Did I get my 3 yr old enough for christmas? feeling guilty.?
Answer:
I know EXACTLY how you feel. My family is the same way. I also want my son to feel like mommy and daddy give the best presents but WOW! They get so overwhelmed with all the other gifts!! I think as they get older and start specifically asking for things it might get easier. . Get your son involved in the wrapping/ buying and giving gifts to other people. Most importantly try and get some "traditions" started. Something that he will look forward to and know that only you guys do together every Christmas.
First of all; do you remember what you got last Christmas, much less when you were three?? I would venture to say that the answer in "no". Quit worrying or you are going to mold the kid into an uncontrollable spoiled brat and he will be driving a nicer car than yours when he turns 16.
<>Don't feel guilty. Remember the orignal tenets of Christmas (beside the 'religious'ones)- It is better to give than receive. Try teaching that to your son...it's never too early. It's way too easy to overwhelm kids with tons of toys they'll never play with, than it is to teach them the pleasure of making other people happy. Spend time showing him how to give to others, maybe even to donate some of his "excess" to needy children. Any time spent teaching your child something is time well-spent and infinitely more valuable than just loading him with possessions.
you dont have to compete with your family to see who can get the best gifts. he likes trains and cars, and thats what you got him... he will be satisfied -- hes only 3,, hes not gunna say "i hate you, you didnt give me enough for christmas!!" >> lol
happy holidays
I think it's more the experience of the day instead of the number of presents that counts the most. Maybe you should let him do some sort of activity that he enjoys. As long as he has fun, you have no reason to feel guilty.
Don't feel guilty, your son is getting plenty. That is a huge amount of toys for a child to be given, and he's only 3!
As for making it special, you can always have special family time/traditions.
Maybe next time, when your relatives call asking what he already has, if whatever they're wanting to give him sounds good and you think you'd rather get it for him, tell them that he <does> have it already, and then go out and buy it...
yeah buy him a car!
Take an empty refrigerator box or washmachine box, remove staples, cut a door in the side and set next too all your new christmas presents... he will play in the cardboard box more then with the new toys...
kids think they want toys.. but that gets old... they want security and love and time from their parents... toys have their place but they arn't stupid... they know what is important... time reading books, sitting and talking and discovering bugs and things... thats waht they want..
Usually it's the thought that counts but with kids, its hard for them to understand. Don't feel guilty kids are usually happy with anything as long as they get something. In my family we don't get that many presents but we like anything because we know our mom worked hard. Since your son is already getting a lot of presents i'm sure he'll be happy.
hi i want 2say god keep ur child safe and make u both happy u should know dat thre is kids out there who don't have anything to eat or frink like ur kids so i think u should just be thankfull and happy 2c ur child smile dat all we want our kids 2smile .
First dont worry yourself he is only 3! Second next Christmas if you want to get him more, start early & you can do as I do I email or snail mail everyone that buys for my children a list of what they want & ask them to call me when or if they buy something. I do not inlcude the things my hubby & I are buying our children. We do this for the reason like your son got 5 train sets we wopuld get the same 10 dolls or 12 trucks, just insane no child plays with 10 dolls when they have 40 from years before. Your son will be happy with what he has recieved , Merry Christmas & a blessed New Year!
You son is having a very good Christmas,many children have less so please be grateful for what you have been blessed with.Also besides the material side of Christmas start teaching him at age 3 that Christ is the reason for the Season.
If he has stuff to open Christmas morning, he won't know or care about who gave him what. He's just three. The best thing you can give your child is your time. It's also the most valuable thing you have.
When I grew up we had loads of junk under the tree. That's what Christmas was all about for me. It actually ruined Christmas for me because as I got older, Christmas became less. We try to buy our children off and it's wrong. My mom is gone now. I wish I had more time with her and less time with all the stuff in my life.
Just love your child and don't worry about all the stuff that gets in the way of what Christmas should be all about.
OMG...I know how you feel. This xmas my 2 year old has over 35 gifts, just from mom and da alone!
So what, I love to spoil my child and I want his memories of xmas to be the best ever, since I never had xmas.
Do what you want screw what everyone else thinks!
I bought my daughter every Barbie that was out for Mermaidia and Fairytopia last year, and she still wanted to go and stay with my parent's because they bought her more than I did. Well, I told her know of course, and that it hurt my feelings. The next day after she opened all of her presents, and to her surprise most of it was clothes, she told me that she was happy that she got all those Barbie's from me and that it was better than any other present she got.
She got allot of thing's that year from family and friend's but she still tell me that our present was the best because she didn't expect us to get all of it. She was 6 then.
When she was 3 she was more interested in playing with the other kids than opening presents. As a matter of a fact, she didn't even open all of them, I had to.
So, I don't think you did your son wrong. She has 20 presents under the tree this time and I still want to go out and buy her more stuff even though it's to late.
They way to make it more special is to sit down with him and play with the toys you and your hubby got him. Make it the most fun and memorable day of his life, to cherish always. Tell him how cool you think his present is and that he must of surely been a good boy this year, or something like that.
I try not to stress over it, because it does know good now. It's to late.=)
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
hi mom! u sound like a very caring mother and i know the feeling of maybe I'm not giving enough or maybe I'm getting this "whole thing wrong". it's normal since no kid comes with a manual of how and what to do in order to get it right.
you can start by telling your son that what you bought, u bought cuz "i knew you liked this so when i went in to the store i thought what would make my big boy happy and then i saw this..." that gives the gift a touch of mommy love, which is worth more than any gift in the world.
second you can tell your son that this year we're gonna do something spacial. and at some point during all these parties take a brake of ten min to actually sit with him and PLAY with him and his new toys - that he'll remember more than anything.
remember, it's not what or how much u give, it's the love and happiness that come with it.
we can't afford everything we'd love to give our children, so instead we scheduled a pure family day for the holidays last year; parks, 'twister' 'monopoly' etc. it was the best day of my life and my kids spoke about it for a loooong time after.
you'll be fine, your son loves you and you love him and that what counts!!
Love and Joy and world peace!No you don't need anything else exepet these.
I doubt many parents do not fret they did not do enough for their especially at this time!..You want everyhting perfect for him, and fret and stress over everything. Then, an hour after he has opened the gift..you relies, you had nothing to worry about in the first place@ i am fretting now myself..not much i can do to fix it..it is 2:45 am here. lol..but yes there are ways you can make it special, do something to start your own tradition together. Something like, make a ginger bread house together on Christmas day..or decorate cookies..things like that. Or, if you have snow..go tobogganing . Just do something, that only you and he dad can do together. It does not have to involve anything big..just something like, every year you all sit together, drink homemade coco together..eat warm fresh cookies..and read the night before Christmas. Anything like that will make it special, in more ways than any toy someone has gotten him.
he won't care. Just enjoy your christmas and don't feel guilty. If you want to make it special then let him choose what breakfast he wants and let him help get it ready. As long as you are there his Christmas is special
Mine are now in bed for the night (it's 8pm christmas night) and they are happy they got presents. They don't care who from , they got christmas pudding and got to eat junk. Two happy kids
Take it from a grandmother & a mother it's enough. At 3 yrs. old most of those gifts won't matter in a week. Of the 12 christmases before my parent's divorce the only one I really remember is when I was 9. My dad bought this little stuffed kitten on a pillow that was like $3. Probably the cheapest I ever got. What made it so special was I had mentioned it months before while dad & I were shopping & he had remembered how much I had wanted it. The only gifts my daughter remembered was a gallon jug of kosher pickles. She was always spending her allowance on big pickles. My son his first real train set. He wanted one he didn't have to push or make the sounds to. That's when I realized the gift or it's price didn't really matter. It was the fact someone cared enough to listen & watch & get something that was really wanted. Not just buying from a list. Both of my kids fav. thing to do was to pick a child from the giving tree & help decide what to get them. Then after Christmas we'd go through old toys & donate them to a mission, etc. Often they'd donate even some of their new ones. We'd talk about & they'd get such a thrill imagining how happy some other child would be to get it. They'd see me dump change in the salvation army bucket. As they got older they'd do the same. The only guilt should be if you bought stuff for all the wrong reasons. Otherwise it doesn't matter. What will make it memorable is if you get down on his level & play those games with him. Boys, especially at that age, never see clothes as a gift. My BIL spent a small fortune on my son at 5 getting him good designer clothes because with hubby out of work he needed them. He said thank you but the disappointment in his eyes was so obvious my bil said next time he needed clothes just tell him. But never again for a Christmas gift. He's 18 now & still doesn't count over $200. worth of clothes from us as Christmas gifts. But relax. What will make it special is if you play that game along with him & spend time really listening because you want to.
If anything I don't think it's such a good thing to make Christmas such a huge "give me stuff" holiday. I think it needs to be a little more controlled than that and more focus needs to be on the giving and religious aspect. Make it special by making sure he understands Christmas is about the birth of Jesus Christ, not about an accumulation of gifts.
Sounds like he has more than enough. Probably overwhelmingly so.
I do understand where you are coming from though. What you can give him that will ultimately mean more to him in the future than presents he won't remember are traditions and memories of what you do together every year as a family to prepare for and to celebrate Christmas.
dont worry about anything, your child loves you he'll have enough toys and yours are more special than anyone elses because your his mother!!
it is a little late for my reply but it isn't about what you get him it is how it is presented.
if you have an exciting morning where you go down and see if santa ate the cookies and have christmas music playing and take turns opening presents one at a time it is fine! you'll make breakfast together as a family and then get ready for visits from the extended family and watch a special christmas movie as a family on TV. he'll love the presents that he has. at 3 he doesn't have any real expectations on what santa will and will not bring.
merry christmas! SD
The answers post by the user, for information only, FeelBaby.com does not guarantee the right.