i hate the way parents buy BIG presents for no reason at all( like nintendos)

[FluffyMummy123]

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ok....they are just as happy with water balloons at 35p a pack as a 29.99 ds game.

yes they rae i htink
as kdis get older ime there is more competitiveness re £££

No I agree I only buy presents for birthdays or christmas (admittedly I do buy quite a lot) but my friend only buys one pressie for her dd's at christmas & birthday's, they have hardly any extended family so don't receive much from anyone else. However the rest of the time she buys loads and loads each week she spends at least £40 on each dd, I think it takes the enjoyment out of birthdays and christmas but each to their own I suppose.

If a family can afford it (and by afford it I mean cold hard cash, not a new flexible friend with a big limit) then I dont see the problem tbh.

When I was a kid, we were brought stuff all the time - we got big expensive presents like computers and televisions for Christmas, birthdays we a much quieter event, but I remember us all getting a bike for no reason. As we got older then we were given an "allowance" which had to account for clothes and stuff during the month (it wasnt a huge amount of money) which made us learn to budget and value our cash.

I now have my own home, mortgage and child. I am very sensible with my cash.

ds has wanted a ds since christmas. he had to wait till his birthday, six months later.
other ds got a bike for his birthday. but, younger ds got a new bike, becuaes, i gave him ds1's old bike, which he crashed because the brakes werent wroking that well. and it was a bit big fo rhime anywyas. and i was trying to be stingy. as had spent a fortune on ds1's bike and my own new bike. but the tire burst when he crashed it. and i am very lucky he didnt hurt himself badly.
so i got him a new bike from halfords for 40 quid.
dd wants a ds, but she isnt getting one till at least his birthday. ds1 got a new

i ithnk learnign to want is agood thing

But it doesnt always have to be about making a child understand "want" - there is no need to bend to their every whim and want whenever they ask, but sometimes it is nice to splash out and get them something special for no reason other than you want to. If you can afford it, it isn't a problem. Children can be brought gifts without being made spoilt, and it also makes Christmas and Birthdays about what they really are, rather than a gorge on materalistic items.

yes re undermining. an item like that is a big deal, (admittedly mostly cos of its c ash value i guess) and it wd devalue it to just bring it round like that. it wd prob make me feel inadequate too

Can't believe I missed this thread as subject very close to my heart!

DD had her 3rd birthday in July, she got some presents that needed changing so I took her out to do that and when I came home DS1 had a Nintendo. No consultation, no nothing. To say I was mad was an understatement, the roof came off our house that day. I have not taken it off DS as it is not his fault but he is not getting much at all for his birthday!!!!

I dont mind the big presents for no reason at all. Takes some of the the pressure off birthdays and christmas being about presents. Its all about balance too - almost all the birthdays are close to christmas in our house so occaison based presents come really close together. + its nice just to get a gift for no reason other than just becauce the giver wanted to. Much worse to bribe good behaviour, children only do things for reward then.

I totally agree with the OP - just wish Dh wouldn't undermine me!

The problem is he is a bit of a saddo who has to have the latest gaming thing - last Christmas he ordered the new Wii for himself which came out just before Christmas - turns out the kids play with it mostly and I felt like other people must think they are spoiled brats as it arrived before Christmas and they then got their (v. modest) Christmas presents a few weeks later....

A couple of years before that I bought two DSs in the US just before Christmas (before they were out in the UK) - one was to be for dh and the other for a mate of his at work - he changed his mind and gave the second one to dd as an "extra" Christmas present - wtf?