I Want That. I Want That

My son is only 2 and so he is not really asking for things yet. I think that we all have to look at what we can afford. If we could give our kids all they ask for and spoil them then how does this teach them about the values of money? Also it makes them quite spoilt getting loads of things. Why buy so many things when some of them may never really get used. Sometimes some parents with money have more money than sense. I am on a tight budget, i try to do the majority of my buying in the sales, i like to take advantage of this as it saves me quite a bit of money. Children can't always get what they want, and money certainly can't buy love.

I remember when the kids were little every other day they would say that wanted this or that for Christmas. Every time Toys R Us came out with a new flyer they would circle all the times they wanted. If I bought them everything they wanted, I would ended up purchase just about the entire store. We would get them some things that they asked for along with other things we saw that we thought they would like. Apparently over the years, we have done pretty good as they were always very happy Christmas morning. I think you have to set up some sort of budget in oppose to getting your children EVERYTHING they want...otherwise, when they get older and the prices increase on the items they want...we could have been in a lot of trouble. Now that the two younger ones are teenagers, it gets a bit costly at Christmas time.

hi doreannmwin oh I remembet those years and we tried to get at least tow of those things they wanted but they knew we were short of moneyand were happy with what they got.now my son is 51 and I am having a hard time trying to figure out what to give hime as he has so many electronic gizmos already he bought. i am on a small budget so had to be a thrifty gift but something he will like.Last year I made a care package and also gave him a barnes and nobel gift card too.I may go online to look also.But we never ever gave our two all theywanted, just what we could afford.

sadly mine always knew that santa would bring what santa could afford. even when little i explained that sometimes santa didnt have everything they wanted to give and when they were old enough to know we/ or usually, I was santa, they knew they'd get what i could afford. we were always very poor. with all my husbands before John. by the time i married John they were all grown then, they got pretty much what they wanted because suddenly, i was fairly well to do.

I would take into consideration what my kids asked for, but that did not mean that I would definitely buy it. The tv, esp the cartoon channels, are crazy right now with all of these toy commercials. Life is full of disappointments.....Christmas is a great time to learn that. Your SIL, thinks that the kids will be disappointed, it sounds like they are greedy and are used to getting what they want. I do not agree with this. You are doing a great job with your kids. Merry Christmas.

Deep inside, I also would want to give everything to my kids. But realistically, I cant. And like your eldest, my eldest has grown past the 'I want that-I want that' stage. Not because he knows he is not getting it, but I hope it's because he is being more matured. Now it is more like a negotiation of what he'll be getting for Christmas (And thankfully, he has not asked for the new Xbox 360 console). The little one I have no problem. He looks up to his big brother and thinks he is of the same age. So, whatever his big brother agrees to, he is agreeable too!

Your sister in law is creating a monster. Someday she will regret it. Its not teaching a child the value of money when they get whatever they want. its always the big expensive stuff too. My sister did the same things with her kids. She considered them not getting much when she spent under $500 for each child. Last year they each got new laptops, video games, etc. My niece also got one of the over $100 hair straighteners. What the heck. The kids each have to have the latest and best cell phones. The list goes on and on. when they were little they had so much stuff they barely played with what they had. my sister says because she wasn't spoiled, she was going to spoil her kids. When my son was young, of course he wanted nintendo. He paid part of it and we paid the rest of it. When it came time to buy shoes, he had a certain limit that he couldn't go over. he had nice stuff but not overboard.

I don't buy every toy they ask for, but in our house Christmas and Birthdays are the only times they really get toys. We try to make sure that they get things that they ask for. My kids are pretty good kids and don't ask for too much. This year I can barely get my daughter to tell me what she wants. When I ask her she says she can't think of anything. It's making my job a little bit tricky this year Every year they get one big gift and some smaller ones. The big one they want this year is the Xbox with Kinect. It is expensive, but we set aside a certain amount for their big gift and it's not too bad.

I don't encourage my kids for every other thing they want...surely due to child desires they ask for some things, but i assure them that they will get them at proper time....i feel very sorry sometime that my son is asking for remote control car...and i have listened to him so many times but not yet decided when to buy it for him...i think in my next cash out from VBA...where i have to shop with my 2/3 amount...i can buy that for him...

I think there needs to be a healthy balance. We don't really want to spoil them, but we do want to be sure they will love their gifts. Just before the twins birthday I found a list on my desk of the gifts they wanted for their birthday. I had planned on getting them 1 outfit each and a toy.. but I wasn't sure yet what the toy would be. Their list said they wanted Zhu Zhu pets.. so that's what I got them. Well, the Zhu Zhu pets are such a big hit in this house that I now have to go and get them for my younger 2 children as well. But, sometimes a gift that is not on their list ends up being the one they like most. For instance, the twins birthday. They got the Zhu Zhu pets they asked for.. my son got a Iron Man toy he wanted, my daughter got a movie we knew she'd love. My mom got them a couple cheap things.. an arts & crafts type thing.. and she got my son a Checkers set and my daughter a Bingo set.... Don't you know these kids have been playing Checkers and Bingo more than with any other toy since their birthday! And I never would have gotten them something like that.

Good Mornning! Well, having finished my shopping already, and knowing that I will not be buying anything more, my response to my 5 YO is usually something along the lines of, "We'll have to put it on the Santa List" or "We'll have to see what Santa comes up with for you..." Normally, if he sees something that he wants, and it's something that I would allow him to have, I TRY to get it... But, like you, thru out the year, I am usually purchasing things along the way so that I don't have a huge amount to do now... So, as it gets closer to Chrismas, I start telling him, we should ask Santa for that... and when it's time to write his letter to Santa, I gently remind him of things he's mentioned or things he could use, even things that I know I purchased already... So on THE Morning, he gets the "i got what I asked for" feeling. I try to be very honest with him, if he requests something that I don't allow, I tell him no. If he wants something that is really expensive, it really depends on what it is and how likely he is to REALLY use it and enjoy it for years to come. For example, this past birthday, we spent over $600 on an inflatable water slide. Now, he doesn't fully understand costs, usage, and the way we look at it, but he does get that he can't have everything he asks for, because we tell him that. We plan for large purchases for him because we have ideas of what we want him to have as a child. Nine times out of ten, I find that he forgets about what he wanted but didn't get, because we really try to get him things that will cause huge excitement, things that he's asked for in the past, but that we said no to... for whatever reason. Even though we budget and prepare, we DO NOT buy everything he wants, we buy what we WANT him to have, what is appropriate for a 5 year old, and what he has earned.

Oh geez - this is exactly what we are going through right now with my daughter. She is Princess and the Frog CRAZY . . . and all she wants is Tiana this and Tiana that - no matter what it is - even if her face in just on the package!!!!! She has been very "I want, I want" lately - and I told her that she has to earn/deserve stuff . . . she's not going to get just because she jumps up and down that she wants it. We don't have the money to buy EVERYTHING anyway - but besides that point - I don't think it's good to just give in and give them everything that they want. Now, I did buy a lot of Princess Tiana stuff - but reasonable and useful stuff - not "crap" that she would only use once or never. This year we're going to try to go to events like toy drives and such so she understands more about GIVING than receiving!!

My daughter is three so we are still working on the Christmas Rule but I told her to pick one thing that she really wanted to tell Santa about. Well she came up with something I had not even thought of. I must admit I did get it for her she wanted a Jessie talking doll from toy story. Well I didn't explain how things work very well because she goes and sees Santa and we are getting ready to leave and she asks me very seriously "Mom? Where is my Jessie doll?" ok that was my fault so I had to explain that she had to wait until Christmas and see if she gets it. I will admit that I went way over board this Christmas and didn't mean to but I started about September and got almost everything either or sale or with a coupon. I also was able to save up a lot of amazon gift cards as well. Now I am considering saving some until her birthday. I try and not spoil her and she will even tell me no on things because she has one. But there were are few things she told me about this year and I made sure that either I got them or someone in the family did. I think she sets limits better than I do I just get too excited and when I find a way to get her things that she wants for very little I can't pass it up. I am sure that it will change as she gets older and wants more expensive things but I am glad I can spoil her this year. Last year I got most things off of craigslist and she was so happy to get them. One of her favorite things to do is go to goodwill and get books she doesn't care that they are not new and I hope that it stays this was as I won't always be able to get her the newest things. Good thing this year most of the stuff is still pretty cheap. Next year I better hold off until October before shopping!