requesting materials as gifts

[LdyBluNH@aol]

do you ever try to ask for materials for your kids' birthdays/holidays instead of the usual gifts?

what about mainstream family that may or may not be supportive?

how do you handle this?


my soon to be 5 yr old has a birthday coming up and we've got a long wishlist

[ShannonCC]

Do I ask? Yes. Does it work? Bwaaaaaa haaaaaaaa haaaaaaaaaa!

Well, not always homeschool materials, but I have tried to give suggestions for gifts and almost every time, those suggestions are completely ignored. I've even had people call me up to specifically ask what my kids would like and then say "huh" when I told them as if I didn't know what I was talking about. And then they go out and buy something completely different that is not age appropriate or the wrong size or simply not my kid's style of toy. We return a lot of stuff : (after thanking them politely of course!)

I guess it depends on your family. Really, when you think of it, it's not polite to *tell* people what to get, but if they ask for suggestions, have a list ready. And be ready for them to completely ignore that list :LOL

But for the record, my mother always asks me for suggestions and actually listens to them

[temama]

We usually just ask for gift certificates for Amazon.com since this is where we buy many of our books from. Our family knows that the materials will help us in our homeschooling endeavors, even though many of them think that our children should be in school so that they have friends their own age. We ignore most of the comments and just go on about our business. Sometimes my mil will go to the local used book store and ask for a list of books that we need and if she happens to come across them she will set them aside until a birthday or christmas comes along. It helps everyone! So maybe try asking for a gift certificate for one of your favorite stores of homeschooling supplies and tell them "Johnnie is saving up for such and such and would really prefer that over anything else." I hope that helps.: