grandma wants to give kids a "big" gift

[Anonymous]

We don't want new bikes right now (too cold, won't use them because we WOH and it's dark M-F when we get home, would like to have them be novel when it's time to ride), don't have room for something like a playhouse, basketball hoop, etc. but the first cousins are getting big gifts (bike, Step 2 style playhouse) and they want to give our boys something so they don't feel left out at the gift exchange. I think maybe they just not open the gifts in our living room and give our boys money for an activity or something fun or savings. Boys are 3 (almost 4) and 7. Any ideas for gifts? Our house is small, our yard big, street is busy. Boys have a scooter and an (outgrown) 20" bike and too-big-for-3yo balance bike. Or maybe I just tell them to give us cash and we can buy them new bikes in the spring.

[Anonymous]

Why can't they buy the kids bikes? Take them to a bike shop to get fitted and give a few suggestions to your parents. You will need to buy them anyway. Get a shed to put them in.

[Anonymous]

Whats wrong with a playhouse if you have a big yard?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Whats wrong with a playhouse if you have a big yard?

OP is greedy and just wants cash. She doesn't want the grandparents to get credit and wants to take credit for buying the gift with their cash.

[Anonymous]

They can get new bikes, taking into account growth for the Spring, if you won't use them immediately. Or smaller gifts. The 7 year old can have a big Lego set, the 4 year old a big Playmobil set. Lots of fun things for that age group.

[Anonymous]

Why can’t grandparents get the bike? The kids will use them in a few months.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whats wrong with a playhouse if you have a big yard?

OP is greedy and just wants cash. She doesn't want the grandparents to get credit and wants to take credit for buying the gift with their cash.

Wow, project much?

I was fine with the kids getting a few smaller things, and then if she wants to do cash alive whatever few items they requested it goes into a 529 and they can spend a small amount of it to buy something themselves. I don’t want a playhouse because the 7 year old would be too big for it, and honestly we’re not home enough to use it. On the weekends only, maybe.

I don’t give a shit about “credit”. My kids can’t even remember who gave them what the very next day. They really just didn’t ask for much. No big gifts like Nintendo or iPads or whatever. Everything they wanted was under $60 and honestly I’m okay with that because I don’t really want to encourage wanting of “things,” which Christmas seems to do no matter our best intentions.

My SIL never hesitated to ask the grandparents for the big things because they will only spend probably $40 of their own money on their chosen and rely in the grandparents for the big gifts. I don’t really care what they do with their money, but I guess grandma is afraid our kids will feel slighted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whats wrong with a playhouse if you have a big yard?

OP is greedy and just wants cash. She doesn't want the grandparents to get credit and wants to take credit for buying the gift with their cash.

Wow, project much?

I was fine with the kids getting a few smaller things, and then if she wants to do cash alive whatever few items they requested it goes into a 529 and they can spend a small amount of it to buy something themselves. I don’t want a playhouse because the 7 year old would be too big for it, and honestly we’re not home enough to use it. On the weekends only, maybe.

I don’t give a shit about “credit”. My kids can’t even remember who gave them what the very next day. They really just didn’t ask for much. No big gifts like Nintendo or iPads or whatever. Everything they wanted was under $60 and honestly I’m okay with that because I don’t really want to encourage wanting of “things,” which Christmas seems to do no matter our best intentions.

My SIL never hesitated to ask the grandparents for the big things because they will only spend probably $40 of their own money on their chosen and rely in the grandparents for the big gifts. I don’t really care what they do with their money, but I guess grandma is afraid our kids will feel slighted.

Grandparents want to get bikes. Your kids need bikes. You are doing a money grab if you are demanding a 529 or something else. That is not a gift for the kids.

Let them do bikes, a trampoline, swing set or something fun to play with.

You are absolutely demanding money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whats wrong with a playhouse if you have a big yard?

OP is greedy and just wants cash. She doesn't want the grandparents to get credit and wants to take credit for buying the gift with their cash.

Wow, project much?

I was fine with the kids getting a few smaller things, and then if she wants to do cash alive whatever few items they requested it goes into a 529 and they can spend a small amount of it to buy something themselves. I don’t want a playhouse because the 7 year old would be too big for it, and honestly we’re not home enough to use it. On the weekends only, maybe.

I don’t give a shit about “credit”. My kids can’t even remember who gave them what the very next day. They really just didn’t ask for much. No big gifts like Nintendo or iPads or whatever. Everything they wanted was under $60 and honestly I’m okay with that because I don’t really want to encourage wanting of “things,” which Christmas seems to do no matter our best intentions.

My SIL never hesitated to ask the grandparents for the big things because they will only spend probably $40 of their own money on their chosen and rely in the grandparents for the big gifts. I don’t really care what they do with their money, but I guess grandma is afraid our kids will feel slighted.

Grandparents want to get bikes. Your kids need bikes. You are doing a money grab if you are demanding a 529 or something else. That is not a gift for the kids.

Let them do bikes, a trampoline, swing set or something fun to play with.

You are absolutely demanding money.

All of this. Stop being a fun suck, OP, and let grandma get them a gift they can play with. You said yourself you have the yard space for play equipment and you need bikes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whats wrong with a playhouse if you have a big yard?

OP is greedy and just wants cash. She doesn't want the grandparents to get credit and wants to take credit for buying the gift with their cash.

Wow, project much?

I was fine with the kids getting a few smaller things, and then if she wants to do cash alive whatever few items they requested it goes into a 529 and they can spend a small amount of it to buy something themselves. I don’t want a playhouse because the 7 year old would be too big for it, and honestly we’re not home enough to use it. On the weekends only, maybe.

I don’t give a shit about “credit”. My kids can’t even remember who gave them what the very next day. They really just didn’t ask for much. No big gifts like Nintendo or iPads or whatever. Everything they wanted was under $60 and honestly I’m okay with that because I don’t really want to encourage wanting of “things,” which Christmas seems to do no matter our best intentions.

My SIL never hesitated to ask the grandparents for the big things because they will only spend probably $40 of their own money on their chosen and rely in the grandparents for the big gifts. I don’t really care what they do with their money, but I guess grandma is afraid our kids will feel slighted.

Grandparents want to get bikes. Your kids need bikes. You are doing a money grab if you are demanding a 529 or something else. That is not a gift for the kids.

Let them do bikes, a trampoline, swing set or something fun to play with.

You are absolutely demanding money.

I’m not. She sets her budget, I don’t know what it is, I give her a list of ideas (at her request) and if it doesn’t meet her budget for each kid (a number I can never figure out), she writes a check for the balance. She’s very concerned about fairness (seriously I think she wrote a check for like $22 one year because the cousins had gotten more).

I will consider the bikes. The swing set I would love to do but I don’t think she wants to spend $K+ which is what I see for something of quality. The little playhouse my nephew is getting is probably $150ish. Our kids also don’t even really ask to ride the bikes they have/had. One of our boys has ASD and is a little slow to pick up athletic pursuits, and a new bike will probably not be available with training wheels given his size, although he still needs them because he rides so slowly. The balance bike never clicked for him either, and the little one can probably use the outgrown bigger bike. Sigh.

[Anonymous]

Nintendo Switch. Problem solved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whats wrong with a playhouse if you have a big yard?

OP is greedy and just wants cash. She doesn't want the grandparents to get credit and wants to take credit for buying the gift with their cash.

Wow, project much?

I was fine with the kids getting a few smaller things, and then if she wants to do cash alive whatever few items they requested it goes into a 529 and they can spend a small amount of it to buy something themselves. I don’t want a playhouse because the 7 year old would be too big for it, and honestly we’re not home enough to use it. On the weekends only, maybe.

I don’t give a shit about “credit”. My kids can’t even remember who gave them what the very next day. They really just didn’t ask for much. No big gifts like Nintendo or iPads or whatever. Everything they wanted was under $60 and honestly I’m okay with that because I don’t really want to encourage wanting of “things,” which Christmas seems to do no matter our best intentions.

My SIL never hesitated to ask the grandparents for the big things because they will only spend probably $40 of their own money on their chosen and rely in the grandparents for the big gifts. I don’t really care what they do with their money, but I guess grandma is afraid our kids will feel slighted.

Grandparents want to get bikes. Your kids need bikes. You are doing a money grab if you are demanding a 529 or something else. That is not a gift for the kids.

Let them do bikes, a trampoline, swing set or something fun to play with.

You are absolutely demanding money.

I’m not. She sets her budget, I don’t know what it is, I give her a list of ideas (at her request) and if it doesn’t meet her budget for each kid (a number I can never figure out), she writes a check for the balance. She’s very concerned about fairness (seriously I think she wrote a check for like $22 one year because the cousins had gotten more).

I will consider the bikes. The swing set I would love to do but I don’t think she wants to spend $K+ which is what I see for something of quality. The little playhouse my nephew is getting is probably $150ish. Our kids also don’t even really ask to ride the bikes they have/had. One of our boys has ASD and is a little slow to pick up athletic pursuits, and a new bike will probably not be available with training wheels given his size, although he still needs them because he rides so slowly. The balance bike never clicked for him either, and the little one can probably use the outgrown bigger bike. Sigh.

There re great bike programs to help kids who have trouble learning to ride a bike.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whats wrong with a playhouse if you have a big yard?

OP is greedy and just wants cash. She doesn't want the grandparents to get credit and wants to take credit for buying the gift with their cash.

Wow, project much?

I was fine with the kids getting a few smaller things, and then if she wants to do cash alive whatever few items they requested it goes into a 529 and they can spend a small amount of it to buy something themselves. I don’t want a playhouse because the 7 year old would be too big for it, and honestly we’re not home enough to use it. On the weekends only, maybe.

I don’t give a shit about “credit”. My kids can’t even remember who gave them what the very next day. They really just didn’t ask for much. No big gifts like Nintendo or iPads or whatever. Everything they wanted was under $60 and honestly I’m okay with that because I don’t really want to encourage wanting of “things,” which Christmas seems to do no matter our best intentions.

My SIL never hesitated to ask the grandparents for the big things because they will only spend probably $40 of their own money on their chosen and rely in the grandparents for the big gifts. I don’t really care what they do with their money, but I guess grandma is afraid our kids will feel slighted.

Grandparents want to get bikes. Your kids need bikes. You are doing a money grab if you are demanding a 529 or something else. That is not a gift for the kids.

Let them do bikes, a trampoline, swing set or something fun to play with.

You are absolutely demanding money.

I’m not. She sets her budget, I don’t know what it is, I give her a list of ideas (at her request) and if it doesn’t meet her budget for each kid (a number I can never figure out), she writes a check for the balance. She’s very concerned about fairness (seriously I think she wrote a check for like $22 one year because the cousins had gotten more).

I will consider the bikes. The swing set I would love to do but I don’t think she wants to spend $K+ which is what I see for something of quality. The little playhouse my nephew is getting is probably $150ish. Our kids also don’t even really ask to ride the bikes they have/had. One of our boys has ASD and is a little slow to pick up athletic pursuits, and a new bike will probably not be available with training wheels given his size, although he still needs them because he rides so slowly. The balance bike never clicked for him either, and the little one can probably use the outgrown bigger bike. Sigh.

You an get a cheaper swing set. They don’t need fancy expensive to enjoy it. They make add on training wheels. Is it really all of nothing.

[Anonymous]

I agree with the PP's saying bikes. You can totally use them on the weekends if you bundle up.
My 7yo rides her bike or scooter all the time because we have dogs that need walking. That doesnt stop just because its chilly, we wear more clothes.
Maybe a scooter for the almost 4yo depending on what kind you already have he could get a 2 wheeler if you have a 3 wheeler.

[Anonymous]

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Power-Wheels-Dune-Racer-Extreme/501436323

This is pretty fun if you have a big yard.