Toys for Christmas right??? Not clothes... vent ahead..

[mjantz]

I will say this thread has me rethinking the gifts I bought my teenage nephews. I got them tshirts from our overseas travels. They don't get to travel a lot so I wanted something interesting for them to have. They also don't get a lot of new clothing & wear a lot of hand me downs. I guess I'll see what they say when we open gifts.

 

[Dee77]

OP here, wow who knew I could be so polarizing with my one little post of a Christmas vent. Anyway on to my attempt to clarify some things since it appears that many people here feel that I am an ungrateful witch and my child is doomed to the MOST selfish BRAT that ever walked the planet

My child is just coming off of having a bad case of strep throat/respiratory illness and was able to go to her dance lesson last night, afterwards we met up with the family friend and picked up the gifts which were all very handsomely wrapped with beautiful paper and ribbons and bows, the whole nine yards. She can read now and saw that her name was on most of the presents, I told her that she could open a few as a treat after being sick and missing out on some activities this last week. So she of course picked the biggest one (remember she is 5 and this was a treat for her to open presents early) and low and behold it was the blanket, very nice and festive but as she was hoping it was a toy to play with, it took off from there with opening the rest of the presents. She never complained or pouted, well she sort of frowned when she open the metal cookie cutters that she was sure would be a fun toy after shaking the box and hearing all the pieces rumbling around inside- She even went to school today with her new scarf and hat that her Aunt gave her, so I guess there is a sweet child in there somewhere

There is NO PROBLEM with giving/getting clothes or hats or useful things for the holidays, I was just a bit surprised that there were no toys. Not a big deal, it was a fluke that we opened the in-law presents one after the other, without any others thrown in the mix that would have been toys, from me and DH etc.


As for the critique and to be honest the assumption made by many here that the snow globes are a bad gift for an older child, well the child in question is our niece (12) who is a collector and we always stick with the Disney ones so they are not the cheap, plastic, bubble ones sold on street corners in NYC.

Also,as for the volume of gifts that have been given to my child, my DD is an only (yeah yeah she is doomed to be a brat) and our brothers/sisters all have several kids. They chose to get multiple gifts to "make up" for the fact that we always have so many more kids to buy for, it is not expected and it certainly doesn't need to be all toys in my opinion, just one or two would be appropriate considering she is 5.

Thanks for the support from the few people that see this post for what it is, a minor vent about family gifts for a child. I spoke with DH this morning about it and he believes that part of why he wants to always get toys/games for the kids is because he has one Aunt that did that when he was a kid and he always thought it was so cool of her to not buy the cheesy sweaters etc. He is carrying on the tradition for the benefit of the nieces and nephews and is glad that I feel the same way.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

I will say this thread has me rethinking the gifts I bought my teenage nephews. I got them tshirts from our overseas travels. They don't get to travel a lot so I wanted something interesting for them to have. They also don't get a lot of new clothing & wear a lot of hand me downs. I guess I'll see what they say when we open gifts.

Aw...Don't feel that way.

I would hope they are appreciative of any gift!(as people SHOULD be)

ESPECIALLY considering their Aunt loved them enough to think of them on HER travels!

 

[crashbb]

I'm confused.

In your follow up, you say that the issue was that there were "no toys", but in the OP, you say "at least she had the barbie things to open", so there were some toys.

So, since "one or two would be appropriate) according to your follow up and she did get barbie things - what's the problem?

 

[HM]

I will say this thread has me rethinking the gifts I bought my teenage nephews. I got them tshirts from our overseas travels. They don't get to travel a lot so I wanted something interesting for them to have. They also don't get a lot of new clothing & wear a lot of hand me downs. I guess I'll see what they say when we open gifts.

My teen son would love that. I hope your nephews do too.

 

[Ceila]

we got every niece and nephew toys or Wii games, snow globes for the older kids etc.

As for the critique and to be honest the assumption made by many here that the snow globes are a bad gift for an older child, well the child in question is our niece (12) who is a collector and we always stick with the Disney ones so they are not the cheap, plastic, bubble ones sold on street corners in NYC.

What about the other kids? Are they collectors as well? The Disney ones are very cool, I have one myself. But I can honestly say that unless a kid collects them, I don't think it would be an ideal choice as a gift.

 

[HM]

So, OP, what was to be one opened present, as a treat since she's been feeling bad, turned into opening all of them because she was looking for a toy? Hmm. No wonder she was feeling let down. You should have stopped with the one (blanket). I would have suggested that she cuddle up in and read her a story or watch a movie after opening it.

In our house the kids get to open one gift on Christmas eve. So I get the idea of an early treat. But once you open that, that's it. It's too bad if its not what you thought it might be.

Edited to add: I'm sorry that thing didn't work out they way you hoped.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

So, OP, what was to be one opened present, as a treat since she's been feeling bad, turned into opening all of them because she was looking for a toy? Hmm. No wonder she was feeling let down. You should have stopped with the one (blanket). I would have suggested that she cuddle up in and read her a story or watch a movie after opening it.

In our house the kids get to open one gift on Christmas eve. So I get the idea of an early treat. But once you open that, that's it. It's too bad if its not what you thought it might be.

We don't have that problem...The present you get ot open on Christmas Eve is your Christmas PJs. Not matter how old you are...No matter what house in the family you live in....IT IS ALWAYS PJs.

 

[JaneBanks]

OP here, wow who knew I could be so polarizing with my one little post of a Christmas vent. Anyway on to my attempt to clarify some things since it appears that many people here feel that I am an ungrateful witch and my child is doomed to the MOST selfish BRAT that ever walked the planet

My child is just coming off of having a bad case of strep throat/respiratory illness and was able to go to her dance lesson last night, afterwards we met up with the family friend and picked up the gifts which were all very handsomely wrapped with beautiful paper and ribbons and bows, the whole nine yards. She can read now and saw that her name was on most of the presents, I told her that she could open a few as a treat after being sick and missing out on some activities this last week. So she of course picked the biggest one (remember she is 5 and this was a treat for her to open presents early) and low and behold it was the blanket, very nice and festive but as she was hoping it was a toy to play with, it took off from there with opening the rest of the presents. She never complained or pouted, well she sort of frowned when she open the metal cookie cutters that she was sure would be a fun toy after shaking the box and hearing all the pieces rumbling around inside- She even went to school today with her new scarf and hat that her Aunt gave her, so I guess there is a sweet child in there somewhere

There is NO PROBLEM with giving/getting clothes or hats or useful things for the holidays, I was just a bit surprised that there were no toys. Not a big deal, it was a fluke that we opened the in-law presents one after the other, without any others thrown in the mix that would have been toys, from me and DH etc.


As for the critique and to be honest the assumption made by many here that the snow globes are a bad gift for an older child, well the child in question is our niece (12) who is a collector and we always stick with the Disney ones so they are not the cheap, plastic, bubble ones sold on street corners in NYC.

Also,as for the volume of gifts that have been given to my child, my DD is an only (yeah yeah she is doomed to be a brat) and our brothers/sisters all have several kids. They chose to get multiple gifts to "make up" for the fact that we always have so many more kids to buy for, it is not expected and it certainly doesn't need to be all toys in my opinion, just one or two would be appropriate considering she is 5.

Thanks for the support from the few people that see this post for what it is, a minor vent about family gifts for a child. I spoke with DH this morning about it and he believes that part of why he wants to always get toys/games for the kids is because he has one Aunt that did that when he was a kid and he always thought it was so cool of her to not buy the cheesy sweaters etc. He is carrying on the tradition for the benefit of the nieces and nephews and is glad that I feel the same way.

Uh oh OP, you made the mistake of explaining yourself!

 

[HM]

We don't have that problem...The present you get ot open on Christmas Eve is your Christmas PJs. Not matter how old you are...No matter what house in the family you live in....IT IS ALWAYS PJs.

We've done that before too. And I love that everyone has nice new jammies in the photos next morning.

 

[Dee77]

I'm confused.

In your follow up, you say that the issue was that there were "no toys", but in the OP, you say "at least she had the barbie things to open", so there were some toys.

So, since "one or two would be appropriate) according to your follow up and she did get barbie things - what's the problem?

The SIL who sent the Barbie things didn't have them wrapped from the store so they were separate in another room, in the shipping box. The very ornate presents with ribbons, bows and the heavy metallic paper is what we picked up from the friend yesterday and were from my other SIL and MIL/FIL.

 

[okeydokey]

Snow globe? One of those things you shake and the snow falls on it? What age are the kids you got that for? Do they collect them?

I guess they do now, maybe not by choice.

 

[Liza111577]

I guess they do now, maybe not by choice.

 

[Dee77]

What about the other kids? Are they collectors as well? The Disney ones are very cool, I have one myself. But I can honestly say that unless a kid collects them, I don't think it would be an ideal choice as a gift.

The two older nieces both love snow globes and collect them.

This year only one of them is getting a snow globe and the other is getting a couple of games that she has talked about with my DH and I in recent months. Everyone was told that we have the games covered so she doesn't end up with duplicates.

 

[chloelovesdisney]

I'm going to make an observation. People with no kids, or only one, think clothing is a bad gift. People with multiple kids seem to think clothing is an okay gift, if not a great gift.

If I shop for my kids, during the year, and they come home from school and see new clothes, they are estatic. They couldn't be more thankful. If grandma takes them shopping (she just loves to shop, loves Marshalls and TJMax), they couldn't be happier.

Maybe some people just buy clothes on a regular basis, and it's no big deal. I spend ridiculous amounts of money on my kids' activities (at least $1000 per month). I'm sure they appreciate it, but it's just what they're used to, and always have had. Maybe if new clothes was something they received on a regular basis, they wouldn't be thrilled to death getting them as gifts. However, having 5, I'm not picking things up here and there while shopping. I'm usually motivated by a 30% off coupon and free shipping.

So, if I buy clothing as gifts, I do it knowing it's something my kids would love (actually, the only kids I really buy for are my niece and nephews, and my sister is SO picky, I just buy off her list).

I have one child and think clothing is a fine gift. No child needs a gazillion toys.

 

[Pakey]

Ahh, another holiday in-law bashing thread.

How refreshing.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

Ahh, another holiday in-law bashing thread.

How refreshing.

Don't hate

 

[cornflake]

Don't hurt yourself backpedaling.

There is NO PROBLEM with giving/getting clothes or hats or useful things for the holidays, I was just a bit surprised that there were no toys. Not a big deal,....

it is not expected and it certainly doesn't need to be all toys in my opinion, just one or two would be appropriate considering she is 5.

toys for Christmas right??? Not clothes... vent ahead..
Is it just me or has something changed, but I have always felt that kids should get mostly toys for Christmas not clothes or hats etc...

I know I have my issues with the in-laws and such but for a 5 year old, I thought this was a little ridiculous

I would never buy a child over a year old clothes for Christmas unless it is my own child.

and ....

She can read now and saw that her name was on most of the presents, I told her that she could open a few as a treat after being sick and missing out on some activities this last week.

since it was quite a few packages, I told DD she could open them. We won't be seeing his side of the family at all for Christmas and I figured that she would have a head start on playing with her new toys

She never complained or pouted, well she sort of frowned when she open the metal cookie cutters that she was sure would be a fun toy after shaking the box and hearing all the pieces rumbling around inside

I felt bad because she started to show the classic signs of "oh no, not more clothes" creeping out as she opened her gifts.

Added on to the 'thankfully, she'll get 'her fair share' of toys this weekend' yes, y'all sound nasty and ungrateful and posting a 'you misunderstand, my sweet, ill child was so super grateful and I was just hoping for one toy and was only a tiny bit disappointed' despite that contradicting the original post doesn't really change that.

 

[fortwildernessishome]

Nothing wrong with clothing...........BUT, personally I wouldnt give my five year old neices and newphews clothes, UNLESS I asked their parents what they wanted and they told me clothes.

Another thing, if we receive gifts in the mail, we open them as they come. I never would have guessed that would be so upsetting to people. We started doing that when my kids were younger, so that they could really enjoy the relative/friend gifts as they arrived instead of getting lost in the shuffle on Christmas morning. I guess if we were having a tough time and were unable to buy gifts for the kids, then I would think about saving them, so they would have more to open on Christmas morning. It truly never crossed my mind to do it differently. Actually on Saturday, a package arrived from a cast memeber friend of ours. The kids opened and it and each received a cast member pin. The kids have already written a thank you and I e-mailed her a thank you........I hope that she isnt upset with us for opening it early

OP, I can see your point. Sadly, so many people on this thread are so focused on you/your daughter being ungrateful......I didnt get that from your post, just a wish that Aunt/Grandma had included a toy.

 

[Dee77]

Don't hurt yourself backpedaling.


and ....


Added on to the 'thankfully, she'll get 'her fair share' of toys this weekend' yes, y'all sound nasty and ungrateful and posting a 'you misunderstand, my sweet, ill child was so super grateful and I was just hoping for one toy and was only a tiny bit disappointed' despite that contradicting the original post doesn't really change that.

Oh and you seem like such a peach... maybe you could write a parenting and etiquette book for folks like me who apparently need it ASAP.

Who would have thought that it was a unique and far fetched concept that children get, dare I say "toys" for Christmas.