Dd's christmas present - mean or verrrrrrryyy clever?!

[Moomin]

Am thinking of decorating dd1's bedroom as a Christmas present. She's only just had her b'day, got loads of presents and am running of of space to put them. Her room's quite a good size but a bit tatty so my friend suggested this idea as she's also doing it for her two dds who share a room. A woman she works with was shocked at her idea and thinks it's very mean!! FFS! I think it's a good idea and that's why I'm copying. Just need to decide how I'm going to get round doing it as a surprise. HMmmmmmm

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I don't think it's mean at all - it's a lovely idea.

We've just decided to give our boys our old playstation 1 and some games for it from ebay as part of their present!! Might aswell do this type of thing while they are young enough to get away with it!

I'm also planning on buying them more practical things for Christmas this year, like a watch each for example - as our playroom is stuffed to the rafters wtih toys and ds2 has his birthday in November.

how old is your dd1

DD's friend had her room redecorated for her 6th birthday. Her parents taped up the room (in a real Changing Rooms style) and she shared her brothers room for the week, all adding to the excitment. She was telling everyone about it at school.

Then on the day of her birthday they did the grand unveiling -apparently it was a great success and the little girl didn't peek at all during the week they were doing it.

Was going to paint the walls, buy some transfers or paint some fairies or mermaids on the walls and buy a few accessories. The furniture in her rooms is quite nice and my dad made her a unit with baskets in for storage and a radiator cover but i've never got round to painting them.

I'm all in favour. dd's birthday is 21st November, ds4 is 16th Dec and ds3 3rd Jan and then ds2 28th Jan, so we have an awful lot of expense around xmas time. Anything you can do to get away with buying loads of stuff and disguising it as The Best Present Ever is a brilliant idea!!!

Arrange for her to stay with a friend for the weekend, enlist the help of a good mate - it will be fab!

Betty - that's a lovely idea. Dd1 is 5. Dd2 is not yet 1 so I think we'll only buy her a token present anyway. I might be able to get away with painting a few odds and ends while she's at school on the run-up to christmas and she might not notice (she has her dad's talent for ignoring the blindingly obvious) and then leave the walls and decoration til the day before ior she can sleep in the spare room or something. (nothing like giving yourself a bag load of stress on the run-up to christmas eh! might see if we can wangle an invite to mil's on c.day!)

personnelly think it's mean - kids at that age expected presents from santa however big or small.

sorry just my opion

expect is probly the wrong word there

Invent a problem in her rroom such as flea infestation or something equally horrible. Say she will have to sleep in the spare room whilst you spray stuff all over and she mustn't go in there AT ALL as the fumes will be Very Dangerous.

You can get round "presents from Santa" by nudging your DD into asking for things for the newly decorated room.

DSs understand that there are Santa presents and presents from other people so the room is from you and some "things" are from Santa.

I think it's a lovely idea for a slightly older child. I just am not sure that a 5 year old will really "get" the significance of the time and effort that you will be putting into this, but instead will look under the tree and be disappointed. I can still remember the conversations with friends with "What'd you get?" as a starter. New room might not be her idea of a list maker.

fair enuff. i think we'd get some stocking fillers as well but she'll get shed-loads off her grandparents and other rellies and god-parents. the stuff 'from santa' doesn't have to be huge or expensive or the latest things. dd1 will be happy with craft stuff, books, 2nd hand dvds etc. i'm just desperate not to get carried away and i want to put a lid of, say, £50 on it all.

jabberwocky - explained it perfectly

We do stocking in her room from santa and then the presents round the tree are from family and friends. we all go downstairs together to open these. anyway it's just an idea - open for debate at the moment. i might change my mind.

I don't think it's mean at all. Kids get FAR too much for Xmas
And it's the thought that counts

An orange wrapped in silver foil and a spinning top is all the Fragrant Boys get and it does them good

Agree suzywong. Last year we gave ours 5 pressies each totally about £70 each (cd, dvd, game, book, sweets, clothes). About a tenth of the usual quantity, nothing was chucked away 2 weeks later and they all had a fab time. Will be doing the minimalistic approach again this year, too.

that's what started me off, suzy. last year we were overwhelmed with stuff. dd1's b'day is sept, we had dd2 in oct and she had presents as did dd1, then we had xmas. it just seemed sooo excessive. and looking at the stuff dd1 actually plays with and enjoys, it's hardly ever the BIG present. she had a princess scooter last xmas, was going on about it for ages. if she's ridden on it more than 5 times, i'd be surprised. she started on about a bike last month but i said unless she started taking her scooter out to the park more and showing an interest in wheeled things she probably wouldn't be getting a bike at all! i'm horrible

i like flipflop's idea. she'd actually really like a fluffy dressing gown. honestly she's more like a character from sunset boulevard than a 5 year old.

It's a good idea if dd1 would love a newly decorated room. But if she'd be happier with an angel costume and a box of sweets, I'd get her that instead. It's only mean if the child doesn't want it - not a cost issue.

Some kids don't give a chuff what their room looks like!

i think i'll actually ask her to think about it and give her a choice so that she knows what to write to santa about. (if she chooses the room I'll wrap the paint pots up and leave them on the end of her bed )