Friday, December 15, 2006

10 days until Christmas

Prior to becoming a parent I promised myself that I would not be one of those parents who would spoil their children and over indulge them at Christmas and their birthdays.
My rule prior to becoming a mom was three toys, max, no more than $100 per child, and we would have to give away toys to the Salvation Army, Goodwill or people in our church or neighborhood before we would bring in something new.
Now that was my rule prior to being a parent.

What happened????

For Christmas, my precious little, sweet, darling, angel (who I seem to yell the words "no" and "stop that" and "don't ignore me, you heard what I said" to a lot lately) will open or have waiting for him under the tree:
1. a bicycle with training wheels - $35.
2. a battery-operated motorcycle that he can ride - I thought it was a bargain at $42. Do you know how expensive those Power wheel-like things are?
3. A Thomas the Train set. - again, I thought this was a bargin at $42. Do you know how expensive those things are? I got it on sale in October.
4. A Bop-It - one of those Simon-says type of thing - $5.
5. A kiddie C.D. player. It was only $5. I no longer want this thing, but it was an October purchase as well.
6. A radio controlled BMW convertible car - mommy is looking forward to playing with this. - $15. I got it in August and according to the box, the original price was $30.
7. A radio controlled 4-wheeler that spins, flips and pops wheelies - again a mommy favorite. I found it on sale for $8. Again, I got it in August and according to the box, the original price was $25.
8 A fire truck - It was only $6 and it makes noise and has friction movement. He'll like that. He likes fire trucks.
9. A Thomas the Train flashlight. Cool as heck. I got it on sale about two weeks ago for $12. Original price was $16.99.
Total spent: $170.
That is $70 over my dollar limit and six gifts over my gift limit.
But look at what I was able to do with that money?
Oh, I will also fix him a fruit, nut and candy box. My mom used to do that for me as a kid and I loved that. I can't remember all of the toys I got (and I always got a boatload) but to this day I remember how much I looked forward to my stocking or box filled with nuts, apples, oranges, boxes of raisins, and candy. My adult sisters and brothers alway talk about those boxes to this day. Our parents really made the holiday special for us.

But here is my problem: Should I give all of it to him or save some of it five months for his birthday in May. And if I do save some if it, what? I know he does not need two riding toys for Christmas, but do I give him the bike or the motorcycle. Note, the motorcycle came in a box so assembly is required.

Dion has a boatload of toys and clothes. I give stuff away, yet stuff just keep coming in and coming in.
Yes, I buy a lot of it, (I love the consignment store, Once upon a Child. I also find good bargins at Target, Old Navy, Babies-R-Us and Macy's. If it's not on sale, I don't buy it - period. His shoes usually come from Payless, Sears or Wal-Mart)
But, I don't spend a lot on his stuff. Still, I am constantly told that he is dressed nicely and that he looks preppy or like a little man or a little teen-ager. So I know I must be making some wise choices.
Plus, I have been blessed with donations of slightly used toys and clothes from people at my church and my job. That truly is a blessing.

So he is blessed and will continue to be blessed.
So should I give in an give him all of those things for Christmas?

Thoughts?

2 Comments:

At 10:17 PM, Blogger Emilie said...

Well! I am quickly finding out what a softie I've become when it comes to snapping up things for my baby, so I am not at all surprised to read your list and see that you've been buying gifts for Dion all year long! I think it's really sweet, actually. You're such a loving mom. :)

I am no one to judge whether nine gifts is too many, but you seem to think it is, so in that case, I think saving some for his birthday is a great idea. Also, giving some to the charities. Is he old enough where he can understand the concept of giving toys to needy children and helping choose which ones to give? Maybe not yet.

Anyway, my vision of what we'll do when Daniel gets older is that if a new toy comes into the house, we'll pick an old one to send away — to a charity or whatever. That way we won't get cluttered up with toys. But I have NO idea how that will work once we actually get there — parenthood continues to surprise me with new things I learn about myself!

I don't feel like this is very helpful; I think following your gut feelings is your best bet. But ... for what it's worth. :)

 
At 10:18 PM, Blogger Emilie said...

P.S. I appreciated what you said in response to that nasty post by "mother," and I hope you didn't feel attacked by it yourself.

 

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