Spreading out presents

My friend told me that she's planning on giving her kids some of their presents for Christmas/birthday, and spread out the rest throughout the year.

What's everyone's take on this? I love the idea - would love to do this so they're not overwhelmed then bored a few months later, but I worry about the impact it would have on the kids. I've been giving the kids random toys throughout the year so far, but I stopped 3 months ago because they are getting older and I don't want it to become a habit ; I'd really want them to think of Christmas and birthdays as something special, and not expect to get toys all the time.

But man it's a lot at once, and yeah, the rest of the year is hard. We're not doing Easter baskets, but that wouldn't really help anyway as it's still in the first part of the year...

Also, we won't be home this Christmas and I don't really want to take a ton of toys with me (plus they're supposed to get big stuff for Christmas, so it wouldn't really be possible anyway)... would you just do Christmas as a family on New Year's then?

 

Well, I TRY to limit the amount of presents they do get. That has been unsuccessful in the past though cuz both mother and MIL enjoy buying lots of little things for them.

I think me and DH have pretty much decided that we will buy one large gift for all of them, and one smallerish item for each of them. After that, all the gift giving will be up to the grandparents. We will do the stocking stuffers, but other than that...

As for their birthdays (for us, 2 weeks after x-mas) this will be their first 'friend' party and I plan on asking the parents to just purchase ONE gift and NOT put a nametag on it. that way we can divvy up the gifts so each girl gets to open some. If they want the parents can purchase seperate cards but as for gifts, I don't want one for each girl from every person that comes... That's to much.


I don't like the idea of spreading it out. They will come to expect it. My son's birthday somehow ended up lasting 2 weeks this year (between relatives, boxes, etc) and, 3 months later all them are still talking about "Happy Birthday" and not only want gifts but every night they want Happy birthday for dessert! LOL So no I definetly do not agree with spreading it out, but I'm also trying to find a way to maybe LIMIT the amount that they get all at once..

 

LOL Raichael. So funny about expecting a birthday cake every night! My kids don't get much at all from relatives so I always end up buying most of the stuff. I'm also buying more I guess because I'm a SAHM and I'm willing to spend more if it's going to keep them busy when we're home (which is most of the time).

Great idea about only asking for one gift for their birthday party. I can't even imagine the toy overload otherwise. Yikes. Unfortunately that won't work so well with b/g!

 

My two are a few weeks before Christmas. And no, we don't intend to spread things out.

I don't see a problem with them getting things outside of their birthday and Christmas. Some toys are seasonal anyway. I don't think they should get stuff all the time, but the occasional new toy isn't a big issue for us.

That said, "big" toys are usually reserved for birthdays/Christmas. For example, they are getting trikes for their birthday this year. We are purposely waiting for their birthday now.

 

I think those are two separate questions...

My kids' birthday is just before Thanksgiving, so it feels fairly close to Christmas. We don't spread out the actual gift-giving, but after they open their presents (for both birthday and Christmas) I discreetly stash some of them away, to be brought out at other times during the year. That way, they get the fun of opening them on the actual day, but the stuff still seems "new" when they see it again.

Thank goodness, the tradition at our preschool is to have "no gifts" parties, so at least they don't get tons of birthday stuff from friends. And DH and I are giving them each just one major present this year (a kids digital camera), plus maybe a book or something. We'll save the pile-o-gifts for under the tree.

We do give them occasional new things during the year (mostly if I happen to see it on sale, or if someone gives up some hand-me-downs), but I don't wrap them and make a big deal of it -- I just say "Hey, look what I found for you guys today!" But I still worry that they're starting to think a month without a new toy or book is a sad, sad thing, so I'll probably try to cut back on that.

As far as being away for Christmas goes, yes, I'd probably do your family Christmas when you get back. Just be warned that the kids may be Christmassed-out by that point (that has happened to my sister, who lives close enough to both sets of g'parents that they always wind up doing 3 different "Christmas mornings"), so you might want to keep it low-key.

 

We started going to "no gifts" birthday parties. We still exchange for immediate family, but not all the friends,etc at the parties.

My bil's birthday is Jan 2nd. He likes celebrating July 2nd instead to not feel "gyped" out of a birthday.

 

MY DH b-day is Dec 20 so we celebrate his 1/2 bday and he get presents then. I know a kid who did that too and as he got older loved the idea as it was unique and did cool decor for 1/2 bday like 1/2 cake, decorate 1/2 room etc. I think I might do this for my kids too if they were so close toe Christmas. We don't do any new toys except bdays and christmas at our house.

The last 2 years we have gone out of state for the holiday so we did our own before we left as I didn't want to deal with it when we returned and were trying to get back on schedule. Mine wer 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 and they didn't mine having 2 Christmas's. It might be different if they are older though.

 

Great topic! We have b-days 10 days before Christmas and it's just so hectic, so this year we decided a party with friends would always be mid-November before the holiday craziness. I am also thinking about a no-gift party, or just a book party since those can be fairly inexpensive and reading is always big in our house...would love to hear more thoughts on this!

 

I would attempt a "little Christmas" when you get home from your trip. You can always see how the kids handle it and decide whether or not to do it again next year. Maybe save a little stocking stuffer or small gift as their Christmas gift for that day :unsure:

My kids b-day is December 26th and no, we do not spread out their gifts throughout the year as a result of it. The hardest thing is planning the party because this year the 26th is on a Sunday and that's when DH wants it and I would rather have the party the following weekend. I have a December birthday and growing up, my parents were very good about treating it as a completely different day then Christmas and we are doing the same for our kids. I agree with Gina, that big toys are usually given for their birthday and Christmas (I just have to decide which day what toy is going to be for) and I don't see nothing wrong with picking up a little something throughout the year.

 

my friend does the 1/2 yr bday for her daughter in June... its actually nice for several different reasons. she's not running around like crazy planning a party in December, and people who would come to the party aren't having to go to a bday party in Christmas season either.

my bday is a little over 2 wks after, and we always just celebrated it on the bday. I never really felt gyped at all... but I think its easier for it to be after Christmas than before...