3 kids...Equal amount of money spent...Or equal amount of gifts?

[JollyGG]

My husband laughs at me because even though the kids are too little to really worry about counting presents (4YO and 18months) it still drives me batty if they aren't even. They have both the same number of presents and approximately the same amount of money spent.

 

Of course my kids live to fight over their toys so esentially they are getting the same things, just the age appropriate version of it. Each getting jammies, each getting a leap pad, each getting books for the leappad, each gets a movie. When I don't get them the same things it is equivilent in value. So while DD gets block DS get stars for his cealing and while DD gets a second pair of jammies DS gets a puzzle.

 

However, Santa doesn't worry about matching the cost of the present he brings. He only brings one and it is whatever I he think the child would most enjoy.

[bayhaysay]

I do equal amount of gifts. My 3yo will have no idea that dd12's iPod was $200 and her strawberry shortcake baby was $20.

[lisamag]

my son is 14 and my dd is 6 they got 17 each and there was only $1 differents, go figure, i have no idea how i did that. i try to stay with in $20 differents. however that was before i looked in the amazon threads lol. i have to check the money but i know my dd has 2 more then my son now, but i'm getting him a Wii game so that'll pretty much bring them even since the one i'm getting cost $50.

[Scanner420]

I really don't have an opinion on the number of gifts, but I do on the dinners for X-Mas eve and Day.

 

Since your family isn't getting the hints......make Christmas Eve a Potluck dinner and have everyone bring a dish. From what I've experienced in the past, Christmas Eve dinners are a little more informal than the big dinner on Christmas Day.

[bayhaysay]

Since your family isn't getting the hints......make Christmas Eve a Potluck dinner and have everyone bring a dish. From what I've experienced in the past, Christmas Eve dinners are a little more informal than the big dinner on Christmas Day.

We have 5 dinners to go to (spread out over a few days) and this is what we do everywhere we go. It works out well.

[kieransmummy]

I try to spend about the same amount on each of my children we have four. My oldest in 14 so she will only get a couple of gifts compaired to my five year old who list includes smaller less pricey items.

[dmmiller]

My oldest is 12, well almost 13 as he says...

Well, since my DS is the same age, these are the types of things I think would

interest him.

- CD (even though he has an Ipod, he can rip songs from it, and load on the ipod.

- Axe gift set (with shower gel and deodorant)

- Football cards (he's bigtime into collecting)

- Handheld electronic games (I saw they have are you smarter than a 5th grader out for $15-20)

- Board games (monopoly, battleship, clue, checkers, etc.)

 

Have you been on Amazon.com in the last week? You can get 2-4 gifts for Under $20

for his age group. Free shipping might be over, but it still might be worth a looksy.

 

Good luck. :)

[rimshot]

When my kids were younger, I did both. When the number of presents were different, I'd get a larger box and put a few presents in the box.

Never had a complaint.

[brynnfromtheblock]

Both .... my oldest wants things that are more expensive so she gets a good thing, and then a bunch of little cheapie things just so she has as much to unwrap as the others... like this year she wanted an MP3, so the case, charger and "bling" I bought for her all got wrapped separately... My middle one got more than anyone else, so 3 of her Power Rangers got put in one box.... When we hand out presents we give them each one to open at a time, so I'd hate for someone to be sitting there with nothing...

[samisma]

I'm so lucky that my kids aren't old enough to play the "count the presents" game!!

My kids: DD is 5 (almost), DS is 2.

We do try to keep it all equal, but at the moment we're not too concerned b/c we know the kids aren't. I'm sure I'll be singing a different tune in a few years!!

 

You might be lucky. I can't recall a time when my brother and I ever noticed who had more presents. The only thing that was ever noticed... My brother was given a car when he was 17 (oh boy was it a beater car!), I was almost 13 and boy was I like "what?!" but then my parents gave me sewing machine and I felt I had the better half of the deal. (ha, and i did - i used that machine well into my 20s. the car lasted 2 years before it just died)

[DanelleR]

I am driving myself crazy over this same problem!!!! I have 3 kids, oldest DS (almost 10), DS (almost 3) and a 7 month old baby girl. I always get them equal amount of presents and TRY really hard to spend the same amount of money. This year my oldest is getting older,LOL and it seems like all he wants is expensive stuff! Thankfully with the Amazon sale, I was able to pick him up a few cheaper items (Cube World, Simpsons Clue, a Yankees cap) so that he will have around the same # of presents to open BUT I feel like he only has one BIG gift from us and that is a Yankees jersey ($50:eyepoppin)! So, this is terrible, but he has this whole list of Wii games he wants and I am going to get him one even though it will mean that I spent a little more on him than the other two. He is a GREAT kid (straight A's, always kind and respectful and giving and he puts up with ALOT from the little ones, LOL) so I really want to make Christmas time special for him and not have him feel in ANY WAY that the little ones got more than he did. I did have a talk with him already though (just in case) that because the things he wants cost more that he may not have as many gifts to open and he was very understanding. He is such an AWESOME kid, I am so lucky!:heart:

:blush:Sorry this got so long, but I feel your pain because I have been stressing about this too!!

[3cuties4me]

My kids are 4.5, 3.5 and 1.5 and I always make sure they have the same number of presents. They each open one present at a time together (like all 3 open a present.... and then we get another and they all 3 open another.... to keep it moving... lol) so when we get down to the last few it would be really obvious if one of the kids didn't have as many presents.

 

 

~ Erin (24y/o SAHM to 3 cuties ages 4 and under.... plus Baby #4 due July 24th, 2008)

[sistergldnhair66]

As my kids are older, 22, 19 and 16, it is equal amount of money and they understand this. I began using this method for the past couple of years. When they were younger it was definately equal amount of gifts.

 

For example, this year DD is getting a camera lens she wants. It's 700.00 dollars, and the camera backpack, was another 2. She also got a new verizon phone, the NV one.

 

and DS who is 22 is getting a Jet Blue GC for about 500 dollars, and also some spending money when he books the trip. Those are their big gifts. Thing is that DS who is 19, is getting much smaller gifts, clothes and stuff. So I told the others, theirs cost WAY more so expect DS #2 to have alot of gifts.

[sistergldnhair66]

well I made a big mess up and bought more for my ds9 than for my dd3. and he got a wii on top of everything else! now i have to back track and buy her more stuff.

This has happened to me more times than I care to remember. I used to hate that part.

[sistergldnhair66]

We.go.by.money.spent...DS.is.12.and.knows.his.stuff.is.much.more.expensive.than.his.5.

year.old.sisters.He.has.been.able.to.understand.this.for.a.couple.years.now.

 

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Don't.mind.the.dots....my.spacebar.is.broken.

Maybe Santa will bring you a new keyboard for Christmas.

[tjredsox4]

Thanks for everyone's input. Maybe I could fill in the blanks with some socks and underwear. I don't know it seems harder to find cheap things for teen boys than girls. If I had girls i could buy earrings, hair things, make-up, etc. But boys.... It's harder. If he opens underwear or socks I think he'll be offended! Cd's are out because of the Mp3 players. So far I got him the Zune ($100), Zune travel pack ($30 on BF), Zune rugged case ($24), and a funny saying t-shirt ($12). I was going to buy the 3 month membership for Zune ($45) at Meijer. That puts me over the $200 each kid limit, while still lacking 4 presents compared to his younger brothers. My budget is tight because, as usual, I have to provide dinner Christmas Eve and Christmas day for family (ALWAYS at my house!) It would be nice if family would pitch in some $$$. I've given hints, but no one seems to get it. I spend about $300 for dinner and drinks for the 2 nights. Not to mention hours of cleaning and cooking! Don't get me wrong, I love having the family over, but gesh, it's getting to be a very costly expense that the other members in my family don't have to endure.

As a fill in gift I will sometimes buy something like a bag of doritos or whatever is one of the favorites of the child I am trying to catch up or a bottle of their favorite, soda, juice, etc. that is just for them. I know when I still lived at home I loved getting my own snacks or drinks because there was never anything left with my dad, brother and sister eating or drinking what I liked. This year I bought a container of Pringles for each of my kids and my daughter is getting a deck of cards since she likes to play solitaire. Sometimes gum (if children are allowed to chew it) is popular for teenagers since they like to share it at school. My daughter and neice are always buying gum for school for them and their friends. Hope this is of some help. Good luck and Merry Christmas!

[Princess7915]

I had a friend as a young teen who had 5 siblings and every year at Christmas they would each get a junk box. Looking back I know why - there wasn't a lot of money in the family and it was an inexpensive gift. I, as an only child who got everything I could dream of, always thought it was really wierd. But they all always looked forward to their junk food boxes!! It was filled with thier favorite soda, chips, candy etc. and it was just for them. I think it's a good idea expecially for kids in the 6-11 yr old age range. You could do a heck of a box for $15.

[kim_r4]

Thanks for everyone's input. Maybe I could fill in the blanks with some socks and underwear. I don't know it seems harder to find cheap things for teen boys than girls. If I had girls i could buy earrings, hair things, make-up, etc. But boys.... It's harder. If he opens underwear or socks I think he'll be offended! Cd's are out because of the Mp3 players. So far I got him the Zune ($100), Zune travel pack ($30 on BF), Zune rugged case ($24), and a funny saying t-shirt ($12). I was going to buy the 3 month membership for Zune ($45) at Meijer. That puts me over the $200 each kid limit, while still lacking 4 presents compared to his younger brothers. My budget is tight because, as usual, I have to provide dinner Christmas Eve and Christmas day for family (ALWAYS at my house!) It would be nice if family would pitch in some $$$. I've given hints, but no one seems to get it. I spend about $300 for dinner and drinks for the 2 nights. Not to mention hours of cleaning and cooking! Don't get me wrong, I love having the family over, but gesh, it's getting to be a very costly expense that the other members in my family don't have to endure.

Next year, sometime in November, tell your family that this year you want to have Christmas Eve dinner at (insert favorite fancy restaurant here) because they have the BEST shrimp scampi (or whatever) you have ever tasted! That way, you'll only end up paying for your portion, and you'll be able to enjoy a nice meal without all the preparation and cleanup!! Sounds like you deserve it !!! :)