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Christmas

From present ideas to party food, find all your Christmas inspiration here.

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Original poster

So who looked at the MASSIVE pile of presents for the dc and felt guilty?????

14 replies

Jazzicatz · 27/12/2008 21:21

I really have come to the conclusion that next year I am going to not only limit what we get dc but also family. It was obscene really .

OP posts:

PippiCalzelunghe · 27/12/2008 21:35

Same here. So much so that DD1 was not even bothered to open them all and almost half of them was still sitting under the tree unopened on boxing day. tbh most was from friends and family members, not from us. still, will def try not to repeat next year and find different solution. also most of it will go to charities or hospitals as not the sort of things the dc would play with.

CurlyhairedAssassin · 27/12/2008 22:28

Same here.....big family = big pile of presents.

I get even more annoyed at the amount of bloody packaging it all comes in.....and [wince] a fair amount of relatives' stuff is cheap plastic tat that will break in 5 mins and have to go in bin. I cringe at the whole wastefulness of it.......environmental impact......the fact that someone in China or somewhere is sweating for a pittance to produce that stuff, only for my DC to play with it a few times before it breaks.

Very uncomfortable with the whole situation.....but don't know what the solution is.

expatinscotland · 27/12/2008 22:29

we stashed some in the loft to parcel out throughout the year.

goldFAQinsenceandmyrrh · 27/12/2008 22:31

I thought that a little to start with when I wrapped it all up and saw it piled together, but actually it was 4 presents each to unwrap - some were cheap bits in big boxes so it looked a lot. I'd only usually get them 3 (1 from FC, 1 from me, 1 from their siblings), but didn't think they'd be getting anymore from anyone else...........

Then I had DS3's godmother round on Christmas eve with a small present each, got to the Crib service and DS3's Godparents had each bought the boys a present each - so another 3 presents each - it looked rather obscene but I'm not sure it was, there were 2 under the tree that were for me and 7 presents each for the DS's.

Everything has been played with, and they can remember who got them what so maybe it wasn't as bad as I thought????

fishie · 27/12/2008 22:32

ds still has another couple tomorrow, one of which is main pres from my parents (a dinosaur i believe). otherwise it wasn't too bad and there were 12 of us. lots of books and not much crap.

UnfortunatelyMe · 27/12/2008 22:32

I managed to avoid that this year, main present from my mum was llama trekking on Xmas eve
Cetainly saved a huge amount of tat from being brought/broken recycling. If you look locally im sure you will find something similar for next year.

bizzibee · 27/12/2008 22:33

must admit, it was a big insane. you worry about whether or not you buy them enough and then on the day you wonder what you could have saved! damned if you do and damned if you don't. joys of mother hood hey. always something to feel guilty about!!

hotpotmama · 27/12/2008 22:34

Yes, know the feeling as from a large family. Would love to return to a traditional christmas where they get a few presents but its really about the traditions and celebrating, singing carols etc and eating nice food.

They just get too much, its mad. I bought all my nieces and nephews panto tickets as thought they may remember the experience rather than some plastic tat that will just get binned. Taking them all tomorrow so hope they like it!

CurlyhairedAssassin · 27/12/2008 22:35

Can't recall seeing many llamas in deepest darkest Liverpool!

UnfortunatelyMe · 27/12/2008 22:36

Bauble99 · 27/12/2008 22:41

Oooh! I've just googled and found llamas near us.

Thanks for that, UM.

ThomcatIsForLifeNotJustForXmas · 27/12/2008 22:44

My DP made me feel guilty about it. Actually though now it's all unpacked there is very little plastic tat. They got some lovely, educational stuff. But yeah, there has been an obscene amount of it. I would love it if they hadn't been bought Bratz dolls and there are 1 or 2 things that I have put in in a pile for the church bazaar but in general the gifts they received were lovely and ....non plastic!
We also have limited what they open and they will still have things to open in February! Having 2 DD's with Dec birthdays doesn't help!

UnfortunatelyMe · 27/12/2008 22:50

Yay Bubble They are really really nice and I cant help but wish we had a bigger garden...!

bizzibee · 27/12/2008 22:52

love the idea of keeping some back for days following xmas. meant to do that this year but just got carried away with it all! will defo try for next year.
p.s. husband bought me a book on being the perfect wife. only been married 7 weeks. think it is a bit of a strange present?

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