will mean fewer other presents is probably needed. I wouldn't be trying to match numbers of presents when there's such a massive price difference.

How old is the older child? I’d be really annoyed if ds complained that he didn’t get enough!

He's 13 so old enough to know how much things cost! Last year his pile wasn't as big as the others due to the cost and he did have a moan that his didn't look as much which upset me on the day. This year the big item is a bike so that will look massive compared to the Xbox games which are small I guess.

Hey just sit him down and say if you want a expensive gift then you wont have as much gifts to open.it is hard i have older and younger but with age they do undestand the younger ones get more as theirs is cheaper x

i definitely wouldn’t buy the younger children more, but I might consider buying the older one a few very cheap gifts to make up numbers. If you open gifts one at a time, then the number of gifts becomes important, because the child with a very expensive item feels a bit left out when the others are still opening gifts. You could also wrap up a few things you’d have to buy eventually (toiletries, socks)

i agree with that ,places like b&m ,mankind etc do cheap things also boots do 3 for 2 on gift sets. Its hard when u have older and younger, this year ive cut back on my oldest 2 they are 20&18 but my youngest 3 are getting almost the same money & gifts x

I would do same amount of presents, obviously most of budget will go on main present but is there any chance of holding a bit back to get some cheaper things to bulk it out?

You could make a chocolate/sweets hamper quite cheap or a couple of big selection boxes or jars of sweets (I saw some in Superdrug today for £4 decent size for the price).

As above b&m, home bargains have cheap gift sets or something for his room, cheap dressing gown from studio around £7.99 I think they have 25% off today as well.

Kids do tend to notice piles even as they get older and although I think they do need to learn the value of money if they've always had a pile on Christmas morning it's what they're used to and it can be hard to adjust straight away. If you have the budget to fill out with cheaper things for now maybe let it dwindle year by year so it's not all at once.

Ooh just had another idea as well I can't remember whether it was b&m or poundstretchers somewhere like that I saw some big frames fairly cheap.
If he has a favourite football team/sports person or even a band, or if he's into cars you could get him a poster and frame it for his bedroom wall. That could be a good size present to bulk out.

Asj some great ideas there he's just moved into a new bedroom so perhaps some nice things for that.

I did money value last year and one DC was still opening lots of presents after the others had finished.

This year, I'm doing the same amount of presents each.

He's old enough to understand how much a bike costs compared to toys, so should be capable of understanding that his 'pile' might be smaller/have fewer items.

If you want to 'balance' in terms of number of gifts a bit, then you can always go for things you'll need to buy him at some point soon anyway -
eg: a box with shower gel, deodorant, hair gel
socks
PJs
duvet cover
pants
Or food stuff that will seem like a treat - chocolate spread for breakfasts / a nice cheese for Boxing Day tea / whatever!

Or stuff for the bike -
bell
puncture kit
cloths for cleaning it!

Remus that's fab idea for cleaning the bike

I try roughly to match the number of gifts and money spent, but it helps that my kids are close in age and have similar wants. My 12 year old rarely asks for anything so it can be a struggle to buy, the 11 year old always has endless lists so I find I have to manage her expectations much more

Here is a handsome little puncture repair kit for £5. Wilko's also do a functional but not beautiful one for £1.25