What gifts did your child(ren) get?

[sv2007]

Wife and I agreed not to buy anything for our son for Christmas, and we tell everybody not to buy him anything... then...

It was hard to resist the temptation to buy things. Wife already bought him 2 toys (he's very good at asking in a very interesting way).

I almost bought him a chess clock. Here's how he asks for the chess clock. He asked for it for his birthday, and I agreed to buy him one. Then he says I should buy it earlier if there's a sale, and he won't mind getting his birthday gift early. Oh, such tricky kid (and he's only 6).

So this Christmas, my son's got some toys:

1. a star wars light saber (from mom)
2. a star wars x wing (from mom)
3. a weichi/go set (from my parents)
4. a travel chess set (from friend)
5. 2 music books (from sitter)

We are expecting some visitors this xmas, so his gift stream this season may not yet have ended.

[sv2007]

Actually, I asked my parents to buy him the weichi set (and I asked for a high quality one too). So I'm partially guilty of giving him a gift.

I needed to get weichi because I'm a bit tired of playing chess with him and he doesn't like the chess clubs. He's pretty good too, nearly impossible for me to beat him when given 7 extra stones on a small board. I'll have to reduce it to 6 starting tomorrow. (He started out at 10 a few days ago.)

[GoodSteward]

While I admire your desire not to get caught up in presents hype and spoiling your child, I am wondering why you feel the need to be as reserved as you are? The notion that you didn't want to get him ANYTHING at only 6 years old is unusual for any parent. I was expecting you to say he was 18 or 20 or something, and you are trying to get him to leave home. lol. You're an interesting fellow, Mr Sv2007.

My Daughter got another american doll (cheaper version lol) and accessories, which is what she really wanted (10yr). My oldest son(9yr) loves Minecraft and building games like Scrap Mechanic. It's a pc game where you build whatever you want, and then you have to setup switches, thrusters, steering, door hinges, etc and then link everything together to make them work. It's like basic engineering mixed with a game. He loves it and builds stuff that works! So, we got him a knex roller coaster set and a Mecanno 2.0 robot. We have spent about 150$ on each of them. My 2 yr old is getting typical 2 yr old stuff, but we are limiting it. We have had enough kids to know most never gets used or just junks up a room.

Due to my work connecions I also was able to put together a budget gaming system for both of my kids to play some PC games with me, and get them off my computer lol. I have a total of about 30$ tied into each system (bought some used video cards for a steal on ebay)

[rennigade]

This has to be a trolling thread. Who doesnt buy their 6 year old child some presents for the holiday?

[phantom]

We have a lot of people in our lives who want to buy gifts for our daughter (almost 2). I'd like to tell them all not to, but they enjoy it. So, I maintain an Amazon list of things I wouldn't mind her having and ask people to start there. So far, from the list, I know she's getting: a wooden sushi set, a Duplo train, a My Little Pony barn, and a new set of plates. My mom is planning on deviating from the list and getting her a baby doll, which I said was fine as long as it doesn't cry or otherwise make noise. My husband an I are getting her a bank and new pajamas, and Santa is getting her a bag of play food and planning to fill her stocking with some of her favorite snacks.

My hair stylist surprised us with a small bowling set when I took my daughter to get her bangs trimmed before Christmas. Part of me was sad to see yet another toy coming into the house, but she's been loving the bowling set, so I can't complain.

I don't think you can go wrong getting a go board for a kid. My husband and I met playing go, and I can't wait till my daughter is old enough to start playing. But, we already have 5 go sets, so she's going to need to show an an interest before we get her her own set.

[StormRichards]

This has to be a trolling thread. Who doesnt buy their 6 year old child some presents for the holiday?

I have felt that way about several of his threads, but I have come to the conclusion that he is alien.

[GoodSteward]

This has to be a trolling thread. Who doesnt buy their 6 year old child some presents for the holiday?

With Sv2007, it almost always appears as a troll....until you realize he is serious every time and defends it. That or his time here is meant as one big troll. lol

[GoodSteward]

I don't think you can go wrong getting a go board for a kid. My husband and I met playing go, and I can't wait till my daughter is old enough to start playing. But, we already have 5 go sets, so she's going to need to show an an interest before we get her her own set.

I had to look that up. It looks like Othello to me.

[rennigade]

I have felt that way about several of his threads, but I have come to the conclusion that he is alien.

Illegal alien?

With Sv2007, it almost always appears as a troll....until you realize he is serious every time and defends it. That or his time here is meant as one big troll. lol

Thats the point of trolling...to keep the ball rolling.

[msomnipotent]

We spent more than average this year, but I'm counting the aquarium that is really more for the fish (and the parents that have to constantly clean the too small tank), and the phone (which is really my old phone because I wanted a new one and was sick of her needing to take mine). Other than that, she is getting a skateboard, a few shirts, a few earrings, and a few beauty items. It is going to look pretty sparse under the tree this year, so I will probably have to wrap the pets' presents. I'm not above grabbing random items from the house to wrap, too. I love the look of a Christmas tree with tons of gifts under it. Kinda hard when it is just the three of us.

[kork13]

My wife & I keep the Christmas (and birthday) gifts under control with a rhyme I heard at some point:
"Something you want, something you need, something to wear, and something to read"
So we get him 4 gifts, meeting those specifications. This year, it's a crawling tunnel to play in (want), 2 pairs of shoes (need), a set of clothes, and a book. He's only 1.5 y/o, so not a lot of wants/needs, but we've been happy using this as our gift policy -- it's enough to be generous, but keeps it from being outrageous.

We also don't do Santa. I grew up with Santa as an idea vs. a fat man in red, and we're going to do the same for our kids, because I don't relish the idea of lying to my kids and I'm terrible at hiding secrets anyway. For me, gifts from "Santa" are merely from anyone who wants to be kind/generous but wants to remain anonymous. So growing up, I got to BE Santa, and we would do the "Sugar Plum Tree", or whatever you may call it -- pick the name of a needy kid off the tree, buy a gift for them, and it gets delivered for Christmas. Once he's old enough to be conscious of it, we plan to do the same.

[phantom]

I had to look that up. It looks like Othello to me.

That's a common observation, but game play is pretty different and go is a much deeper game. It's the sort of game people can spend a lifetime learning and improving at much like chess. Go has been in the news recently because a computer finally beat a top human player within the last year.

[FLA]

due to my decreased income, Christmas is pretty limited this year. DD (17) is getting a Nasty Women Keep Fighting t shirt she really wanted and $25 worth of stuff that was on sale at Bath and Body works, $25 in cash and fill her stocking. DS has been away at luthier school and has returned none of my texts since he left, he is clearly mad at me, we've had issues in the past. So he is getting a guitar t shirt, $25 and a filled stocking. Both have said they are atheists and wouldn't mind no presents since they don't believe in Christmas. But I think they would be disappointed with nothing. Their dad will shower them with gifts, too so it's ok they're not getting much from me.

I would never skip presents for a 6 yr old. You're not saving anything because you'll just be paying their therapy bills down the road

[StormRichards]

I would never skip presents for a 6 yr old. You're not saving anything because you'll just be paying their therapy bills down the road

I totally agree.

I have vivid memories of going outside Christmas afternoon to meet up and play with neighborhood kids, and to talk about what Santa brought us.

The kids today will be sending texts, snapchats, FaceTime, etc. Maybe not at 6, but you can bet it will be a discussion in grade school when they return in January.

[rennigade]

DD (17) is getting a Nasty Women Keep Fighting t shirt she really wanted

We have a friend who lives in San Francisco...she has a shirt that read "nasty women get sh*t done." It was actually really funny.