S/o how many gifts?

[Anonymous]

S/o from the thread about how ILs give ids 40+ gifts and it's awkward for the OP when her kids are "only" getting 10. So:

1. How many individually wrapped gifts do your kids get for Christmas or Hanukah?

2. What are the sizes and costs of the gifts? All under $20? One big expensive gift and the rest small? All kind of in the middle?

3. Do you only give toys or do you give practical items (i.e. if your kid needs new sneakers, is that a gift they open or do you just buy them sneakers separately)?

4. Anything you want to add in your gift giving philosophy?

I'll post my answers below.

[Anonymous]

OP here.

1. Kids get between 8 and 12 gifts each.

2. Costs can vary, but we are on the less expensive side-- I think the most I've ever spent on a single gift for a kid is $80-100 and that's rare. There are usually one or two things for around $50 and then everything else is $20 or less. Our budget is $200 per kid and realize f I come in under, I put the balance in the kid's save ngs accounts.

3. We give practical items including clothes, shoes, and school items. So usually kids get 3-4 toys, 3-4 books, and 2-3 clothing or school-related items.

4. No true philosophy except we try to get stuff out kids will really like and focus on that over quantity. My parents used to buy us a lot of gifts but I remember getting lots of stuff I didn't want or was indifferent to. If my kid gets 5 gifts but really loves all of them, I'm much happier than if they get 14 gifts and only care about 1 or 2.

[Anonymous]

We don’t count.
This year we’re probably spending less than $100 on 11yo DD.
Last year she got an IPad as main gift
It varies depending on needs.

[Anonymous]

I get my kid what they ask for. They ask for a vr and some Lego. I'm getting that and some board games, art supplies. I'm guessing 10 each?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You do you boo

I am curious, not looking for a blueprint. I like learning how other parents approach stuff like this.

[Anonymous]

We split gifts between Xmas Eve night and Xmas morning. They get about 5 on each. We include one book each and a card or board game to share. They usually also ask for clothes. Sometimes the big gift is a couple hundred $, especially now that they are teens. This year one of them is getting AirPods. Last year someone got sports equipment. When they were younger we would always have one gift like Lego or snapcircuits that would keep them busy for a while.
My in laws used to send about 20 gifts for each kid, and my parents would send one more expensive one. Now they all just send cash, $100 per child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We split gifts between Xmas Eve night and Xmas morning. They get about 5 on each. We include one book each and a card or board game to share. They usually also ask for clothes. Sometimes the big gift is a couple hundred $, especially now that they are teens. This year one of them is getting AirPods. Last year someone got sports equipment. When they were younger we would always have one gift like Lego or snapcircuits that would keep them busy for a while.
My in laws used to send about 20 gifts for each kid, and my parents would send one more expensive one. Now they all just send cash, $100 per child.

OP here and did this taper off on its own or did you ask them to stop? This is an issue we've run into with my family because my mom cannot just buy one gift. I will withhold gifts to go be at valentines day or Easter when she overdoes it. I've asked her to stop but I don't think she knows how.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We split gifts between Xmas Eve night and Xmas morning. They get about 5 on each. We include one book each and a card or board game to share. They usually also ask for clothes. Sometimes the big gift is a couple hundred $, especially now that they are teens. This year one of them is getting AirPods. Last year someone got sports equipment. When they were younger we would always have one gift like Lego or snapcircuits that would keep them busy for a while.
My in laws used to send about 20 gifts for each kid, and my parents would send one more expensive one. Now they all just send cash, $100 per child.

OP here and did this taper off on its own or did you ask them to stop? This is an issue we've run into with my family because my mom cannot just buy one gift. I will withhold gifts to go be at valentines day or Easter when she overdoes it. I've asked her to stop but I don't think she knows how.

A little bit of both. As the kids got older, it got harder to find things to gift.
When they were younger we would tell MIL over and over to stop sending so much and we specifically listed items we didn’t want (she sent them anyway). It’s easier to get a bunch of things for little kids - a stuffed animal, a Lego kit, a doll, a craft kit, a ball etc etc.
as the kids became teens, we also said over and over that they either want one specific item or cash.

[Anonymous]

Our kids usually get 4 gifts each plus 1 large gift for the family.

[Anonymous]

How many individually wrapped gifts do your kids get for Christmas or Hanukah? 8-12

2. What are the sizes and costs of the gifts? All under $20? One big expensive gift and the rest small? All kind of in the middle?

Depends on the age of the kids, my kids are under six so usually the gifts aren't very expensive unless we do something like a new bike which we do some years. I do anticipate them getting more expensive once teens. But we do usually do one "bigger" gift for each kid (this year for example it will be marble run for 6 year old) and smaller/medium gifts, things they would be interested in or that I might get for them anyway (for example 2 year old is getting construction utensils to help with picky eating). We also do sometimes have a "bigger" not necessarily expensive gift that is for both of them together. Last year it was a little mini supermarket thing for the playroom (Got it second hand).

I think I answered the other questions above

[Anonymous]

My in-laws also give WAY too many gifts and most of it ends up in the trash after a few weeks. This has caused a lot of tension with husband and I. I prefer less than 10 gifts total. They also give us gifts that are stupid and we end up throwing it out. What a waste of money.

[Anonymous]

We celebrate Hanukkah. Each kid gets one present each night, so a total of 8. One big ($100) present per kid from parents, one big (usually experience based) present from grandparents, 6 smaller presents (books, hoodie, pajamas, etc.).

[Anonymous]

Shouldn’t this really depend on a family’s financial situation? A 500k/year family shouldn’t spend the same as a 90k family. We give 10-ish gifts, mix of large and small, no practical items, and we spend a budget that makes sense for our family HHI.

[Anonymous]

It’s not a competition. Once mine hit a certain age, they would ask for one or two things they needed or wanted that were pricy. I don’t consider clothes or shoes gifts but mine don’t care about those things. I buy as needed when I see good prices.

[Anonymous]

1. How many individually wrapped gifts do your kids get for Christmas or Hanukah? - we celebrate Christmas. The kids get four gifts.

2. What are the sizes and costs of the gifts? All under $20? One big expensive gift and the rest small? All kind of in the middle? There's no set size or cost, but if they get anything expensive, it's an experience rather than a tangible product.

3. Do you only give toys or do you give practical items (i.e. if your kid needs new sneakers, is that a gift they open or do you just buy them sneakers separately)? One of their gifts is "something you need" so ... they get a practical item.

4. Anything you want to add in your gift giving philosophy? DH and I abhor bratty spoiled children, and refuse to spend tons on things they'll grow out of or will only like for a season.