Question for parents about Christmas presents

Fran27

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#1
It's the first year my kids are actually asking for stuff. So far I had been buying things I know they'll like, and I've pretty much bought 90% of their stuff for this year (I buy all year long when I find great deals). I'm saving the last gift for something they really want.

How much do you take what they want into account? When you know it's something that they'll get bored of in no time, for example, or that they're too young for, or that has bad reviews? (or is overpriced and not likely to go on sale. Sigh). I don't want them to be disappointed at Christmas (I doubt they will, lol, but still), but I don't want to waste money on something that will just sit in the toy box either.
 

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#2
I feel your pain , the girls are hung up on stuffies.com dang commercials. at 30.00 a pop they are pricey for a stuffed animal with pockets. uggggggg

I find the balance to be getting them one thing they talk about for awhile. i am luck they are satisfied with anything really , but i am getting the stuffies for sure .
that will be there big present and then some littler things for filler.
 

Fran27

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#3
Stuffies are adorable lol. At least they're big... I've banned all channels that have commercials here... it limits the 'I wants' a lot lol
 

milos_mommy

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#4
Ugh. Growing up, my parents bought us just about every single thing our lists (except a puppy) every year. And then some. All I ever cared about was the puppy.

As far as Christmas goes, yeah, I guess a remember a handful of the presents I got (gooey looey because my grandma thought it was HORRIBLE, video games because we played as a whole family, my chinchilla because that was exciting, Baby Born doll because I carried it everywhere for the next 5 years and it was a huge part of my life). But when I look back on Christmas memories as a child, I remember baking 200 cookies with my grandma. I remember how silly my dog looked carrying his giant Christmas bone around. I remember speaker-phone conversations with my long-distance family. I remember decorating the tree and driving around to look at lights on Christmas eve, and that my mom always read "The Night Before Christmas" and gave us new pajamas before bed. I remember sleeping on my brother's bunk bed and staying awake trying to hear the reindeer land on the roof.

I don't remember how many presents I got, or if I got everything on my list. Half the toys we got literally NEVER even got taken out of the box and played with. Yet, year after year, my parents still maxed out their credit cards and skipped paying bills to buy us ridiculous amounts of JUNK on Christmas. My mom and I still fight about it...last year was the very first year she didn't buy me tons of crap I didn't want (and she still bought me like....4 dinosaur puzzles, a paint-by-numbers kit, bright blue ugg-shaped slippers with sheep on them that she thought were "funny", all which went unopened and annoyed me by taking up space.) I appreciate that she gets in the Christmas spirit and wants to make everyone happy. I wish she'd do it by decorating and cooking and singing. Instead, she screams about what a-holes people shopping are and how stupid the cashiers are and how terribly everyone drives, just so she can buy stuff that sits in our basement for 6 months and then gets sold at a garage sale.

So...when I have kids, sure I'll buy them some of the stupid junk they want for Christmas. But I'm not knocking everything off their list. If there's one thing they talk about a lot, and it's a reasonable item (affordable, age-appropriate, etc.), they'll get it. Yeah, I'll probably spend more than I should on certain fad items. But I think most kids are way more excited about the lights and parties and family and music and santa and magic of Christmas and tearing wrapping paper off stuff then they actually care about what they get.

Besides, I'm sure their grandma will buy them enough obnoxious, useless, space-eating, interesting-for-three-seconds-then-boring JUNK that I won't have to worry about it :p
 

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#5
On the subject of Stuffies, we were poor growing up so instead of getting things we wanted, my mom sewed us stuffed animals. I still have my mom-made Puffalump in fact! It was years before we got stuff we really, really wanted, like a doll house... my sister and I both wanted a doll house SO BAD and I think it was like three years before we finally got one. And we never got a Barbie Dream House... dang it... I still kinda want one LOL.

Sometimes kids are going to be disappointed. Life can be disappointing, and you don't always get what you want. Sometimes your friends all get Barbie Dream Houses while you're lucky to get a new Barbie outfit. I wouldn't go TELLING them that, LOL, but it's not a horrible lesson for them to learn... I don't think not buying them everything they ask for because it's too expensive or you think they won't play with it is bad at all. In the case of stuff you think won't have longevity, hold off on it, and if they ask for it again for a birthday or keep asking, I think at that point you can reconsider buying it. But for the "hot toy of the moment" or whatever that is a passing phase, they will likely forget about it and not even miss it on Christmas morning.
 

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#6
We usually got one or two things from our list, and the rest was stuff we needed or stuff my mom found for a good deal that she thought we'd like. It wasn't long before we learned to stack the cards to make sure that one listed item was something we really wanted...I'd ask for a horse, a flyable model airplane, a canoe (we did not live next to a canoeable body of water) and something I also really wanted and actually had a shot at getting lol.

Sure we were pretty disappointed some years but we all grew up to be functional adults and have good relationships with our parents so they must not have missed the mark too badly ;)
 

Fran27

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#7
Yeah... I totally don't remember any gifts I got except the year I got one of those make up Barbie heads and the Barbie pool. I totally remember the stuff I wanted and never got though (but it was because I felt I was too old for them, I don't think I even asked for that stuff).

I'm hoping they don't really ask for anything so I can just give them what I got and be done with it lol
 

sparks19

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#8
Sometimes kids are going to be disappointed. Life can be disappointing, and you don't always get what you want. Sometimes your friends all get Barbie Dream Houses while you're lucky to get a new Barbie outfit. I wouldn't go TELLING them that, LOL, but it's not a horrible lesson for them to learn... I don't think not buying them everything they ask for because it's too expensive or you think they won't play with it is bad at all. In the case of stuff you think won't have longevity, hold off on it, and if they ask for it again for a birthday or keep asking, I think at that point you can reconsider buying it. But for the "hot toy of the moment" or whatever that is a passing phase, they will likely forget about it and not even miss it on Christmas morning.
This pretty much.

If it's something they really really really really want I would probably get that item over a bunch of other stuff but if it's a passing phase I would probably skip over it in place of something I know they would really use.

I also have been shopping all year long for Hannahs gifts. her BIG gift is a Barbie vet table (and I used amazon gift cards that I earned online and only paid a couple bucks out of pocket for it lol when it's really around $60) but there are a few things that she's really been asking for and I know she really really wants.

For example, Barbie Princess and the Popstar. She's been talking about that and saying she's going to write a letter asking Santa for one (the dolls but she also wants the movie). I used that 50% off deal at Toys r us and nabbed the two in one Princess and the Popstar barbie :) she's going to be thrilled lol and my MIL is getting her the movie. another thing I know she REALLY wants is My Little Pony Princess Celestia. This is another thing she's been requesting for months so I know it's not just a "toy du jour" phase.

Although Hannah doesn't really have much of a "list". There are only those few things I mentioned above that she really really wants but I've added to it with lots of other goodies that I know she will like lol. All of which cost very little because I got really good deals on them lol.

I definitely remember a lot of my gifts from when I was a kid lol but I also REALLY loved my toys. I still have all my carebears, My Little Ponies and Barbies and my Mr Moose and some other random goodies from over the years. Hannah is the same way. there are certain things that I know she's going to keep forever and ever like all her stuffed minnies lol.
 

milos_mommy

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#9
See as a kid the toy I played with most besides my dolls were my puppies in my pocket...they were 25 cents at the pharmacy so I got them whenever we went to run errands, not for Christmas. I did, however, fill a dollhouse I got for Christmas with them. That got a lot of use. I don't think I asked for it OR was super excited when I got it on Christmas, though.

I dunno, now that I think hard about it I can remember some more of my gifts that got used a lot: my play kitchen (but I got that at 2.5 years old, I don't *think* I asked for it..I remember that Christmas clearly, though. I got that, a stuffed wolf, and a set of shampoos and bubble baths with winnie the pooh bath toys on top of them)

I also spent a good portion of my childhood carrying around a sack of sugar dressed in my brother's baby clothes.

My vet set was a little folding table, a music stand with a ziploc baggie hanging from it (IV), an old ace bandage, and a couple of jars with M&Ms and cotton balls in them. I did have a lab coat and a stethoscope. Those might have been Christmas presents but if they were I don't remember.

I was one of those kids who would way rather play with an empty box and a stick than actual toys.
 

Fran27

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#10
Oh I remember my toys, I just couldn't tell you exactly when i got them (Christmas, birthdays etc).

Tanya I know every toy you're mentioning lol. Which Celestia does she want? I know TRU has a white one, as opposed to the pink one (pink, really? LOL). I got some of the normal ponies at the B2G1 sale they had a month ago. We had some but they're unfortunately Tips' favorite snack, which drives me nuts, but it was mostly the older ponies. And I got the pack with Celestia, Spike and Twilight Sparkle (even though Celestia is pink in it... why oh why!).

Honestly so far Lisa has only asked for an American Girl and it's just not happening. I'm sure she's already forgotten about it anyway. If she asks again I'll get her one of the Target knock offs if they go on sale (they went down to 50% last year).
 

Saeleofu

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#11
I got toy horses for Christmas (Grand Champions when I was younger, and Breyers when I was older). I still get a Painted Pony from my aunt every year for my birthday and Christmas. I always loved anything with horses. I was pretty easy to please. The only thing that disappointed me, of course, is that the REAL horse on my list never appeared ;)

Even now my parents still get me gifts, and they still ask what I want, and they still get whatever they think I might like instead of sticking to the list - which s fine, because usually what they pick out is better than anything I actually thought of to put on a list. Last year, though, I asked for an electric toothbrush and a Zoo windbreaker for Christmas, and that's what I got :D

I'm the same when I buy presents for my parents, brothers and nephew. I go roughly by what they want, but if I see something else I KNOW they would like, I'll get it.
 

milos_mommy

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#12
Honestly so far Lisa has only asked for an American Girl and it's just not happening. I'm sure she's already forgotten about it anyway. If she asks again I'll get her one of the Target knock offs if they go on sale (they went down to 50% last year).
I'm not sure how old she is, or what American Girl prices are like now (I know Mattel bought the company and the quality went down tremendously) but my American Girls were for sure some of the best presents I got. I had all of them up until Kaya came out when I was a teenager. I still have everything neatly packed in it's original boxes, all the clothes and accessories, the horse, dogs, etc. They're definitely a sort of timeless collectors item, or at least they used to be.

I think I was 7 or 8 when I got my first one, though....old enough to know that it needed to be taken care of it and wasn't something to just toss around.
 

Fran27

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#13
Yeah she's 4.5... Forget it lol. I'm fine if I find the knock offs for $18 or something though.

My kids never get anything from anyone else. Hubby's family is all over the place, and we usually do family gifts, and my mom just sends me money so I can buy them stuff.
 

sparks19

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#14
Oh I remember my toys, I just couldn't tell you exactly when i got them (Christmas, birthdays etc).

Tanya I know every toy you're mentioning lol. Which Celestia does she want? I know TRU has a white one, as opposed to the pink one (pink, really? LOL). I got some of the normal ponies at the B2G1 sale they had a month ago. We had some but they're unfortunately Tips' favorite snack, which drives me nuts, but it was mostly the older ponies. And I got the pack with Celestia, Spike and Twilight Sparkle (even though Celestia is pink in it... why oh why!).

Honestly so far Lisa has only asked for an American Girl and it's just not happening. I'm sure she's already forgotten about it anyway. If she asks again I'll get her one of the Target knock offs if they go on sale (they went down to 50% last year).
This is the Princess Celestia she wants. It's a big one (well compared to most of the ponies lol)


I have some amazon gift cards and I'm just waiting for one more to come in and then I can get it for free lol

If I find some good deals on some of the other MLP packs I will probably grab a couple. She loves them lol. I got her the Canterlot castle set for her birthday which was regular $40+ and it was on clearance for $8 lol. She plays with it ALLLLLLL the time
 

Fran27

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#15
Oh man I wish I had found it at $8. Lucky lol.

And yeah... don't you just love swagbucks lol. I'm only getting a $5 GC every 2/3 weeks but it still adds up.
 

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#16
An American Girl doll was something I always wanted too. I would get the catalogues and go through them over and over and over. I loved that they had books for them too.
But honestly the knock offs are a good way to go too if you don't have an American Girl store nearby, because part of the fun of American Girl dolls for the little girls that I know now is being able to take a trip to the American Girl store to pick out a new outfit. I know I never would have really known the difference as a kid between knock off and a "real" American Girl doll. Plus they are the same size I think, so even if she grows up and DOES want to hit the American Girl store, she can still buy clothes and stuff. Or upgrade when she's older to a "real" one. The knockoff is a fair compromise IMO.
 

sparks19

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#17
Oh man I wish I had found it at $8. Lucky lol.

And yeah... don't you just love swagbucks lol. I'm only getting a $5 GC every 2/3 weeks but it still adds up.
Target clearance lol they always have good clearance stuff in the toy section haha. I go every once in a while just to check

yeah swagbucks and I am also a member of a couple survey websites and just take a few minutes here and there to take surveys and earn money towards gift cards. I just cashed out a $25 gift card on one survey site and I have $20 ready to cash out on another one :D
 

Fran27

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#18
There's one in NYC... it's a one hour train ride. So it's possible to go there if she wants to when she's older, but it won't be a very common occurrence because the train tickets are not cheap (and we have to pay for parking).

Target has a very cheap set last year for like $18 with doll and horse and I'm kicking myself for not getting it then.

Tanya, my Target is horrible. They rarely have something I want at a good price, and it's still only 30% off when everywhere else it's 70%!
 

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#20
I got my 2 girls America Girls dolls one year and they were really too young. They had the hair so messed up within a week and marker on it too. My kids are older now so Christmas isn't the same. Last year they all needed new laptops so that was easy, this year one wants a new transmission for her car, the other needs a new bed and the third is having a baby anyday now so we just bought them a crib and bureau. Nothing I can put under the tree anymore.
One year we got one of the kids a barbie jeep and we were so excited thinking she would be thrilled, she just glanced at it and played with her magna doodle most of the day.
 

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