Shipped Presents - Page 3

[rcr]

No, we don't sensor gifts. We are grateful and thankful for them and think that there are more important things to worry about.

[ErinYay]

I'm way too selfish to do any censoring, as I really enjoy being surprised by what the kids get, too!

Also I don't really have issues about toys- DD1 is 2, DD2 is 3 months. Get 'em a gun. Get 'em a Bratz. I don't care. They're going to get played with just as much as all the other "toys," which is to say, not at all. (A box of pasta, on the other hand, is a huuuuuuge hit with tremendous replay value.)

It's also really easy to 86 toys you don't care for if you have a good toy rotation routine from the start. Cycling things in and out of play keeps things fresh and entertaining, so maybe Trampy McShootsALot can get lost in her rotation.

[christine RN]

Screening gifts screams bad etiquette to me.  Someone spent their hard-earned money to give a child a gift...and it was rejected. 

[Adaline'sMama]

Nope, Ive never screened gifts. But, I have "disappeared" them a few days later (just once, when it was a doll that had a bottle and made sucking noises when you put it in her mouth). My MIL always opens all the presents (takes them out of the packaging rips all the tags off) so that I cant take them back even if I wanted to, so needless to say a lot of the stuff she buys gets donated when the batteries run out of it. Personally, I think its not really up to me what people get for her, but its pretty telling when they give things that are so obviously something they know we dont really want her to have (like a container of cheetoes in a plastic pumpkin for Halloween or easter eggs full of skittles). I let her have those kinds of things while the relative is there, and it either stays at their house or it goes in the trash as soon as it comes home with me. IMO, gifts are something that reflects more on the person giving them than anything else. Im not going to stop gifts from being given because I find it to be deceptive to the child, plus I cant say that I dont find it hilarious when my kiddo is saying "this, nanny's" when we hit the plastic toy and junk food aisles at the store.

[xelakann]

We don't censor. We have one side of my family who follows our amazon wishlist and is always asking what their interests are. My mom on the other hand always sends the craziest, most annoying, loud, not age appropriate toys. BUT even then we don't censor. It's annoying but my kids LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the stuff my mom gives them. It wonderful to see that joy on their face.

We do donate things a lot, but only after they've grown tired of them. And some of the stuff we've pulled (the not age appropriate stuff) and have them saved. A gift my son got at one is now ready to be used at age 4, he'll love it.

[MalloryBG]

I don't screen the gifts, my family members generally gift by our guidelines.

[Drummer's Wife]

We don't discriminate.  A gift is a gift.  It's the thought that counts, and all that. 

I don't stress about what my kids might be given; that seems silly and time consuming, to me. 

So what if they grow bored or we already own it?  It can be passed on or donated at another time.  Doesn't mean my kids won't get some joy opening the gifts others thought enough of them to send. 

[K1329]

We don't screen gifts. I do what a pp said upthread - try to be honest with our kids about why we might not use a gift. As in, we can't use this bubble bath, see it has ingredients that aren't good for your skin.
For me, it would feel deceptive to hide a gift. I try to model gracious acceptance of gifts we can't use, for whatever reason, & also try to impart our family values in the process. But, I'm also dealing with older kids. It is more understandable with a toddler.

[CatsMom129]

Originally Posted by Adaline'sMama 

Nope, Ive never screened gifts. But, I have "disappeared" them a few days later (just once, when it was a doll that had a bottle and made sucking noises when you put it in her mouth).

 

I have a different take on this one. When my dd was a baby, I had to work full-time, as my husband's wages were not enough to pay the rent. So, I pumped at work, and my dh stayed a home. Now, she is almost 5, and still nursing, btw. We have talked to her a number of times about how when she was a baby, her daddy gave her nanas that mommy put in a bottle. She loves these stories, as it lets her know we both love her, and have done our best to take care of her. I think, depending on the child's age and understanding, bottle-drinking dolls can provide an opportunity to talk to children about the reasons that some mommies need to put their milk in a bottle or cup. 

[Imakcerka]

The DD's grandparents sent money this year.  A big haul!  I think they're unsure of what they'll really want and so they send money and pajamas.  I'll have to say the DD's are pretty happy about buying new clothes.  Seriously thats what they want.  NEW CLOTHES.  Boring!

[mamarhu]

Originally Posted by rcr 

No, we don't sensor gifts. We are grateful and thankful for them and think that there are more important things to worry about.

And as a point of etiquette, I think it is important for kids to learn how to accept (even unwanted) gifts graciously.

[Adaline'sMama]

Originally Posted by CatsMom129 

I have a different take on this one. When my dd was a baby, I had to work full-time, as my husband's wages were not enough to pay the rent. So, I pumped at work, and my dh stayed a home. Now, she is almost 5, and still nursing, btw. We have talked to her a number of times about how when she was a baby, her daddy gave her nanas that mommy put in a bottle. She loves these stories, as it lets her know we both love her, and have done our best to take care of her. I think, depending on the child's age and understanding, bottle-drinking dolls can provide an opportunity to talk to children about the reasons that some mommies need to put their milk in a bottle or cup. 

Thats awesome. Honestly, if she had gotten that doll this christmas, I wouldnt have disappeared it, but it wasnt age appropriate (1st birthday gift), it was batttery operated, and she had never taken a bottle. So, in my mind, it was just kind of a silly, thoughtless, gift that made me cringe everytime I saw it because it was bought by the one person in my family who was very unsupportive of breastfeeding (and had insinuated that I wanted to nurse so that I had control over where and when she got to see my baby). I think now she would be old enough to understand, "some babies nurse, some babies take bottles, and some babies have both" and Id be totally fine with it.