Christmas gifts & grandkids

**mombottoo** · 11-29-2008, 01:09 PM

I get so tired of spending good money on expensive toys that are cheaply made that I could (excuse the expression) just puke. So this year we bought all 10 of the grandkids bedding sets & pajamas...figure it is something they can use all year long and for a few years at any rate

. We are also buying each of them one toy or a book depending on the kid...the youngest one will get a couple of toys, but only because I feel like she'd be getting shorted after all the years I went hog wild on the older ones lol.

What are you buying for the kids in your life? Making any changes?

**stinkbug** · 11-29-2008, 01:24 PM

I feel the same way. My grandkids have EVERYTHING! Honestly....they don't have to wait for the latest DVD, game, toy, whatever....it's impossible and really takes the fun out of it for us. (they are 2, 4, 7, 8, 11 years old) Now, when we travel we buy a Christmas ornament for each grandchild from someplace we visited (this year was Yellowstone) I am buying them each one toy and I think I will make them all fleece pants. That's about it. They have so much junk they never play with or never use.....and they have several sets of *grandparents* due to divorce, steps, etc. and they get soooo much stuff. We are really cutting back this year and concentrating on other families in need.

**rainbowgc** · 11-30-2008, 01:58 PM

I always give my dgs gift certificates for gaming (he is 15)

**RaineyDaye** · 11-30-2008, 02:08 PM

Originally Posted by stinkbug

they don't have to wait for the latest DVD, game, toy, whatever....it's impossible and really takes the fun out of it for us.

I feel the same way. The other grandparents for three of my grandkids get them an incredible amount of expensive stuff every Christmas. Anything I get is disappointing in comparison, and it has made me overspend in the past to try to compete. This year, I have decided to stop the insanity. I have set a spending limit and I'm sticking to it. If that means that the older kids only get one item from me, that's how it is going to be. I am also thinking about giving books or items for crafts instead of the usual gimicky kinds of toys.

**G'MaDebbie** · 11-30-2008, 02:20 PM

I always spent way too much on my grandbabies when there were only 1 or 2 of them, but now we have 6!! This year with DH being on unemployment, money has been tight, so I have a set amount I am spending on each of them. They will be getting things they can use as well as enjoy....books, movies, board games...etc...

**madhen** · 11-30-2008, 02:20 PM

I no longer have little kids in my life, but if I did, I think I would start a savings account for them them and "give" them a donation to their account every year until they reached an age where it would be appropriate to hand over the responsibility to them. I think if you started it when they were little, their parents would appreciate that you were still spending the money and the kids would get used to it and have something to look forward to (and watch growing). Of course, my one nephew is going to be twenty this year, and he still isn't responsible enough to handle his money, so you might be taking on a long-term project with some kids!!

Then I'd just do a stocking stuffer with some trinkets ($10 McDonald's gift cards seem to go over well), food, etc. and a card with either the amount that you contributed to the savings that year, or showing the balance of the account thus far.

I would have loved it, as a teenager, knowing I had a nest egg growing for my first car, college, whatever.

**Thrifty Mom** · 11-30-2008, 06:59 PM

I am horrible at buying gifts for the grand kids because they have way too much. All of them have multiple sets of grandparents who are out of control.
For my daughter's kids, I have given very few toys. I buy a lot of clothes for them, because I love bargain shopping & have more freedom to shop than my daughter. Previous gifts have been: I bought each of them a bookcase for their room. One got a full bedding set with curtains. One got a wagon. I bought one $50.00 baby seat that my DD requested & have never seen it since. I did buy a coloring game that hooks up to the computer that was a great item. I am ready to do the bank account thing, but I don't think DH's kids would go for it. I have never seen anything we bought for them once it was given to them. Usually they have to take it back because they already have what we bought them. This year, DH sent $50.00 for each kid to the parents & they have to buy the present, wrap it & bring it to Christmas at our house. I'll let you know how that works out...

**wanderinggrandma** · 11-30-2008, 10:28 PM

I only have 3GD's--1 soon to be 3 yrs and soon to be 2 yr old twins. I'm the 'creative' grandma--I sew, craft etc, so I may do things a little differently than some, but it works for us.

We purchase each GD 1 "big" gift--this year it is a battery operated ride on toy and EVERYONE always gets new p.j.'s and I made the cutes TuTu's for each and a fleece blanket with a christmas theme.

I don't buy a lot of toys because the other grandparents do that. Also all three have birthdays soon after Christmas--like the twins on the 29th---so I know I have to think of something for that also.

For birthdays we usually pool our money and purchase a "large" gift. This year the aunts and uncles, great grandma and us are purchasing a play structure for the yard for the twins.