Christmas Presents - El Cajon,CA

If you can afford to indulge her -- go for it ! We usually set a budget for a $ amount each year and that amount increased a little every year. When they were younger they got lots of presents because the toys cost less per item; as they get older the cost of the "toys" increases so the #'s decrease. 'Too much' is buying more than you can afford.

Well, Santa brings one present each and one to share. That's 3. And they we get them 5 each. This year we will also have them buy a gift for each other. The 19 month old bought her older sister a pair of sparkly shoes. Something the older sister likes and because our 19 month old is a SERIOUS shoe girl.

I read a great article once that suggested you keep the number to around 5. You can dial up or down the cost of each category. If you spend X amount on one category, you can spend less on another.

1. Something to love (stuffed animal or doll)
2. Toy or game to use imagination
3. Game or gear to be played actively (jump rope, balls, etc.)
4. Something for creativity (art supplies, craft, easel, etc.)
5. A book.

We add an ornament for each one to keep that reflects the year. The extra toys I find for cheap go into a box that I use for Easter, birthdays, and anytime occasions.

The stockings are filled with practical things and fun things....socks, underwear, lip gloss, a cd, and a little bit of candy. This year it will be art supplies.....I heard Santa is bringing them an easel. :)

It depends...Perhaps a half dozen or so along with their stockings...I like to wrap up a bunch of little things so they can enjoy being surprised. They are still at the ages and that a box of crayons and coloring books are a thrill. :) I replied in another post that I am spending less than a $100 a child and I am on course to do just that :)

OKay, wow. I go WAY overboard based on the numbers here. I just looked at my spreadsheet and my kids have 14 things each to open. That's not including stockings or anything I haven't gotten yet (socks, underwear, etc).

I don't go all crazy for birthdays (keep to a $150 budget then) but on Christmas we go all out. However, when I look at my local friends FB pictures of their trees and gifts, I am in the norm.

Maybe it varies by location? I know my mom and dad always went overboard with the 5 of us...and my husbands mom did not (could not). Either way, I will continue to do what I do and go way overboard at Christmas.

My kids may drive me nuts sometimes, but they are great kids and they deserve to be completely spoiled one day out of the year :).

They usually get 5 presents each. When they were younger, the budget was $50 each, then it went up to $100 each. This year is an exception because the are both getting DSi XL - so budget has been blown to about $250 each for that and a few other small things. Next year we will go back to the $100 limit........
But we also have family and friends that buy stuff for them. Do what you can afford. Maybe a large gift and a bunch of smaller ones?

I just saw your "So What Happened" and thought: What if you do gifts like membership to a local playgroup (Gymboree has classes for older kids), a dance or gymnastics class, or something like that? Is she old enough to understand the "abstract" of a membership for later use? Anyways, I don't count gifts, either. I just buy the things she needs (clothes, undies, socks), a few things she would enjoy (books, coloring books, art supplies, sticker sets), and one "big" toy (last year an easel, the year before a wagon). I think it's more about the "spirit" of the holiday and being sure that your kid appreciates what they're given and don't just expect a bunch of stuff! My girl's 3rd birthday is next week and you know what she asked for? A Christmas Tree (because we decided to wait until after her birthday to put up the tree) and cherries (she loves to eat the cherries on top of milkshakes)! We are thinking about getting a puppy as her "big" gift this year! I'm so excited!
Anyways, you just have to figure out what works for your daughter. Depending on how she "responds" to the gifts, you might consider a way for her to do charity work or having her donate some of her old/gently used stuff? (So you're not swimming in toys and she will learn to appreciate what she has.)

Probably one hundred and five.

Seriously, "too much" may depend on the child's attitude. When a child starts to act spoiled and privileged instead of happy and thankful, then it's time to cut back.

That said, I love to indulge my grandchildren! I don't have a huge budget (especially now that there are five-going-on-six of them), but I think children enjoy seeing *quantity* when they can. So I wrap a tablet of drawing paper and a box of crayons or drawing pencils - depending on the child's age - as one gift, a book as another, and on from there. They're really getting little things, but in a big way.

If there's a big-ticket thing he/she really wants, that would cut back on the quantity. I think that's reasonable, and something children can learn to understand without having to study finance.

These grandkids are great, if I say so myself - they don't mind hand-me-down clothes and toys from cousins, or from Gran-the-Queen-of-the-Thrift-Shoppers, the rest of the year. So it's fun to make Christmas and birthdays a little special.

I get my kids about 8 presents and they each get eachother a gift. I also know my mom got they like 3 things and my sister got a couple of things and then all the other aunts/uncle gifts. I just want to say that my friend got her kid a ton of stuff one year and she had to stop opening cause it was to overwhelming. I think she was 4yr old, then the next year she got her a bunch of zu zu pets and things and the little girl was like "urgg another zu zu pet" I think it was just too much for her. I think it is okay to spoil on christmas just make sure its not going to be to much for your child.

We're supposed to COUNT?

I don't count. It's somewhere in between too many to know off the top of your head, and not so many you count out of shock.

What I DO know is that things change every year. We have our stocking and santa presents, and presents from us to each other. I also know the VALUE of the presents changes rather drastically year by year. Some years we have money, and some we don't. Rather ironically (I suppose) our "biggest" present type xmas's have been in years we don't have a lot of money to spend. It's all cash, it's just that some years MASSIVE sales happen. So we can get a Flip for $50 instead of $299, $60 games for $10, etc. Then on years we have enough cash... my son's wishlist is full of dollar store items. Which just cracks me up.((So too, the argument of "what will they want NEXT???" <insert horrified voice> Um. What they don't have. Like a paddle ball for a buck.))

So many fctors that impact that - how old is she, what kind of things does she want?

If she's young she won't know any better and you can pretty much give her as few or as many as you can afford. I think 6 - 10 presents to open is more than enough. Remember whatever you give her this year will become the expectation for next year.

If she's older and is wishing for costly stuff like an ipod, DS, computer, etc. - then warn her that it could be her only present. A few years ago my DD wanted a laptop computer and nothing else. We made sure she understand that becuase it's really expensive that would be her only present - and her grandparents would have to chip in - so there wouldn't be other presents. She fully understood and that's pretty much all she got. (She got some clothes that year too but she had grown a few inches and desperately needed them.) When I was 8 all I wanted was a pair of leather roller skates (not the kind with the key). I knew it was all I'd get - and that was fine. As my sisters and brothers opened their 6 or 7 presents I sat, with great expectations, holding my heavy, wrapped box - just savoring the feeling of anticipation. I didn't care and i was so happy to have those skates. Now more than 40 years later I still love to roller skate!!! and I have very fond memories of that Christmas.

We now have no grandparents to indulge my kids - and the aunts and uncles are also on slim budgets - so my kids are the ones amongst their friends who really don't get presents from anyone other than us (one aunt gives token small gifts). They have lots of friends who have indulgent aunts & uncles & grandparents.... Oh well - I have lots of friends whose parents have taken them on vacation, bought them new cars, chipped in on kitchen remodeling, etc. That's a part of a life lesson...

Rather than indulge your child, spend time bakingi cookies or making Christmas tree ornaments as gifts for neighbors. She'll have fond memories of those times with you.

Wow, I feel super stingy now :) My 3 year old already has loads of toys (many hand me downs from friends), and he does get some gifts from family (although mostly money for me to buy him gifts). Last year I think we gave him 3 gifts (same with his recent birthday), and then he got another 2 smallish ones (bought by me) from the money from relatives.

This year he is getting 3 from us again, more legos, a remote control car, and a hot wheel race track set (less than $50 total). We are planning on doing a kids movie in the theater and fun dinner with him with some of the money from relatives, and maybe I'll do clothes or a blanket for his new bed with the rest of the relative money. He will also be getting a bike from his grandfather (a few days after Christmas), and that is it for gifts.

I know he will be happy with what he gets, he always is. Just realize that the more you give, the more you have to keep giving to keep them satisfied.

We spend $50 per child (this year will be three gifts for each), not including stocking stuffers. But... we have lots of relatives who tend to over indulge, so we want to keep them from getting way too spoiled.