Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A gift certificate for a dozen donuts isn't expensive. Young kids love going and picking out a full dozen by themselves.

all.that.sugar.

Well the child isn't supposed to eat the whole dozen. The fun is picking them out, having a couple and sharing the rest. A child can't have a couple donuts once in a while? That's sad.

Anonymous wrote:A gift certificate for a dozen donuts isn't expensive. Young kids love going and picking out a full dozen by themselves.

all.that.sugar.

Anonymous wrote:My children would love a $5 or even a $10 GC to 7-11. They could buy so many slushees. That would be an awesome present. But no, more junk from Amazon is coming that they will never look at. It doesn’t have to be an expensive experience. We never go to 7-11 and they think it’s the best place ever with that slushee machine.

I’d rather have plastic crap then putting that crap in your kids bodies.

I get experiences for all the kids in my circle. Some of the ones I’ve given are go ape, trip to nyc, shows at the Kennedy center, and car racing. They are all pretty inexpensive. My kids get the same.

A gift certificate for a dozen donuts isn't expensive. Young kids love going and picking out a full dozen by themselves.

My grandparents would give all of us Lifesavers and coins / cash every year back in the seventies. My cousins and I still love.those Lifesavers "books" and we are in our 50s. And I still have those silver dollars, while all the toys are mostly forgotten.

My mother complained about the junk her mom would gift to us and now she does the same to her grandkids. It’s a gift. Say thank you and throw away immediately if you wish. If you really want to cut down on toys, ask the grandparents to buy the toys and other items that you planned to buy, and then you can take the kids on all the experiences and give them a donation to their 529 for Christmas.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I was a kid, there were some friends of my parents who always gave us $10 worth of McDonald's gift certificates (I think they came in a notepad style, $1 each). I still remember that with such joy, even though I can't remember who gave them to me!

I also loved McDonald’s gift certificates as a kid!

Omg. They were the best.

I assume op has people telling her what experience gifts to buy. The irony is that the richer the family the more likely they are to ask for more expensive gifts. They tend to lose sight of the fact that some people are asking for gift ideas that are inexpensive. If people ask for ideas, it is always good to make sure to include something inexpensive.

This. And, we've found the kids don't always appreciate the experiences on "their" list. Have taken a good friend of my son's to a Nats game and the natural history museum as mom insists on experiences (there's a list). Never again. Turned out they expected the whole family to go, so we spent $300 on a day at the park (they are good friends and we can afford this so not a huge deal). But then he was having a hard day and whined the entire game because he was bored. His grandmother finally told him off. The next year was the natural history museum (his request) and I was mortified at his behavior and then he asked for a stuffed animal (one of the giant ones). No. Now he gets a Lego set and seems happy with it.

Agree. It’s annoying

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I was a kid, there were some friends of my parents who always gave us $10 worth of McDonald's gift certificates (I think they came in a notepad style, $1 each). I still remember that with such joy, even though I can't remember who gave them to me!

I also loved McDonald’s gift certificates as a kid!

Omg. They were the best.

I assume op has people telling her what experience gifts to buy. The irony is that the richer the family the more likely they are to ask for more expensive gifts. They tend to lose sight of the fact that some people are asking for gift ideas that are inexpensive. If people ask for ideas, it is always good to make sure to include something inexpensive.

Anonymous wrote:My children would love a $5 or even a $10 GC to 7-11. They could buy so many slushees. That would be an awesome present. But no, more junk from Amazon is coming that they will never look at. It doesn’t have to be an expensive experience. We never go to 7-11 and they think it’s the best place ever with that slushee machine.

So why don’t you get that for them instead of whatever you were going to get. Problem solved.

Can’t believe all the entitled asses on this thread. Wonder how they’ll feel if their well-meaning gifts to their grandkids are trashed by the parents in a few years.

Anonymous wrote:My kids LOVE gift cards. To icecream shops, movies, Panera etc. They love being able to 'pay' for themselves. My son ordered shake at McDonalds with his lunch because he could (we rarelyl eat there and i never allow a shake). He was SOOO Excited.
My DD got extra sprinkles and whip cream on her sundae with her gift card. THe kids love things like that and look forward to using them. Much more than another toy

Agreed! I ask people for gift cards for my kids if they want to know what to get them. They sort of side eye me, lol. I think they believe it’s for me. My kids really go bonkers over them.

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.

This! I always tell my family that the kids will be just as happy having someone take them to the park and local ice cream shoppe.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The experience thing is a pain in the butt. Just because you want to clear your house of clutter doesn’t mean your kids would prefer a crappy museum visit over a toy or game.

Maybe your kids wouldn’t. Mine definitely did.

+1

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

It actually doesn’t. An experience for my kids can be a trip to the park. Doesn’t have to cost you a thing. I have been asking for experiences but I also give ideas for other gifts when asked. The key to all of this is that I am asked. I don’t volunteer anything unless someone asks.