Uneven amount of gifts! Help me

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I’ve gone and done it again…dd12 has 30 gifts and ds10 has 23 😅

I need to balance it out. (and no, I don’t want to take away seven of hers)

so far I’ve thought of
a rubix cube
a plain chocolate orange( I had an order age one but forgot he doesn’t like orange flavour!)
a fidget toy of some sort

hit me with ideas please…nothing too big and no major tat. I like useful gifts.

How about this? It can double up as a present for you. Or, rip up the pages sbd wrap them individually so you get 300+ gifts out of it.

Here is the perfect gift for you.

Gaming console voucher
remote control helicopter
lunch box
wattee bottle
school bag
pencil Case
few sweatshirts/joggers
sports socks
boxers

btw. Stop doing this. When they are older teens and you’re looking to “equal the parcel amount” you’re only going to make trouble for yourself.

@SanctusInDistress you’re so funny. 🙄Believe it or not I actually don’t buy a lot. My house is surprisingly minimal. Most of the stuff I have bought them is consumables or of good quality. But thanks…

Mine get 9 gifts each.
How I manage it is I will wrap things differently.
For example I might put 2 t shirts in a present and 1 hoodie in a gift for another. I might put 2 books in one parcel. That kind of thing.

I do get an experience for each of mine, now they are older. This year 1 of mine has band tickets, 1 has tickets for a comedian, 1 has a foraging trip and 1 has piano taster lessons.

I used to love spy kits and science kits as a child, writing with an invisible pen and making a big mess doing experiments. Binoculars are also cool for a child.

Ah the magic of Christmas

30?!?! Stop showing off.

Not showing off at all…some of these gifts are what most people would consider stocking fillers…I just don’t put them in stockings.
E.g. hair clip, hair bobbles, fluffy socks, bike lights, chocolate orange etc they are not all expensive gifts. But they are things they need. My dd literally just said to me, “mum would you be able to buy me some hair ties today when you do the shopping?” My answer… “can you wait til Christmas Day?”…her response was “oooh…exciting, yes please!”

So how about getting the hair bands that she needs when she needs them, and for Christmas get her a beautiful embellished baguette hair clip she can keep into adulthood (and dispense with the other 29 ‘essential’ items)? I still have a couple hair clips my mother got me when I was a teenager. I’m 50 and with short hair, but one day I’ll pass them on (they are not expensive, just a bit more elevated than ordinary day to day ones).

She doesn’t like embellished things, she likes
to keep things simple. Why would I buy her some now when there’s some wrapped there. I bought her a set of Nike ones as a special treat and a pack of the ones she loves. I haven’t bought her hair ties since last year. So I think she’s had use out of them.

If the number of presents was less, I can see that your DC might notice that one had got fewer than the other.

But when you are up at 30 presents - are they really going to notice that one has a few more than the other?

And if they are the sort of children to count up how many presents they have received and then compare against each other, then I think that is the bigger problem to be addressed tbh.

OP, just stop. You say you only buy things that are wanted or useful, but if that was the case then wouldn’t you already have bought them? Anything else you buy now is just not necessary.

I try and spend roughly the same amount in my children and then grandchildren. If it is uneven either in numbers of gifts or amount spent I get them a Roblox or Minecraft gift card which both grandchildren are pleased with. I give money to my daughters in addition to presents but if one has an expensive present they don’t get as much money as the other.

Also 30 is a lot of presents

Too late for this year, but might make you reconsider your approach to present-giving.

otherwise, if yiu want to make the point if super-practical, what you could do, is your next weekly shop, divide it in two equal lots, wrap up the items individually, and voila that’s your Xmas 2026 sorted. In my household, if I did that, they’d probably get 30 presents each (individually wrapped bananas maybe?)

When I say embellished, use your imagination and dont default to glitter and pearls. Think outside the box- handmade wood hair baguette, plain silver baguette, high quality acrylic, unusual style, a piece from a place you have travelled to, etc.

Wfat I mean is, instead of getting her 30 mundane gifts, get her fewer but higher quality equivalents.

Why is everyone moaning about the amount? OPs posted the list of her DDs gifts - 10 are consumable/toiletries that most could consider 'stocking fillers' and 10 are clothing, 2 of which most would put in a stocking and the PJs many would give as an extra in a christmas eve box. You've no idea if OP is someone who buys vinted clothes during the year and only splashes out at christmas, or likes to save clothes to bulk up present piles

Of what's left 2 are sports gear, 2 pieces of jewellery, a water bottle, a lego set. 2 hair accessories (that most would put in a stocking), and origami set and a hairdryer. That's 8 'non-stocking filler, non consumable, non clothing' gifts. Shock horror!

It's really not that mad. Take away the clothing and OP is giving a perfectly average amount, and some people like to save not urgently needed clothes to give more to open for christmas/birthdays, they're probably not buying much (if any) more clothes than the average parent, they're just presented at christmas

Chill TF out

I usually just combine or separate things to even it out - books, t shirts, art stuff etc.

Yes exactly what I wanted to say but just couldn’t type! 🤣 thank you @Anononony

They're doing chocolate "oranges" in mint and caramel in Lidl

They're doing chocolate "oranges" in mint and caramel in Lidl

The caramel sounds so good! My dd has two mint ones! She’s obsessed 🥰

What I’m saying is to her, they are not mundane!! I know what she likes…She’s my daughter 😕

I’ve got ds2 a toffee crunch one! Hopefully he’ll give me a bit.