Xmas present for the whole class!

[DiamondsAndDaisychains]

It's driving me insane - I thought Xmas cards for the whole 30 of them was overkill, but this year, it seems we are all giving each other presents!!! My daughter is five. FIVE. She can't shop independently, has very little pocket money and would struggle to write 30 Xmas cards.
Presents are either sweets (like we really need more sugar in our lives) or tat from the £1 shop that some poor kid on the other side of the world probably made under sweatshop conditions... but if you don't do it, you feel like the stingey parent.
So it becomes another largely pointless exercise in spending money and wasting time for no benefit to anyone.
Am I alone in this thinking?

Don't play, or buy a bag of chocolate coins & they each get one in the card. That's more than plenty.

I agree, but feel like I am forcing my daughter to be The Girl Who Didn't Give Anyone Anything... aka the class scrooge!

Is it a yummy boden-clad mummy school?

Well, yes, but don't throw all us Boden wearers into the same basket. I wear Boden and still think it's ridiculous!

It's ridiculous, don't get drawn in. I know you feel the pressure though. I once took a stand on party bags and decided that the children who came to dd1s party would just get a piece of cake and a balloon each to take home (they are all fairly
privileged children and, like you, was very mindful of the fact that party bags are filled with plastic tat that just ends up in land fill, and thought I had given them a lovely party and tea etc and that should be enough, but the looks I got! And not just from the kids... I stuck to my guns on the next one, but am glad they are too old for them now!

dont get sucked in, just do the cards

a lot of kids here just put 'from x' in the card and leave the envelope blank so they just get given out to the whole class without worrying about who you might have missed out/misspelled their name, etc

Crocked Pot, I've done that too. I thought a balloon was a lovely end-of-party gift, avoiding further sugar or cheap tat to fill out a party bag... but was greeted by outrage from many of the little guests who felt entitled to a party bag!

The cards is a nice idea, but thirty gifts?? That's a but much! Perhaps u should suggest secret Santa gifts instead? So everyone brings one gift and everyone gets one. Spending limit can be five or ten pounds, so everyone spends less and gets a nice gift instead of junk. They r doing that at my daughters nursery (she is only 22 months). Unfortunately, she is missing her school party bc she is sick :( boo hoo. We contributed little wooden toy cars for her Xmas gift in the Santa bag.