Money on presents for kids for xmas

pcnoobie

donegal_road wrote: »

is he musical? You could borrow one for a few days and have it lying around the house, see if he is at least curious.
If he has no interest in the guitar and you are intent on getting him something else for Christmas, someone else on here might have spotted my post and go with the idea.

so if you had the money to buy your child a ps3 or xbox , your saying is you wouldnt get him one if he wanted one? what world are you living in:pac: every kid has one the odds are most people including adults would get themselfs a ps3 or xbox and use it as a hobbie
im not saying let a child sit in all day 7 days a week playing it, most parents put timers on it or give them an hour or two after school to play it after homework is done.
if you child really wanted one and you didnt end up paying for it (if you had the money) well you'd be some ass of a parent to be honest
if you didnt have the money thats understandable but basicly your child would be hearing about games on consoles in school cause thats all children talk about nowadays anyway
youd get alot of years out of a console as well so its more of an investment to get him to shut up then anything else because the next christmas you could get him 1 or 2 games which could cost you less then 30quid so youd be saving money along the way

TwoShedsJackson

gerarda wrote: »

Interesting thread, our attic has a large box of toys in new condition that the kids have no interest in any more. They have completely forgotten about them and don't ask about them any more.

That's Christmas sorted in your place then, repackage the stuff they've forgotten about and give it to them again.

mel1

This year the big red sack cost €300 for 7 year old and €250 for 11 year old. Not much choice there im afraid!!
And still was given a list of stuff the 2 young ladies want from ma, da, nanny, aunties ect.

Including perfumes, lava lights, nintendo/wii games ect. all expensive stuff! They never get stuff during the year, they never ask either! I am lucky enough to be in a position of being able to afford xmas, and do i really feel sorry for those who really struggle with it. In saying that i have bein gettin the stuff since August. Pays to do the research real early!

anncoates

gerarda wrote: »

Interesting thread, our attic has a large box of toys in new condition that the kids have no interest in any more. They have completely forgotten about them and don't ask about them any more.

Bring them down to the local Barnardos, SVP or Women's Refuge before Christmas.

The toys, not your kids, I mean.

donegal_road

pcnoobie wrote: »

so if you had the money to buy your child a ps3 or xbox , your saying is you wouldnt get him one if he wanted one? what world are you living in:pac: every kid has one the odds are most people including adults would get themselfs a ps3 or xbox and use it as a hobbie
im not saying let a child sit in all day 7 days a week playing it, most parents put timers on it or give them an hour or two after school to play it after homework is done.
if you child really wanted one and you didnt end up paying for it (if you had the money) well you'd be some ass of a parent to be honest
if you didnt have the money thats understandable but basicly your child would be hearing about games on consoles in school cause thats all children talk about nowadays anyway
youd get alot of years out of a console as well so its more of an investment to get him to shut up then anything else because the next christmas you could get him 1 or 2 games which could cost you less then 30quid so youd be saving money along the way

is this what you really want?
My idea would be that a guitar would be an investment to see if he could sing a few tunes.
We had visitors a few months ago who had their 3 kids with them. The three kids sat staring into Gameboys, or whatever their called, for the entire time they were here. Not a word between them, kind of sad is it not?

Ush1

If facekicker was here he'd give them each a kick in the face.

ash23

donegal_road wrote: »

is this what you really want?
My idea would be that a guitar would be an investment to see if he could sing a few tunes.
We had visitors a few months ago who had their 3 kids with them. The three kids sat staring into Gameboys, or whatever their called, for the entire time they were here. Not a word between them, kind of sad is it not?

That's the parents fault, not the console.

Anyway, how many instruments can you buy like? My kid plays two and that's enough. I don't want to buy her musical instruments year in and year out. She has other interests too and yes, gaming is one of them.

mel1

Ush1 wrote: »

If facekicker was here he'd give them each a kick in the face.

Dont ya miss Facekicker!

kincsem

To the OP
I'm available for adoption.

Queen-Mise

Pumpkinseeds wrote: »

My husbands family all gathered together on Christmas days and his niece and nephew got so many presents each Christmas that it used to take 2 car trips to get the presents back to their house. Then on Stephen's day they'd go to the other grandparents and get the same amount again. Madness

This used to happen a long time ago with my hubby's side of the family. I have stopped it gradually over the years. I'll look after my kids - you look after your own.
I always thought I the Xbox/PS3 year would wait till my son was getting his confirmation - he could put in half and I would put in the other half (he got his trampoline with first communion money). He is just too into gaming videos at the moment to wait. I think he would sell a kidney at the moment to start playing Minecraft at the moment. I'm not concerned with him and time playing it as he loves football, his BMX, guns - so I'd imagine the console will get most of its use during the winter. During the summer he was outside playing for 12 or more hours a day.

donegal_road wrote: »

is he musical? You could borrow one for a few days and have it lying around the house, see if he is at least curious.
If he has no interest in the guitar and you are intent on getting him something else for Christmas, someone else on here might have spotted my post and go with the idea.

If the guitar is something you are not sure of - you can pick up a guitar & stand in Argos very cheap. It won't be a great one - but ideal for a starter to see if your child is interested. The same is true with a keyboard. And once a child goes into 2nd/3rd class - they will probably be guitar lessons in their school.


Its interesting reading about people priorities on here & their kids. We had our first break this year for about 4/5 years & that was camping. We spend most of our time in the house - so having stuff for the house is important. Other than walks in the woods, the occasional take-away, cinema a couple of times a year - xmas is it. I like giving them - what I think is most suited to them/or they will use the most. It is more important to me - that a toy is good quality & will get LOTS of use - than get tied down to X amount to spend on Xmas.

Witchie

I remember when I was younger my mum used to buy Santa stuff for my little bro (who is 10 yrs younger than me) in the sales in the summer and then spend the next few months telling him how every child in the country wanted this stuff from Santa and that he would be such a lucky boy if he got it. By the time Christmas came around he was convinced this is what he always wanted and Santa was just amazing for bringing it all. He got great stuff like a Star Wars Millennium Falcon with all the bits and bobs, a ghostbusters firestation, car and all the characters and when he got into gaming a Sega Megadrive with CD attachment that my brother found cheap in buy and sell.

Its all in the planning!

0ph0rce0

Witchie wrote: »

I remember when I was younger my mum used to buy Santa stuff for my little bro (who is 10 yrs younger than me) in the sales in the summer and then spend the next few months telling him how every child in the country wanted this stuff from Santa and that he would be such a lucky boy if he got it. By the time Christmas came around he was convinced this is what he always wanted and Santa was just amazing for bringing it all. He got great stuff like a Star Wars Millennium Falcon with all the bits and bobs, a ghostbusters firestation, car and all the characters and when he got into gaming a Sega Megadrive with CD attachment that my brother found cheap in buy and sell.

Its all in the planning!

Ghostbusters Car, Ahhh those were the days.

Madam_X

IzzyWizzy wrote: »

It shocked me when I first moved over as well. I think the underlying cause of all this is that many Irish people's (because it's not everyone) worst fear is to be thought of as stingy or worse, poor. I find that English people in general care a lot less about what other people think. It was very odd to me to come from England where people bragged about what a bargain their holiday was or how cheap their new boots were to Celtic Tiger Ireland where people did just the opposite - bragged about spending 300 euro on a bag or 25 quid on an eyeliner. :eek:

Yeh my friend was broke last year - pay-cut and three-day week; two of our friends were getting married around the same time and she insisted on giving them over €100 each even though it left her pauperised; simply because she didn't want to appear stingy, even though they're friends, who would understand and wouldn't want her to be making herself broke.
Madness! I reckon that spoilt kid who said his mum spent a over a grand on Christmas presents for him and his siblings (or was it each?!) and therefore how the hell do people here get away with spending so little (as if a young child knows the cost) when people on this thread are genuinely struggling... was just trying to dickishly provoke. And boast.

HeyThereDeliah

Everyone wants to make their kids happy but I feel parents have gone OTT in recent years with Christmas presents, half the time it's what the parents want or because some other kids has it.

Young kids are easy buy for but as they get older they want loads of things, have a two present limit and that way they are sure to get what they want.