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New gift giving method in my family

D

daveymark

Lifer
There are a ton of kids in our family at Christmastime. We all go over to Granmda's house, and exchange presents. there are about 20 kids there, all cousins. They want to start this new thing where the parents buy the gift for their kids and put on the label "from your cousins". That way everyone saves money.

I enjoyed shopping for my kid's cousins. Plus seeing all the gifts under the tree was great. Now all I have to do is find something for my child, lie to her and say "it's from your cousins" and watch the huge pile of presents deflate from last year. The kids would all walk away with an armful of presents, now they walk away with one item.

A little bit of Christmas gets deflated each year, or a frugal way to give gifts?

You decide.

 
Armfuls of presents are for your house. With that many kids, it makes sense to do one or two gifts per kid.

That's how we always did it when I was growing up. Actually, that's not exactly what it was like. At my paternal grandmother's house, there were only 5 kids, so we usually got several gifts each. At my maternal grandparents house, we drew names and got a different person each year, then bought them a gift. There were probably 20 kids there.

The majority of our presents came from Mom and Dad at their house.
 
I think it's fun to give with lots of ppl, makes it more festive i guess...and presents don't have to be expensive. I mean something home made or edible is equally nice if the kids are young...
 
20 gifts is a lot... at $20 a pop that's $400 on your nieces and nephews. A lot of people can't really afford that, even if you can.

Although I think a better system than buying a present for your own kids is to have people draw names so each person buys presents for as many cousins as they have kids (i.e. if you have 3 kids, you buy presents for 3 cousins). That's how we did it in my family of similar size.

Edit: You could do the same thing and have each kid get 2 or 3 or 5 presents each even.
 
Originally posted by: mugs
20 gifts is a lot... at $20 a pop that's $400 on your nieces and nephews. A lot of people can't really afford that, even if you can.
Click to expand...

You're missing the point.

Because the same thing will happen. Now one cousin will get a gift from "the cousins" that the parents spent $50 on, where the other kid gets a $2 trinket because, as you stated, "A lot of people really can't afford that"

I spend, at most, $100. most years, it's $50. My brother goes crazy at the dollar store. Plenty of clearance items that the kids enjoy. I can't count how many times I've stopped at walgreens to get a $5 toy because I forgot about someone. Wouldn't you know it, it's that $5 toy, not the expensive barbie, that little Jessica is playing with all day.

That's the problem though, someone obviously thinks a "certain amount" should be spent, which is bull. 5 year old kids will be happy with a slinky. It's not about the amount spent. It's about seeing the faces lite up when they walk in the room, or when it's their turn to open all the presents. It's not the gift that makes it fun, it's the opening of the gift.

If someone has the means to spend more, then by all means, do so. No one's feelings are getting hurt except for the insecure ones, and their feelings will be hurt no matter what.

 
Originally posted by: SSP
Originally posted by: daveymark
Originally posted by: bonkers325
Originally posted by: daveymark
Originally posted by: mugs
5 year old kids will be happy with a slinky
Click to expand...

Hell, I'd be happy with a slinky.
Click to expand...

No, you'll be getting "ball in a cup"
Click to expand...

Cup and ball > slinky
Click to expand...

I don't have the dexterity for the cup & ball, just give me the silly putty. 🙂
Click to expand...
 
Originally posted by: Coquito
Originally posted by: SSP
Originally posted by: daveymark
Originally posted by: bonkers325
Originally posted by: daveymark
Originally posted by: mugs
5 year old kids will be happy with a slinky
Click to expand...

Hell, I'd be happy with a slinky.
Click to expand...

No, you'll be getting "ball in a cup"
Click to expand...

Cup and ball > slinky
Click to expand...

I don't have the dexterity for the cup & ball, just give me the silly putty. 🙂
Click to expand...

youre just going to eat it again and were going to endup in emergency
Click to expand...
 
Originally posted by: TheoPetro
Originally posted by: Coquito
Originally posted by: SSP
Originally posted by: daveymark
Cup and ball > slinky
Click to expand...

I don't have the dexterity for the cup & ball, just give me the silly putty. 🙂
Click to expand...

youre just going to eat it again and were going to endup in emergency
Click to expand...

It's non-toxic. I just want to copy the sunday comics onto my daddy's forehead, I swear. 😀


As for the gift idea, I don't agree with it. Our family has alot of relatives. Each side had six kids, each kid had between two & three offspring. Now the offspring(my generation) is having kids. Our parents also have plenty of cousins, aunts, & uncles that are parts of our lives. Easily 30-40 individuals with gifts for one side, with 25 for the other.

To combat this, alot of the gifts are joint presents. Parents together will receive 1 gift, like something for the house. I give two video games to a set of three younger cousins every year(multiplayer works well here). Once you reach a certain age, if you don't have a family of your own, or aren't dishing out gifts for everyone else, people won't feel obligated to give you anything but the usual hospitality. Of course, certain people, like grandma, always get a gift from everyone. Your godfather might still get you a gift when your thirty. You might decide to get your uncle a nice custom eched highball glass because he helped you install some wallpaper during the year. Basically, if you don't involve yourself with the family much, don't expect to be rewarded.
Click to expand...
 
Do the Yankee Swap :>

everyone buys a present with a cost of around $50 (or higher, your choice)

Person A picks present from the pile, opens it
Person B picks present from the pile, opens it, can keep it or choose to take person A's gift
Person C picks present from the pile, opens it, can keep it or choose to take person A or B's gift
etc, etc, etc

at the end, person A can take any gift from anyone, or keep the one they have
 
Originally posted by: TG2
Do the Yankee Swap :>

everyone buys a present with a cost of around $50 (or higher, your choice)

Person A picks present from the pile, opens it
Person B picks present from the pile, opens it, can keep it or choose to take person A's gift
Person C picks present from the pile, opens it, can keep it or choose to take person A or B's gift
etc, etc, etc

at the end, person A can take any gift from anyone, or keep the one they have
Click to expand...

that's what we do for the adults. If we did that with kids there would be screaming, fighting, gnashing of teeth
 
Originally posted by: TG2
Do the Yankee Swap :>

everyone buys a present with a cost of around $50 (or higher, your choice)

Person A picks present from the pile, opens it
Person B picks present from the pile, opens it, can keep it or choose to take person A's gift
Person C picks present from the pile, opens it, can keep it or choose to take person A or B's gift
etc, etc, etc

at the end, person A can take any gift from anyone, or keep the one they have
Click to expand...

interesting, never heard of this...

assuming there are 10 people, A=1, B=2, C=3, etc. for simplicity...

don't persons 2, 3, 4, 5---the earlier ones---get screwed because the later ones get free choice?

 
You should do secret santa with the kids, have each one draw a name, and the set a minimum of $75 for the gift, any less than the gift it cheap and pointless.
 
I just buy a couple of cartons of cigarettes and give each one of those ungrateful little bastards a pack. Well I use too, they don't invite me anymore. :shocked:
 
Originally posted by: Red Dawn
I just buy a couple of cartons of cigarettes and give each one of those ungrateful little bastards a pack. Well I use too, they don't invite me anymore. :shocked:
Click to expand...

lmao you sick old bastage 😉
 
i understand the cost because that is a lot of presents to get plus ppl outside of your family, it is too much. but won't the kids find out?! like o0o0o0oo i got this xxxxxxx it is awesome! which one of you cousins got it for me, huh? anyone? speak up? and daddy, mommy, where is the present from you guys?!
 
Damn! I wish I grew up with cousins when I see threads like this 😉

Our family has been historically small. On one side I have no cousins, while on the other I have 3 cousins (none of which we talk with). Most relatives I have passed away. I'm 24. Christmas to me is spending time with my parents and sister, but I love it all the same.

You guys with large families must love the holidays--so many people to hang with and catch up.
 
Originally posted by: daveymark
There are a ton of kids in our family at Christmastime. We all go over to Granmda's house, and exchange presents. there are about 20 kids there, all cousins. They want to start this new thing where the parents buy the gift for their kids and put on the label "from your cousins". That way everyone saves money.

I enjoyed shopping for my kid's cousins. Plus seeing all the gifts under the tree was great. Now all I have to do is find something for my child, lie to her and say "it's from your cousins" and watch the huge pile of presents deflate from last year. The kids would all walk away with an armful of presents, now they walk away with one item.

A little bit of Christmas gets deflated each year, or a frugal way to give gifts?

You decide.
Click to expand...

It sounds dumb but it's a good way to go. My mom's parents have something like 55 grandkids now, so you can imagine what my cousin/aunt/uncle gift-giving situation is like. Christmas cards alone eats half my paycheck lol.
 
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