Teens Christmas

[teenmum13]

We have two teen daughters 13 and nearly 15.
They haven't asked for much this year but I didn't realise how little we were getting them until in work last night we were talking about what our children want/are getting and I got a comment of my closest work colleague of that's all you have got them!

They both have asked for:

White fox hoodie
New straighteners (youngest) Eldest having money to match the value of the straighteners
sol de janeiro gift set
perfume
Ipods
sports clothes
New charm for their pandora bracelets
Make up bits (not got these yet)

They get a stocking too and bits from family.

Is this the norm or is my colleague more the norm (piles of presents scattered)

Sounds plenty to me!

sounds like a lovely list of gifts!

Sounds lovely

Sounds like a nice amount of things to me.

I'd be adding a family board game or escape room to play after dinner

That sounds like more than enough to me.

I have got mine

Perfume - kylie Jenner
A hairdryer brush thing
A nice ring
Jewellery box
Books
Craft kits that they enjoy
some toiletries/make up they have specifically asked for
a big thing of jaffa cakes

and a then a stocking

Mine will get gifts from wider family so there is no point in buying more. We simply don't have the room for it all. Also thats all cost me around £200 so hardly small change

The piles get smaller because the gifts get both pricier and smaller in size. The teens are still perfectly happy.

That’s plenty, teens don’t need piles of crap (well no one does really!) and must have cost quite a lot. Even if it wasn’t much, it was extremely rude of your colleague to comment! We’ve always gone for quality over quantity and once shared a pic in a group chat of close friends to say we were all ready for the next day and got called tight by someone… One of DS’s presents was a freaking MacBook Pro! And it’s still good as new and used every day 5 years later.

everyone has their standard. I think yours is totally fine and is in line with what we do. But my nephews will get way more and that's fine too.

Thanks, I feel a bit more reassured now. I left work thinking maybe I should be buying more!
We could afford to buy more but they really don't need more and we spend throughout the year and would rather if we were buying more buy it for their birthdays.

I think that sounds lovely and a totally normal amount of gifts (especially if they’ll have a few more things to open in their stockings/from friends and family).

You’ve clearly chosen things that they actually want and will use. Present piles are usually smaller and less exciting/have fewer surprises as kids get older.
Something like iPods look small and unexciting but is actually more expensive than the pile of toys they might have had a few years ago.
Your kids are old enough to understand that the presents they have are expensive. I think it’s probably better to get a few good quality things that they really want rather than tonnes of filler presents just so they have more to open.

I’d totally ignore your colleague (I don’t know why she said anything), every family does Christmas differently and has different budgets/priorities so there’s not really a ‘normal’ anyway.

It might not look a lot on paper but there are some expensive gifts In that list so I would argue it's quality over quantity.

@teenmum13 you could add a couple of inexpensive bits like hand cream, gloves, lip balm, a selection pack, Lindor chocolates or whatever they like.

My two definitely prefer less presents but more expensive items. For ds it is tech related to his music. For dd one hoody in a streetwear brand can cost the same as ds's entire wardrobe from Primark.

Resist the madness!! That's a perfectly lovely and generous set of gifts. The pressure to buy more and more stuff now is just insane. I'm by no means a MN competitive underspender - sometimes I spend a lot, eg last year DS needed a new laptop and I got a good one because I can afford it and I wanted him to enjoy it. But I loathe the 'pile of expensive presents for the sake of it because money equals love' concept. This year there's nothing he wants or needs, so he's got a couple of books, a jumper, and a picture for his wall. His favourite thing will be a silly little very personal gift in his stocking that cost less than three quid and will make him laugh.

I do go a bit mad at Christmas so they do have a ‘pile’ but I save all year to cover the cost, and they don’t really get any presents from anyone else. As long as everyone’s happy then I don’t think it matters if there’s a pile or not, everyone’s Christmas is different. I do always say I’m going to cut down, it just never happens - it’s a running joke now! I think what you’ve got sounds lovely and a perfect amount.