Another Christmas Present Thread...Question

[nun69]

so if you have more than 1 child, if 1 child gets something big such as a bike or a gaming system, etc....do you feel the need to have something BIG for the other kids...here is the thing......now that Ben (12) knows that we are Santa and hasn't really put anything big on his Chrsitmas list, I haven't gotten him anything BIG per say.....Abby (7 almost 8) is getting a new bike, Peyton (6.5) is getting 2 Skylander starter packs for the PS3 (pkus quite a few characters to go with it and a new remote), Sam (20) is getting a Nook (not to mention I just gave her $70 to buy a new coat she wanted as part of her Christmas) and will get gift cards and some clothes and cash for her Christmas......but I am worried that Ben will feel left out......
I do have another Nook that I picked up that I was going to give to Abby, but I am thinkning of giving it to Ben but he has said nothing about having a Nook or any kind of tablet....(I got the 7" HD Nooks at Target on BF for $80) even though he does enjoy playing on ours.....help a girl out.....

what would you do?

[Misty Cato]

I'm running into this with my kids. My daughter has a wish list a mile long and will likely get a dollhouse as her big gift and some other smaller things. My son hasn't really asked for anything except sports cards and rootbeer. So I'll get him those and then throw in some cash.

[Shawna Clingerman]

We try to match up # of presents for christmas morning and make sure they all have something somewhat equal in "wow" factor when it comes to their big gift - we even made a google spread sheet and tried to line things up so that they all have the same # to open around the tree... we are geeks like that...

How ever, things don't end up costing the same for each of them, and no one knows that but santa... my oldest def. doesn't have a big list because he knows we are santa, but we tried to fill in some things for him that we know he wants but doesn't really say.

We love going overboard over here for christmas though LOL it's sorta our favorite thing...

[Traci Reed]

Yes, I make sure they all have the same # AND that there's at least 1 big present for everyone.

[Jengerbread88]

Our family tradition has always been to just do one present per person (as in, my parents always gave me one gift, and I gave each family member one gift, and my grandmother gave each of us one gift... so we had more than one to open, but we just had one from each person and just gave one to each person... if that makes sense).

Because of that, there wasn't really any "number of presents" matching to do, but my parents have ALWAYS made sure we each got a gift around equal value... on years where we didn't have equal value, it was equal "wow" factor for sure (one person may get something cheaper, but if we are both excited, who cares, kwim?)

[nun69]

well Abby's WOW factor for a new bike will probably not match the rest of them no matter what the get (other than Sam getting a car) and that ain't happening LOL!!!!! but I am just not sure that he will really have a WOW factor, even though I have gotten him some very cool things and def things on his list.....I think I am going to add like $50 cash in his stocking just to let him have that little "extra" that just "HE" gets to spend

[adi&co.]

This is where kids with speech delays come in handy. i don't think my boys really understand the idea of santa clause, or the fact that one kid has bigger presents while the other has a bit more smaller ones, etc. I'm sure i'll run into this eventually, but for now I'll jsut sit back enjoy the fact that my kids are going to freak out at their presents and it was easy, haha!

[Shawna Clingerman]

Angie - $50 straight up would have a HUGE wow factor around here - we spend more than that but I think my kids would flip their lid to see it in cash form!

[nun69]

Originally Posted by Shawna Clingerman

Angie - $50 straight up would have a HUGE wow factor around here - we spend more than that but I think my kids would flip their lid to see it in cash form!

see this is my thought...plus he will get money from his grandparents on both sides and maybe I can convince his older sister to just give him like $20 or $25 from her for Christmas and then he will probably rack up enough to get his own Wii U which is really what he wants.......but we don't have the money to get him something that big right now...........and yes Shawna we spend way more than that on all of them combined, but I think since I don't have that "wow" factor gift, a totaly of $50 wrapped ina box will totally be worth it for him I think

[rach3975]

We usually save big presents for birthdays so that we don't have the problem of needing each of the 3 kids to have a big present. No one cares if DS1 got a big present for his birthday months before but DS2 got a few medium gifts instead, but they would definitely care if they were opening side by side. I think the cash is a great idea, especially if you think he'll get enough from everyone to buy what he really wants. My 10 year old didn't have much on his birthday or Hanukkah wish list this year, so in addition to a few gifts he received lots of cash and gift cards. He's very excited that between his friends (birthday party 3 weeks ago), grandparents, and us, he has gotten $127 worth of cash and Amazon gift cards to pick his own gifts. Half the fun is the big number and all the possibilities it represents.

[nun69]

Originally Posted by rach3975

he has gotten $127 worth of cash and Amazon gift cards to pick his own gifts. Half the fun is the big number and all the possibilities it represents.

yes yes yes....and I think he will really enjoy spending his "OWN" money!

[Darcy Baldwin]

Nope - especially if it is a milestone gift. However, we do tend to save those for birthdays when possible. We try to be pretty even handed when it comes to Christmas, but even if someone gets a 'bigger' present, we don't work hard at trying to make ti all even. You get what you get and you don't complain a bit!

I think the cash would be a big hit - and let him really put it where he wants - and on something he might not have shared with you.

Do you still do christmas lists? Even though Connor is in on the secret, we still ask for a list with the understanding it's something to help guide us to shop, not a guaranteed thing. So a list for him might be useful to help, too.

[lovely1m]

I think as long as people get what they are really hoping for, it shouldn't matter too much. Though I don't think the gifts should be too far off from each other value wise.

[nun69]

Darcy we do do lists so I am going to get them all to write their lists as well......and Abby's birthday is Jan 10th so we decided to go ahead and get it for her for Christmas instead.....plus Ben and Peyton are not really riding bikes, so he will definetely not mean much to either of them

[carriesmom]

My girls are so close in age that it has never been an issue, they can play with each others stuff and often they get the same present just a different color or character because they really play with the same things for the most part.

[nesser1981]

Not really, I just try to do the same amount of things. Cooper is getting a DS & Skylanders, but Keira's most expensive gift was like $40.

[Stacey42]

We try to save big gifts for birthday. Its fairly easy for us because we have a b-day in Oct and in Jan, with Xmas right in between, so we shuffle gift items between the 3 events. Or if we get DS2 a bike at Xmas it's no big deal because DS1 already has a bike so there is no need to match it. If he didn't have one we would have moved that gift to DS2s birthday.

Our big gifts are group things, like an xbox, or something they both get, like last year I scored a deal on 3DSs and got one for each

[ricslady]

When my kids were still living at home I tried to keep things equal in value and number of gifts. If one had more than another I'd group something into one wrapped gift if I could.

This year I'm giving them an album all about me and my ancestry.

[suzyqscraps]

Originally Posted by Traci Reed

Yes, I make sure they all have the same # AND that there's at least 1 big present for everyone.

Me too!