Please stop asking for “experiences” over gifts for your kids!

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous]I would prefer no gifts to the junk my in-laws insist on giving each year (in spite of us asking for no more toys for the kids). And it's not so easy to just give stuff away. I have to sort through everything, find all the missing pieces, load it up, and take it to the donation center. My labor isn't free. I'd rather take that time to play with my kids at a museum or park.

We just had a second baby, same sex as the first. We said firmly - no clothes for the baby. We're already bursting at the seams with baby clothes. Guess what MIL brought? And she said, "I know you said no clothes, but what else do you buy for a new baby?!" Yet they refuse to open a 529 or give us money to put into the 529s we already have. It's just selfish, really. They have fun watching kids open gifts and we're stuck dealing with the junk. [/quote]

What an ungrateful brat.

[Anonymous]

I do have slight sympathy for the older generations of inlaws (why is it always the inlaws and not your own parents who get blamed?). Toys and children's clothings are so incredibly cheap today compared to when I was a kid in the 1980s. My parents' generation can often not have a clue to how many toys young children can now have compared to what their experiences were as kids and with their own kids. And in those days we didn't have "experiences" activities either. So they don't realize what a burden gifts can now be.

[Anonymous]

Gift card to movies or Barnes and noble or similar. It doesn’t need to cost you more. You don’t need to pay in full for the experience.

[Anonymous]

If you're local, an "experience" gift could be something as easy as taking the kid to Sweetfrog or the movies. You could take my kid for a walk and just talk to him for an hour and he'd be thrilled. Spending time with the kid will make more memories than a toy.

If you're not local, a $20 gift card to Sweetfrog, the movies, or Chuck-e-cheese is an "experience" gift.

Don't make this so dang hard! It's parents asking for anything other than physical gifts because our kids are overwhelmed with stuff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Gift card to movies or Barnes and noble or similar. It doesn’t need to cost you more. You don’t need to pay in full for the experience.

I would be fine being in the receiving end (or having my kids on the receiving end) of something like this but there was a recent thread where people complained about movie gift cards because it would only pay for one ticket or it would pay for two but not the popcorn or whatever. Really, gift givers can't win.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gift card to movies or Barnes and noble or similar. It doesn’t need to cost you more. You don’t need to pay in full for the experience.

I would be fine being in the receiving end (or having my kids on the receiving end) of something like this but there was a recent thread where people complained about movie gift cards because it would only pay for one ticket or it would pay for two but not the popcorn or whatever. Really, gift givers can't win.

Right exactly. I could get a cute toy from homegoods for $10 per child...but a complete “experience” at the movies is closer to $30 per child. I don’t want side eye for only producing a single ticket.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It triples or quadruples the cost every time. Accept your small gift and if you don’t like it donate it!

Spanking the spoiled brats would be a good "experience"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gift card to movies or Barnes and noble or similar. It doesn’t need to cost you more. You don’t need to pay in full for the experience.

I would be fine being in the receiving end (or having my kids on the receiving end) of something like this but there was a recent thread where people complained about movie gift cards because it would only pay for one ticket or it would pay for two but not the popcorn or whatever. Really, gift givers can't win.

Right exactly. I could get a cute toy from for $10 per child...but a complete “experience” at the movies is closer to $30 per child. I don’t want side eye for only producing a single ticket.

I think the issue is everyone already has all the “cute toys from home goods” their child could possibly play with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD begs grandpa to take her to the car wash (she's 3). She'd die if she got a gift card to the car wash. On Saturdays grandpa takes her to the car wash, then library story time and then out to lunch. Pretty sure that's the kind of experiences people are asking for.

Omg I am so going to do this for my kid's as a "gift" one time! They'd love it! Ha.

[Anonymous]

Yikes...you sound very hostile OP. Don't give anything if you are so bitter about life. The world doesn't need any more negativity.

Like others have said ...experiences can be free. You could give the parents free babysitting. That would provide for a great experience. You could take the kid to a park or invite over for a sleepover.

Go home Scrooge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yikes...you sound very hostile OP. Don't give anything if you are so bitter about life. The world doesn't need any more negativity.

Like others have said ...experiences can be free. You could give the parents free babysitting. That would provide for a great experience. You could take the kid to a park or invite over for a sleepover.

Go home Scrooge.

This would 100% be viewed as being cheap.

[Anonymous]

You are destroying earth with all the plastic that will go into landfill. As mentioned, give a $10 giftcard to an experience or just offer to take your grand-kid to the aquarium or museum. I really hope one day giving people junk that ruins the planet becomes a thing of the past. You can give an Amazon giftcard and they can pick out junk the kid will actually play with and then have younger sibling play with and then can be donated.

[Anonymous]

I’m a nanny and the kids I work with all have so much stuff with more on the way. I don’t want to add to that so I asked the kids if instead of me giving them a present, we’d go to an animal shelter and donate some money and then go get pizza. They said yes, so that’s what we did. The shelter had a tree set up with pictures of animals and a wish on the back. I let them pick out something from the wishes, then gave the shelter some cash up to the budget I had set and then walked around looking at the animals for a few minutes. Then we went and had pizza, played a few games and I took them home. It was great and they were excited to tell their parents all about it. An experience gift can be pretty simple and still make a lasting impact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yikes...you sound very hostile OP. Don't give anything if you are so bitter about life. The world doesn't need any more negativity.

Like others have said ...experiences can be free. You could give the parents free babysitting. That would provide for a great experience. You could take the kid to a park or invite over for a sleepover.

Go home Scrooge.

This would 100% be viewed as being cheap.

NP. I would love it if my kid's aunts or grandparents wanted to have a sleepover with my girls. Not because I'm cheap or want free babysitting, but because that's the kind of thing you remember forever. I still remember sleepovers at grandma's house and bunking with my cousins. I wouldn't think they're being cheap at all.

[Anonymous]

How about send a nice card and don't bother with a gift. That would be preferred.