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I thought I was giving my kids the best childhood ever until my 4-year-old asked why we didn't own a 'bigger golf cart'
(www.businessinsider.com)
this post was submitted on 01 Sep 2024
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I tell ya, the present thing is rough. When I was a kid, I got cards from aunts and uncles. But now they all send gifts. So there is 5 gifts right there. Then there is the grandparents. They have so much time to shop, they can bring 5+ gifts for each kid and only spend $50. So we are already at 15 and we didn't even buy anything yet. It's nuts.
Also, everything seems to have to be a gift now. Can't just buy a thing and give it to them. It has to wait to be a present. Or maybe that's just my wife. But also, when I was a kid, even in the rural area I lived, there was a convenience story where we could buy gum, or baseball cards and stuff for very little money. Now a pack of Pokémon is like $6 for way less cards. The only cheap things kids can buy is candy, and we aren't supposed to let them do that anymore either. So everything ends up as a present.
We specifically don't wait for holidays to give things we want to gift to our daughter (soon to be 3). On her birthday in two weeks she will get a book, a plush animal, and a second hand peppa pig puzzle (I hate peppa pig but she loves it and she doesn't even know there is a show). That's it, but she gets many things throughout the year. My husband hates holidays and celebrations, I think that's where this feeling of "let's please not make a huge stock of presents to give her twice a year" came from. And it is so much less pressure to find "the perfect gift".
And you can get rid of things much more easily. I don't know about you, but if I got a bad birthday present, I tend to keep it, because it was a birthday present. Same for children's stuff. She got that for her first birthday feels different than she got that when she was around 14 months. Somehow it's less sentimental, and I am an awfully sentimental and nostalgic person, so this saves my ass.
Another point is that can change interests so quickly. I would not dare to buy her something peppa pig themed right now for Christmas or plan ahead for her 4th birthday. Or let's say she needs a new bike - why would I wait until the end of summer to give it to her just because it's her birthday.
But talk to me again on September 9th, I usually get very sad that we don't celebrate with a crap ton of presents and decorations and a big party right before her birthday.