Do you think that children expect too much for Christmas? Do you believe that they think money grows on trees?

I don't have this problem at the moment as my son won't even be quite 3 in December, but looking at the lists my Mum has received from my brothers and sister, I'm sure they think she's made of money! They make her feel as though she HAS to buy EVERYTHING on that list and they each need one of everything!!! In there house there are three, yes THREE, Playstation2, an X Box, two PSPs, 2 PCs and a gameboy advance... Now for Christmas between them they are wanting 2 DS Lites and another newer X Box! Not only is this a ridiculous amount of equipment for one house, she can barely afford it!!!!

Is this excessive gaming? I think so.

Though I'm also jealous that I never got that much! I didn't dare expect it and I'm only 5 yrs older than the eldest of them!

What are your kids like? Do you blame advertising? Peer pressure?

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To be honest, my girls are great. Maybe it's because I get all excited over any gift Don't get me wrong, they do tick everything in the Argos and ask for everything that's been advertised on boomerang for the last year, but on the day they are excited and grateful for the gifts they get. I think when we start off getting kids so much, we raise their expectations and then there's pressure to repeat it every year after that. We buy what we can afford and then just enjoy the day. Mine are 8 and 5.

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Gcal Student nurse 2007

My kids are still very young and up until last year, we were so extremely poor that I made such a big deal out of just the holiday and not the gifts. They love opening presents, but their attention spans are short so they're ready to play after one or two is open!

My little brother on the other hand (I was 18 when he was born), now he's been pretty much raised as an only and my parents have a lot of money and he gets things I'd never in a million years even try to ask my parents. We all kinda spoil him. But, he's got two toyboxes overflowing with toys and he's never really happy, and I think that's sad. Give mine a truck and a bag to play with, and they're quiet for HOURS!!

My eldest is 14 and he wants everything. He was the only child till he was 10 so he was really spoilt, mainly by my parents as I had no money so they would spend hundreds on him at xmas.
This year he keeps asking for a laptop!!!! He isn't getting one but I don't think he believes me. I keep telling him that we don't have that sort of money but he seems to not listen.
The other 2 are on 1 and 4 so they don't expect loads and the 4 year old is just happy that everyone comes to visit.
I have to admit that for the past 2 years I have splurged but we bought a house this year and just don't have the money.

What a good question!! My answer - yes, children unfortunatley do. But, to be honest, if the parents don't tell them 'no' then can we really be surprised?

When I was a kid I got £25 for Christmas. Before the big day, Mum would take me and my siblings (I'm one of five) to the shops and we'd get to decide what we might like for that amount. My list of Barbies was always long but I had to make the decision to only get £25 worth. To be honest, I loved it! I got to write lists out of all the things I wanted (I tracked down the cheapest options too!) and work out everything down to the last penny!! I've always loved being organised, I guess!!! (Kept me occupied too during the run up to Christmas which seems FOREVER as a kid!) On the day it was just as special as if I had received hundreds of pounds worth of toys. The excitement about opening the gifts that you'd agonised over was huge! :-) I think the majority of children today are spoilt - for a variety of reasons - and I'm glad for the way I was raised. The last thing I would have wanted was my poor parents going through Christmas with a massive credit card bill hanging over them.

I think it must ba harder for parents who tell their children Santa exsists. But there's a lot to be said for raising your children not to be greedy and expect to get everything. After all, Christmas is about more than presents (and I'm not necessary talking about the religous implications as I am not a Christian) - family is what's important and children need to know that the whole family should have fun together.

My children will be raised in the was I was with regards to Christmas/birthdays. I'll also be keeping them in line regarding pocket money!! I can't believe how much some children receive these days!!! :-O

:-)

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My name means Happiness - how about you?

I definitely think kids these days expect a lot more for Christmas. I don't really ever remember giving my parents a list of presents I wanted, I think I probably mentioned one or 2 things and if they could afford it then they'd buy it - if they couldn't then I had something else instead but me and my brother always had lots of presents...Mum used to buy all through the year to make things easier and we always had lots of stocking fillers that didn't cost the earth so that we had lots of things to open
BUT, I am dreading my boys getting older...my eldest will be 3 in Nov and he's already started seeing things other kids are playing with or advertised on TV or even in shops and saying "I want that", I don;t want him to be spoilt but on the other hand I don't want him to feel like he's missed out - it's a fine line between the 2
My biggest issue is that my husband does spoil the boys (my youngest is only 14months), his reason is that although he loves his parents to bits they were quite selfish in that they spent all their spare cash on cigarettes and going to the pub and they never got much for christmas/birthdays....as a result he's gone the other way and spoils them because he doesn't want them to feel how he felt as a child
Every time he has spare cash he brings home a new figure for the eldest, something to wear for the youngest and I feel it will make them not appreciate times like christmas and birthdays...it's so hard
xxx

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Karen
Starting access course Sept 08 (hopefully!!)

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Second year!
"Don't wonder why people go crazy, wonder how they don't......"

i remember sitting down withy my brother when i was younger with the Argos catalogue and writing the longest list in the world of what i wanted....of course i hardly ever got any of it, but it didn't stop me wishing! I remember our first proper BIG present, i must have been about 8. It was a video player between my brother and me (more for my Dad really looking back on it!) and i was so gobsmacked that we had one that i cried!! I think it was because my Mum even refused to get a tv until i was 7, and even then it was B and W, so i never thought we would get a VCR.

Up until last year the majority of my xmas presents for my kids have been from charity shops, mixed in with a few new things. It's always been a pretty cheap affair in my house, up until last year. DS is now 8 and has only ever wanted one thing, some sort of games console. I finally decided that he was old enough, and bought him one (ahem Father Christmas bought him one if he ever reads this!!) So for the first time ever, he got a BIG present, a Wii. It of course went down brilliantly, although a few tears akin to my VCR experience would not have gone amiss!

So this year, am pretty stuck. Cant top the wii again, so were thinking that as a family we might go 'up town' and see a show instead...something different instead of pressies.
But will have my stocking of course, as it just wouldnt be christmas would it?!

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Site Administrator, Student Mentor Scheme Manager

STMW 2nd year - no, really!

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My girls were four a couple of weeks back - and it was the first time we bought them a birthday or christmas type gift! Such a rotten mummy!

My little girl is 7, and she has everything, and it's never enough! There is always some new toy, or dvd or game or something that she "needs".
Because I didnt have much growing up, I have tended to spoil her ,but believe me it has backfired!
I wish I'd learnt how to say no, a long time ago x

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