Overwhelmed with gifts - what can we do?

[busymama77]

DS received way too much for Christmas again this year. He was so involved in his big gift, which is fine, no big deal, that he could've cared less about the mound of presents he received this year!! It basically boiled down to DH, myself and my BIL opening presents for him and him discovering them an hour or two later. DH and I became overwhelmed ourselves! DS did enjoy himself, he enjoyed the day, was very grateful for all that he received and seems to like all of the new things - it's just that DH and I are doing a little 'reflecting' and are still scratching our heads.

Did anyone else experience this sort of chaos this year? How did you handle it? I don't want to micro-manage AT ALL or say that he can only receive certain things. Like another thread that was posted, it's not about the gifts, it's about the people and I really think that's becoming lost in our family!!

With DS's b-day being shortly after Christmas, we limit his gifts to 4 total between DH and I and then give him one nice gift (including a party) for his b-day. I don't want to tell people what to give him, but this is really getting out of hand!

Any advice or suggestions? We're adding one more to the family in a couple of months - the amount of gifts that DS received this year would have even been more than enough for TWO kids!!

[bebebradford]

Either donate some, or put them up in storage for play later. Kids get tired of toys, and you can cycle some out and bring the ones from storage in. Don't worry too much.. just be glad your babe got plenty this year!

[MommyKelly]

I agree with the PP. Donate the ones you dont care for, and cycle out the rest.

[FernG]

This year we tried asking for a pricey membership to the local children's museum. We got the membership and the onslaught of toys. I couldn't believe how much money was spent on DD. I try to keep the toys in the packages and return what I can without receipts. Then I sell the rest at consignment events. Sometimes, I donate them to family shelters.

I tried to address the issue of focusing on family rather than stuff, but it hasn't helped.

[VisionaryMom]

You can address it as a space issue, rather than a gifts issue. You only have so much space to store toys, and that's something most people can understand.