For those of you who were worried about the onslaught of presents.... - Page 2

[BrittneyMarie]

things went well this year. the inlaws went nuts, of course, but they got things she'll grow into, and all really nice stuff. i cant imagine how next year will go though, as they got her so much this year and shes only 3.5 months! mil's a shopaholic and fil thinks hes santa

[bezark]

DS got way more stuff than any 9 month old could ever possibly need (FOUR push/ride toys? Really?), but we're not bothered by it. We now have a nice, big pile of toys and wrong-size clothes to donate.

I warned everyone who asked what we wanted that (with the exception of clothes and books) we would only be keeping the toys that fit into his toy box. If anyone finds out that we donated anything and gets grumpy about it, it's out of my hands.

[pinksprklybarefoot]

We had a good experience this year. We spread out the festivities over four days, which was nice - the kids did not get overwhelmed. DH's mom and sister are very good about keeping to our list and keeping the number of gifts small - DH's sister bought the kids a joint gift of a digital camera and then one other useful gift each. Perfect.

Some of our other family members just sent money for us to choose gifts for them, and that helped a ton. I was able to get things that they needed/desperately wanted.

[HollyBearsMom]

This is the second christmas without my mom so all my son received was the gifts from us. I miss her and her personal, well thought out, very fun, just what he wanted even if we didn't, poorly wrapped mountain of gifts.

When we do our christmas with my siblings he will get one or 2 token gifts, most likely a book or 2, which is very cool!

nothing to complain about here!

[waiting2bemommy]

My side of the family doesn't celebrate Christmas, and ds' bio father (sort of surprisingly, I guess, but I really shouldn't be) didn't send a single gift or even call. Which is fine with me. Ds got some new stuff anyway (I don't celebrate the holiday but I don't want him to feel left out when everyone else is getting new stuff) and he was totally overwhelmed with just the few things he got (and he got them spaced out over the 2 days preceding Christmas). I totally feel for you all whose kids had mountains of presents. Ds just can't handle getting more than one new thing at a time. I tried to let him open his new puzzle and his new Trio blocks at the same time and he ended up just throwing the pieces everywhere. I had to put everything up and make him take a nap, and then start over just pulling out one toy at a time.

My only complaint is that the bike I bought at goodwill (calling myself frugal ) turns out to have a no-good back tire, and I can't find a replacement tire anywhere for a bike that small. So now I have to go buy a brand new bike anyway. Thank goodness the 1st one was only $6 or I'd be sick over wasting the money.

[NellieKatz]

I was so happy that we could fit everything into ONE of those oversized gift bags this year (coming home from MIL's house). Usually it's about three. Hi-tech was likely the reason. Money doesn't take up space and I ran out and turned mine RIGHT into an iPod Touch. My child got a small Vivitar video camera.....so there was still a lot of money spent but it is not the usual insane pile of gifts.

We're very happy with how things went this year. There seemed to be lots more "balance" and less dysfunctional, over-the-top abundance. Ee hah! Less is more!

[TiredX2]

Originally Posted by waiting2bemommy

My only complaint is that the bike I bought at goodwill (calling myself frugal ) turns out to have a no-good back tire, and I can't find a replacement tire anywhere for a bike that small. So now I have to go buy a brand new bike anyway. Thank goodness the 1st one was only $6 or I'd be sick over wasting the money.

Have you contacted the manufacturer? I'd try that first--- you may be able to order one or they might just send you one.

[Hoopin' Mama]

Originally Posted by waiting2bemommy

My only complaint is that the bike I bought at goodwill (calling myself frugal ) turns out to have a no-good back tire, and I can't find a replacement tire anywhere for a bike that small. So now I have to go buy a brand new bike anyway. Thank goodness the 1st one was only $6 or I'd be sick over wasting the money.

Have you tried a locally-owned bike shop? They are usually so resourceful and might be able to help you.

[That Is Nice]

Originally Posted by Hoopin' Mama

The group of adults around him kept telling him he had to hurry up, open more, get through the pile of gifts. At that point, I did have to fight the urge to pick up my sweet LO and leave the room (He's 5 btw). I did speak up and request that other people open some gifts and let's take some attention off ds for a while and let him play.

We asked MIL not to do a stocking b/c Santa is in charge of stockings. Ds opened a box of various items that she said were his stocking stuffers put in a box. Several items were the same as the ones I purchased for his stocking , but oh well. They will get used.

I did fight the urge to cry for a couple minutes when I saw the pile of gifts opened and started wondering how our simple Christmas morning was going to compare in ds' mind. But I took a deep breath and got over it.

I can see your point. You want Christmas to be the way you see fit. I imagine this probably translates to other things throughout the year, too?

I have two thoughts about this, though.

One, I completely side with you. I want the decisions about how to raise my child (Christmas just being one of many things) to be mine and his father's. I don't want undue influence from inlaws, or others, with different values.

My other thought, though, is that it's nice the inlaws are so generous. It's nice that they buy many presents and seem to take some thrill from seeing your child open them.

I struggle with my own inlaws and their infrequent visits for short lengths of time, their lack of fairness about some things, and their scoffing, and frequent overlooking and ignoring, about values different than their own.

They do buy presents, but as I just posted, they are often not what we have described over and over again would be consistent with our values and the way we're raising our child.

They don't pay much attention to any lists we give them, or what our child already owns, and they basically dismiss our wishes.

So I understand. It's tough when your choices and wishes as a parent are dismissed and people try to do other things with YOUR kid and then wonder why you are upset. The gaul!

[SeekingJoy]

This year was sooo much better than years past. My mom typically goes way overboard, buying 3-4x more than we do for the kids. Similar to pp, she is all about quantity instead of quality.

Or she has been. This year she had my step dad (who is awesome at woodworking) make step stools for each kid, a rolling pin for us with two family recipies, and a treasure box for DD that complements DS' lockbox from his second Christmas. The only purchased presents were a wool sweater for me and a gift card for DH.

MIL on the other hand was part great and part . We got a membership to a kids museum, which ROCKS and which we are thrilled with. Because she couldn't stand the idea of the kids not opening something, she got DD a plastic Hello Kitty waterbottle and cardboard jewlery box with plastic beads.

Overall, it was wonderful!

[BetsyS]

My mom buys a good many toys, but they are all well thought out (an easel, with an art set to go with it, the paper, the chalk, an apron, etc).

My dad buys an enormous volume (seriously...we drive a Suburban, and the entire back was full of stuff).

And, my inlaws got their feelings hurt because we told them that, no, Thomas sheets in a double probably weren't the best present (he sleeps in a twin), and we'd rather have a zoo membership. They said okay, then sent $40 towards a $100 membership.

At least my kids aren't big enough to see the major differences between grandparents. They are little enough that it's all special. Which is good for now.

[Swan3]

Ah...despite our efforts to clearly tell our families to please not over-buy (even having a "only for kids" rule) our back entry is bursting at the seams with random gifts. We graciously accept the gifts when we get them, but I did ask my mother today if we gave her the impression that we wanted gifts after we'd already agreed to no gifts for the adults...

So, we're working on it again this year. I'll be sending out the message loud and clear that we just don't have the space for so many things (a new vegetable steamer, even though we have one!). And in September, we're sending out a letter about our efforts to scale back the accumulation of things we have and asking specifically for no gifts for adults. I really don't know how it will go over but after years of sending the message and not being heard I think it's time to turn up the volume. We try to enjoy our time with family but it's difficult right now...they're getting older and increasingly critical of our parenting. I'm not really sure if we can help turn this around and make Christmas about family instead of stuff...

[phoebemommy]

Some of the stories here remind me of Christmas when I was 2 or 3. I was the only kid in the extended family, and everybody went wild buying me presents. After a couple hours of opening (and, I imagine, having to act excited over each and every item) I was fried. And then a friend of my grandmother's came over with one more present for me. He was an older man, absolutely the sweetest guy ever, I'm told. And he brought me an angel doll that played "Silent Night" and rotated when you wound it up. But it was one too many presents for me -- when I opened the box I screamed and threw the angel across the room.

That doll, though, became my most favorite Christmas decoration. We had it for years and years and it meant a lot to me. I hope somebody told that nice old man how much I eventually loved it.

[AnnaNova]

our xmas went better than i thought it would, toys for my son who is 10 mo were not necesserily something i would buy, but still they'd work.
it was great except for one little thing... when my mil asked what her grandson needed / what we wanted for him for xmas, i said a potty, i figured it will come in handy at some point, so why not ask for it for xmas.
and i asked for a very plain one, i asked for no music, no flashing lights, none of that stuff... and what did we get? exactly what i didnt want...
'little men crossing' potty that looks like a car, has stickers and sensors in the potty to play music when something touches it... agh... thanks god it doubles as a step stool, so im guessing that will be its primary use at some point..
i mean my son totally wanted to play with it! i dont think it'd be an easy job to teach him what its actually for... but oh well, we'll find a way to use it...

we got a few aweful plastic thingies and what i do when that happens, i look it up online if someone like target or walmart carry them and then return them with NO RCPT FOR STORE CREDIT. even if they were not bought there. then i buy something my son needs. and i dont feel guilty because you can always say he broke them...

[Super_mommy]

Things were not messed up this year, My DD recieved only 4 packages and I made sure she opened all those and she was excited...

[Biscuits & Gravy]

Ours was great. My dad convinced his family to give us gift cards so we would not have to haul things back home, and my mom's family did the same. My dad gave the boys a membership to a museum but wanted to give them something to open. I gave him suggestions, and they followed them to an extent. My only complaint is that they went a little overboard for my 1yo DS. It was all Melissa & Doug stuff, which is better than what they normally pick out, but they just bought too much. 3 puzzles with the big wooden knobs. I just don't think these last very long as far as the challenge goes, he'll outgrow them quickly. Plus they are so hard to store. Then they got him 2 M&D "grasping toys", which seem way too young for him. My SIL gave him some crayola tadoodles stuff, and I know from experience that they are crap. My mom gave him a set of little people figurines, and many of them are ones we already have multiples of. So I have a pile of stuff to attempt to return since my new anti-clutter self can't deal with the idea of creating a space for them in our home. It is actually good that they bought too much for the baby since he won't notice if I take things back or get rid of them.

I will say that my 3yo DS was a bit sad over Christmas. He watched everyone else opening gifts while he got gift cards. We had to keep telling him that he would get to go shopping when we get home and pick out what he wants. He doesn't quite understand that the toys his cousins were getting were pretty crappy, cheap plastic toys so he really got the good end of the deal. But he is over that now, and is very excited to get home today and see what Santa left for him.

[ShadowMoon]

It went ok. The inlaws definitely go a bit overboard but their present selection was great this year. DS received books, a drum/percussion set, clothes, games, and a wooden train set. His grandmother had bought him a video game of some sort but immediately regretted the decision and exchanged it for a few gift cards. It could have been alot worse for sure.

[busymama77]

DS got enough for two kids! From DH and I, he got a bow/arrow set, a set of foam swords, a drum set (from Santa), puzzles, and books. My parents alone got him 8 gifts (clothes, Batman Cave, Gator golf, and some other items), my BIL got him another set of swords, my IL's got him roughly the same as my parents (new golf clubs, a Playmobil pirate ship, Handy Manny motorcycle set, etc.,) and our family friend got him this huge, oversized Casio keyboard that can only fit in our formal living room area! It was way too much. Even my MIL acknowledged the fact after all of the gifts were opened and she noticed what DS got. It was too overwhelming for everyone. It seemed rushed and DS only opened a few gifts as he was more interested in his new drum set and could care less about the pile of gifts that he had received. Maybe it was because we had everyone at our house this year instead of splitting up the visits and going from house to house - who knows... but it would've been the same amount to haul back home!

We're hoping, praying, that next year, the same amount, hopefully less, will be given for TWO kids, instead of one.

We've saved a ton of toys from when DS was an infant for the new baby to play with. If there is something new and exciting available next year, we'll work on getting that for him, but it's really gotta be limited. We just moved in to a much bigger house and I would rather that it not become completely cluttered with toys!!