UGH I'm so torn... should I get 1 expensive gift or many smaller gifts

[Angelseyes28]

My daughter REALLY wants an ipod touch....the 2nd gen since that's what her cousin has and she loves it. She says she doesn't care if she doesn't get anything else if she gets the touch. We are really strapped for cash this year and in order for me to get her the touch(even a refurb one), she literally wouldn't have but 3 other gifts that I picked up on clearance during the year. While I would love to get her the touch, I think I would feel guilty that her brother would have so many more gifts to open long after she's through. She's been saving her money to buy the touch and will have enough by the time she gets her Christmas money from relatives. Should I buy the touch and let her spend her money on other things she wants....just dance 2, aero stuff, purses, cds, etc., or should I get those things and let her buy the touch? Dangit I hate this!

 

I know if I decide to get the touch, I'll be camped out most of Thanksgiving day so I can get the $50 gc from TRU seeing as how a refurb 2nd gen will only be $30 cheaper.

[dealluvr]

oh yes i would do it.how old is she.? i think if she thinks on christmas morning she got what she wanted she will be thrilled even if she only opens that one gift

[peifgirl]

When I was a teenager I remember wanting only a car for christmas. I got one and had nothing to open on Christmas but I didn't care. I had to make my own car payments but my dad helped me get it. Granted a car is different but getting the "one" thing they want makes up for the difference in number of presents.

[speeddiva]

Wow, that is a tough one!

I think I would get her the Touch. If it's what she truly, truly wants she will not even notice she got fewer gifts.

[conj]

if she is old enough to know what only one gift means, then go for it.

[tinkrbel]

I think if you can you should,you can always add a few little things/stocking stuffers even from the dollar store depending on her age. nail polish(sally hansen on sale 1.99 at cvs this week), socks/slippers, her favorite candy, new hair clips/ties. You can also go online and print certificates too for a little added touch. As a kid I never got anything on my Christmas list(not sure why-I've never asked), but I always liked what I got. Our Dollar Tree has a really good selection of stuff from disney princess wands/jewelry to phone cases so if there's any in your area may be worth the look.

[racerfan]

I would get her the touch. If that is all she wants then go for it. If she wants other stuff she will have money that she can get it with the sales after Xmas. You did not mention how old sh is. If she is at least a tween then I am sure she understands that money is tight if you explained it to her. You would be fulfilling her wish by getting it for her.

[biomajor]

I'd get her the touch and let her use her own money after Christmas when the money will go further If she's old enough to want a Touch, then she should be old enough to realize that costs are pretty equal even if gifts aren't. I also second the Dollar Tree filler items if you are truly concerned, but she won't be. My DD is now 18 and for Christmas about 6 years ago, she wanted a Laptop. Her brother is 2 years older and already had one, so equalizing it that way wasn't happening, so he got a game system (I think it may have been the 360) and about 4 games and a controller and she got 1 laptop. They were both thrilled LOL

[lilac100]

I can't tell you what to do but the one year I had this type of decision I decided to buy him more gifts instead of the one big thing. He liked his Christmas but was very disappointed. It liked to killed me that I made the wrong decision.

[jellybean051901]

I would buy the one big thing she really wants. She would probably be happier with that if that is what she really wants rather than a bunch of little stuff

[fluffkin79]

I love having a lot of things for my kids to open, and also try to make it even between kids. I think that I would go against popular opinion here and give her other gifts and let her buy the ipod with her own money (if you are sure she would have enough after the holidays). She has been saving for it and buying it for herself would be a great reward for her efforts. Either way she will get the ipod and some other things, but this way she will have more to open on Christmas and have that feeling of ownership from spending her own money on something she really wants.

 

Is she wasn't already saving for it I would agree with everone else and say get her just that one thing.

[dtwdmaty]

My girls are only getting the 64GB Touch and a couple of small things this year, too. I actually talked to them about it and they choose to give up getting the usual big stack of presents. Not many surprises this year, but they will be thrilled none the less!

[bugglebum]

My daughters are 5 years apart and I had a similar issue a few years ago. I opted to get the ipod nano the oldest wanted so desperately. She did have less gifts to open but none of that mattered when she opened the iPod. All else was forgotten. I have also found that when my kids are given money to spend with the intent of buying a specific thing, they never do. Too much catches their eye. I like surprising my kids every year with the ONE thing they never expected me to get or afford. Like someone else posted, Dollar Tree and the drug stores are great places to find cheap filler gifts.

[sbwolfer]

I'd get her the Touch since that's what she wants most of all. Then take her shopping after Christmas so she can spend her money on whatever she wants. As an added bonus all of that other stuff will be on sale after Christmas! Teach her the fine art of bargain shopping!

[harrispizza4]

I just went through the same kind of thing with my DS10 and his birthday. He wanted an Xbox 360.......if I had gotten him that I told him there would be no party and no other gifts. He said he didn't care if he got the Xbox. But I knew after his birthday he would have enough money to buy it himself. I decided to throw him a nice party and gave him a few other gifts he had wanted. He bought the Xbox with his own money the next day and I am so glad we did it this way. He takes much better care and is so careful with his Xbox now that he fully knows what the cost is because he had to hand his own money to the cashier. My son loves his purchase and is not upset that I did not buy him one for his birthday! So I would say let her buy her own while you get to fill the tree with all the other gifts you wanted to get! Either way, I'm sure she will be happy!

[Jen8112]

I would get her the Touch. Nothing is better on X-mas morning then opening that ONE thing you HAD to have!

[jdrd90]

I'm in the minority here. I am all about getting a child what they "really" want for Christmas. With that said, if she will have the money for one, I would let her buy the one she wants after Christmas. She may find an even better deal on one. I know she said she is fine with the one her cousin has, but I bet she would be even more thrilled with a bigger/better one. If you do this, then you can get her all the other fun stuff, which means she has more to open on Christmas. Weird I think this way, since I am always "get what they really want" kind of person. Give her cash and a little note, telling her it is for her to get the Ipod she really wants,, then help her find the best bargain. jmho

[Elmck]

I would get her the touch from Wal-mart ( I read somewhere on here that they will have it with a 50 gift card too) Then I would use the card to get her a few more things.

[siczlo]

I would get her the Touch. Nothing is better on X-mas morning then opening that ONE thing you HAD to have!

I agree!!!!!

 

Relatives can get her other stuff or Itunes cards!

[heatherbade]

I am getting my dd10 the 2nd gen touch. It's only $179!! Can't beat that price! Get her the touch then she can use her$$ for after Xmas sales

[krissy72]

On a totally different note, could you give her half of the money she needs for the touch as per "big" gift? That way you can stiil get her other things to open, you have also made it possible for her to get her ipod plus she will have money left over for anything else she wants (the Christmas money of other family members).

[daysangel]

On a totally different note, could you give her half of the money she needs for the touch as per "big" gift? That way you can stiil get her other things to open, you have also made it possible for her to get her ipod plus she will have money left over for anything else she wants (the Christmas money of other family members).

I think this is a great idea... give her some money or a gift card for the Itouch but she also gets more presents!

[bluebear]

Oh, I am so sorry, I hate decisions like this, especially since I am the QUEEN of indecision. Reading all the responses, I am still torn for you, they are all good ideas. Last year my daughter wanted a laptop and a Zune, plus just a couple other little things. She knew that would be it, but she's 18. Well, I've always loved buying gifts, and I like to see all the presents for them as much as the kids do. Plus, I had to have a nice spread under the tree from Santa, a lot for the younger kids' sake. She was a senior, so I got her cheap little plastic plates, bowls, and cups on clearance to take to college. Very cheap, and worked as a nice filler.

Good luck! I'm sure either way would be good, especially if you take her first thing the next morning to get it. I personally would go ahead and get it though and get a few more little things. Cute socks, gloves, lotions, can all be wrapped...

[rjncmj]

I love having a lot of things for my kids to open, and also try to make it even between kids. I think that I would go against popular opinion here and give her other gifts and let her buy the ipod with her own money (if you are sure she would have enough after the holidays). She has been saving for it and buying it for herself would be a great reward for her efforts. Either way she will get the ipod and some other things, but this way she will have more to open on Christmas and have that feeling of ownership from spending her own money on something she really wants.

 

Is she wasn't already saving for it I would agree with everone else and say get her just that one thing.

I agree with fluffkin. Since your daughter is already saving for it and you know she will get the money by x-mas, I'd let her earn the valuable lesson of saving up for something wanted so badly. The satisfaction, pride, confidence, and maturity she can gain from this is invaluable.

 

Plus if you come through for her this year, there often is that expectation in years to follow. And the gifts will just get more and more expensive.

[jade2002]

I would get her the other things so that she can have more to open. She was already saving her money to begin with and will have enough for it when others give her cash for Christmas .Had she not been saving or couldn't come up with the money, I would have went with buying the Ipod.

[allshoppedout]

I just went through the same kind of thing with my DS10 and his birthday. He wanted an Xbox 360.......if I had gotten him that I told him there would be no party and no other gifts. He said he didn't care if he got the Xbox. But I knew after his birthday he would have enough money to buy it himself. I decided to throw him a nice party and gave him a few other gifts he had wanted. He bought the Xbox with his own money the next day and I am so glad we did it this way. He takes much better care and is so careful with his Xbox now that he fully knows what the cost is because he had to hand his own money to the cashier. My son loves his purchase and is not upset that I did not buy him one for his birthday! So I would say let her buy her own while you get to fill the tree with all the other gifts you wanted to get! Either way, I'm sure she will be happy!

I agree with harrispizza, let her buy it...and besides you didn't really want to hang out most of Turkey Day trying to get that, did you ? :) good luck

[nawth21]

She has the rest of her adult life to experience the joys of saving and saving in order to purchase her wants. There's nothing like getting that one gift you wanted on Xmas.

[suzy3333]

Have you checked Ebay? I got really lucky and purchased 3 iPod touches. Each one was 8gb 3rd generation. And even though they were used, they were still covered under the original warranty and I still was able to get that added "applecare" coverage. The first one (which my 12 year old was saving his money for) I got for $130ish. He gave me the money for it and he is super careful with it because he worked very hard to earn that money (shoveling snow, helping with the babies, etc.) The 2nd and 3rd ones were less than $105ish each. I know you're asking why 3. I put bids in for alot of them (for my 12 year old) and I was the high bidder on 3 of them. My 3 year old (at the time of purchase he was 2) and my 1 year old (soon to be 2) share one of the other ones. The 3rd one is a backup.

 

Just an idea. If you go the Ebay route, just make sure you read the description carefully (every word) and ask for a serial number. Then you can look up the warranty information on the apple website and see if it's still covered and if you could see purchase the applecare protection. Hope that helps.

[Stowasser]

Before you make the decision, start looking around. Try Craigslist, eBay and the deals that are coming out right now. Also check out Apple's refurb page. We got my daughter a refurb nano for $100 with warranty, the ipod touches are just alittle more. Cowboom just had a bunch of refurbs on their site too, Ipod touch was $129 for the latest version (I think it was) but I didn't like the no warranty thing. I have seen alot of Craigslist listings for great touches that people are selling since they are upgrading or maybe their iphone etc does the same thing.

[Brad]

moved to holiday forum as this is more of a gifting discussion.