Gifts from grandparents
It was my son's first birthday this week and he is a very lucky little boy who got lots of lovely presents. My husband has a big family and we were asked by them to make a birthday list for our son so that people wouldn't get repeats or unwanted things.
My MIL and FIL alway go OTT with presents and while I'm grateful and my son enjoys his gifts, I am so overwhelmed and stressed out by the sheer amount of stuff that she's brought him (I have ADHD and anxiety and this is something that just sets off overwhelm for me). Just from her he's been given 3 large toot toot sets, extra toot toot cars, a water table, building blocks, a xylophone, a scuttle bug, some clothes, photo frame and a vtech toy cup that sings (🤷🏻♀️). In comparison my parents, my aunt and my brother between them all got a wooden shape sorter, a few board books and some megablocks, which we are very happy with. Our house is overflowing with toys and I just feel like my son doesn't need them all and can't possibly play with everything, if it's overwhelming for me surely it must be for him. I don't really want him to grow up having quite so much stuff.
I probably sound like an ungrateful cow. I don't know how to raise this with them, especially with Xmas coming up too, without sounding horrible and upsetting them. I know it only comes from a place of love and wanting the best for their grandson
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If you feel up to it get some big storage tubs and separate the toys. Put them in the loft/garage/wherever you have space and then give him 1 tub of toys to play with at a time, that way you can rotate them throughout the year so you and he aren’t overwhelmed and he gets that added bonus of feeling excited to play with his “new” toys. I’d then start curating a gift list of experience days for him such as a trip to the zoo or aquarium, perhaps some swimming lessons etc if people really want to go down the toy route you could ask for a subscription to whirli for a few months which is a toy subscription service that will let you send back the toys and swap them out as you want xxx
I completely understand you. My son is only 2 and while he doesn’t go without, at his birthdays and Christmas we don’t buy a lot of toys at all because there is simply no need. Last year we all went to his aunts and her kids had like a million presents and he was so overwhelmed with all the stuff and cried the full time. I think you’re right to not want to give him all the things and don’t sound ungrateful at all. They learn far better concentration and imagination skills with only a few things out. My boy can literally sit for ages with his magnetic letters or a colouring book. Like above you can rotate toys (that’s what we do), or you can contact local charities who will be looking for donations for kids Christmas like women’s aid. We did that at my sons first Christmas instead of buying him lots of things that he didn’t need and we got a lovely thank you note that I’ve kept in his memory box for when he’s a bit older xx
I have a rule for my daughter’s grandparents on both sides - any toys they buy her, stays at their house. Only clothes and shoes can come home with us. Clog your house up not mine! 🤣
Could always try implying a new tradition and explain due to the large amount of toys he already has you're using the 4 gift rule. Meaning 4 gifts max that follow the rule. Something to play with. Something to read. Something he can wear and something he needs. We used it with my daughter when she was small and too many gifts overwhelmed her and took her days to open. X
this is an excellent idea. I also like the experience days idea much more valuable!!
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