Impressive gift for ds 10?

[Eatshootsandleaves82]

Dd is 3 and her things look so much more fun and much bigger. In size. Not in cost.

Ds has:
Fleece Disney stitch blanket
Stitch plush
Two audio story CDs
Rugby ball
Spring back cricket wickets
Cricket gloves
Magnetic dartboard
Jelly bean dispenser and big tub of jelly beans
Dinosaur fossil (main gift, £150, it’s what he’s asked for - collects them).
Couple of DVDs
Couple of games.

He’s got a stocking too.

But put it together and it looks a bit meh. He doesn’t like reading much. He has a PlayStation he doesn’t use and an iPad which he uses all the time. He has a camera. He doesn’t like Lego or anything like that. He doesn’t like clothes. I’m at a loss. I know it’s plenty really but put it next to dd’s brightly coloured pile of gifts and it looks a bit uninspiring.

I always forget about the 'I'm the biggest Scrooge' competition that seems to happen on mn every Christmas Glad I've never met anyone with that kind of attitude in real life

It's sounds like a lovely pile of presents op and he's old enough big doesn't mean better or more expensive but I can how other than the fossil they could seem quite unexciting, especially next to a big pile of toys.
Maybe a bit of tech like a Fitbit, dot or kindle? Or a sprocket if he has a smart phone.

Oh, I just read the price of that fossil... :-)) Is that real bones?

A pet lobster????

Fuck me, I've heard it all now!

Does no one worry about kids & their levels of expectations? Maybe I overthink it all but life is expensive now & getting more so. Jobs more competitive & wages stagnant in many areas.

I honestly don’t know why some posters bother with the Christmas topic given how upsetting they find reading a list of gifts thoughtfully chosen by a parent to suit their child’s specific interests . They’re worse than ever this year!

I mean we’ve always had joy suckers and bitch ploppers but how fucking pathetic do you have to be to actually seek out a topic where posters are discussing Christmas gifts just so that you can do your judgemental “saddened“ bit for a bunch of strangers on the Internet??

Why does anyone care how much of their own bloody money a stranger chooses to spend? They haven’t stolen it from you have they? Do those shouting about the environment assume those of us spending a few hundred quid are buying piles of shite in the pound shop that will break by lunchtime? Or that we go from the shop to the sea and dump our purchases in there in an effort to poison all the fish?

I wonder how many of the CHILDREN DON’T NEED!!! brigade will also decide they themselves don’t need a turkey/goose/joint of beef/cheeseboard etc this year? And I presume people are aware that everything we buy uses resources for production, transport and storage and yes, that includes wooden toys and bamboo socks! The environment ain’t just for Christmas folks, some of us have been environmentally aware for decades and don’t feel the need to “prove our credentials” by turning the 25th of December into a misery fest...

The Christmas topic (much like the site as a whole unfortunately 😒) has become just another opportunity for judgmental virtue signallers to declare themselves better parents and better people than anybody who doesn’t live exactly as they do. It’s so bloody boring.

A hover board
Headphones for the ipad

Couldn't agree more WhereverIMayRoam. Agree with every word!

Oh and socks and school stationery are things you should be buying for your children. Not dressing them up as Xmas presents for a 9 and 6 year old!

Has your 10 year old got an echo dot OP? My music loving dd uses hers all the time. Also plays educational games, quizzes etc on it. It's well used every day.

In general as they get older the presents get smaller. Most ten year olds' "piles" will be much smaller than a three year old's. You will have this issue every year until your daughter is about 9 so I wouldn't try and "balance" the piles. If he has what he wants then leave it at that.

Oh and socks and school stationery are things you should be buying for your children.

I still get socks in my stocking from mum & also put socks in my dcs stockings.

@whereverimayroam
I completely agree with you. It seems like people love coming on these threads with their holier than thou attitude.

I have DD's 5 and 9. They'll get a small stocking of non-plastic stuff they need e.g socks, stationary for school, clothes. And one reasonable main gift each, costing no more than 50 quid a head. The day will be magical as we'll be together and share a nice meal. The DD's don't exchange gifts between them, they choose a charity to donate to instead.

Fuck me that is a depressing read. I bet they're bursting with fucking excitement.

I don't think i'm holier than thou but does no one worry about a child's level of expectation & how that translates to them being adults & having to support themselves?

On Christmas? No. Life doesn't have to be serious all the time. It can be fun too.

Sounds like plenty, I think people get carried away thinking it doesn’t look enough when the kids don’t actually care as long as they are getting the main thing they asked for. My dd (13) is getting one large Lego set (London bus) and the playmobil food truck, she won’t be getting much else other than things she needs such as clothes. Her older sister is getting a switch game and some clothes. No big piles here as most of it just ends up in landfill, I would rather just buy them one item they really want and then a few things that they need. Things like bedding, dressing gowns and funky socks are always good for bulking things out.

My dc’s don’t get gifts from relatives (just cash) so they won’t be having a pile.

@morningdread not at Christmas no. This message comes from life all year round and helping them to understand the principal of work work ethic.

That's true & like I said maybe I overthink it but it does worry me.

Maybe I think about it more at Christmas as in general my children live in a bit of a bubble & I can't really control what they are exposed to if that makes sense. Whereas at xmas & birthdays I can.

Watch it amiloaday, you might get hunned like me 😂

Grobags I'm absolutely gloriously fine thanks Sugartits!

A segway?

If the OP buys segway for her Ds then it will tower over the present pile for her 3 year old, so then the 3 year old will need a life sized toy pony and then Ds will need....

OP you have a great range and generous selection of gifts and you are well attuned to what your Ds likes. He will treasure that fossil, and by his age they know that things like the switch games are expensive.

Once Ds started to like small presents (one year it was an iPod Nano) I sometimes billed out the sack with things like bottles of unusual or premium pop, and a box of cereal that is normally banned on the basis of cost or health, such as Reeces Puffs or something horrible from the American Aisle.

LOL at 'something horrible from the American aisle'. My DC get one sample from there a year at Christmas too. Evil pop tarts and Reeces' goo-filled cereal pillows.

I meant one of these yer big wally

This thread seems divided. On the one side we have those who are virtue signalling, gifting charity goats and frowning at a pile bigger than 2 gifts. And then we have the normal people, spoiling their kids (in whichever form this takes for them, I'm not necessarily talking monetary value here) and not thinking about the adults they may become as they rip open their festively wrapped presents

And the person buying their kids stationery for school as a Christmas gift - shame on you. Ugh, how depressing

I meant one of these yer big wally

I would make a MASSIVE pile wrapped up under the tree, it’s true