Best thing to tell kids when you can't afford presents?

grizzly · 22-10-2010 1:59am #1

What's the best way to do this? Santa thought you've enough toys and went to see children without any?

kona · 22-10-2010 2:28am

why not buy something small and inexpensive rather than encouraging them to have a pick of anything in a toyshop?
or even consider secondhand stuff?

Sharpshooter · 22-10-2010 2:43am

grizzly wrote: »

What's the best way to do this? Santa thought you've enough toys and went to see children without any?

I'd say there are a lot of parents worrying about that atm, grizzly.

What age are your little ones?

We can be more helpful to you if we know their age, while we try to come up with a reasonable explanation for Santa not delivering what was asked for.:)

dolphin city · 22-10-2010 8:47am

Seriously, I'm sure if you went to V de Paul they would provide you with some toys for your child - nobody wants to see a child without a toy at christmas - do you not have any family that could help out.

dolphin city · 22-10-2010 8:50am

also, there is no harm in saying that Santa can't afford those presents this year (if the present is expensive) . It has been said to kids for decades. and it teaches them that they cannot have everything they want.

they will be happy with the alternatives.

They will either be too young to know or old enough to understand.

Its not a problem if you think positive about it.

Kids are not supposed to get everything they ask for - if they do, they will never learn to appreciate anything.

stiffler123 · 22-10-2010 8:53am

Tell them that the elves mightn't have it, so ask if the kids to pick a second present just in case. If the second thing is more expensive though- you're screwed!

grizzly · 22-10-2010 10:47pm

They're 4 and 6, but they're not mine. A friend who lost his job last year and his wife just went on a two day week.

Thanks for the replies

smithwicks · 22-10-2010 10:53pm

I would club together all my mates and hit them for 5-10 euro. No embarrassment in such a request these days as everyone understands there is very little between having and not having a job.

Karma

immature ejaculation · 22-10-2010 10:58pm

Long gone are the days of a coloring book and crayons! Second hand presents is always a good way to go or 1 big present both of them could get use out of might work if the budget would stretch.

milli milli · 23-10-2010 7:58am

My Dad was unemployed in the 80s and there was three of us. We had no money but we always had lots of presents at Christmas. My parents put us first over everything. If you put x amount away each week, it will amount to something. Forego the drinking - it's a waste of money and a child's happiness is more important than a night in the pub.
Kick the smoking habit. Sorry to be tough but I'm amazed at the amount of people who say they have no money for this or that, and they spend €100 on a night out.

OP I'm sorry to hear of your friends double loss. I hope he is getting the support he needs

23-10-2010 8:08am

milli milli wrote: »

My Dad was unemployed in the 80s and there was three of us. We had no money but we always had lots of presents at Christmas. My parents put us first over everything. If you put x amount away each week, it will amount to something. Forego the drinking - it's a waste of money and a child's happiness is more important than a night in the pub.
Kick the smoking habit. Sorry to be tough but I'm amazed at the amount of people who say they have no money for this or that, and they spend €100 on a night out.

OP I'm sorry to hear of your friends double loss. I hope he is getting the support he needs

I'm sure the OPs friend is putting his kids first. Do you honestly think anyone would want their kids to go without presents at christmas? but you know, food and shelter and heating is more important than presents so really and truly, get a grip telling people to "kick the smoking habit" and "forego the drink". You're making an awful lot of negative assumptions about the OPs friend.

OP, its gonna be tough for an awful lot of people this year. St. Vincent de Paul are a fantastic charity who are there to help people in need. Tell your friend not to be embarrassed to ask for help. At 4 & 6 yrs old small presents are enough anyway. At that age they're still delighted with anything they get so, as had been used by many families for very many years "Mammy and Daddy have to give Santa the money for the presents" Kids are more understanding than you think.

flower tattoo · 23-10-2010 8:10am

ebay ebay ebay

my kids have known for years that if they get 'used' presents they can get more presents than if they always get brand new stuff.

Actually off to gamestop now to see if there are second hand ds games - they know they're not getting new ones EVER!!

milli milli · 23-10-2010 8:32am

Deleted User wrote: »

Do you honestly think anyone would want their kids to go without presents.

The title of the OP's post states "When you can't afford presents"
I am taking that to mean ANY presents. He didn't say "When you can't afford BIG presents" I'm sorry that I was making assumptions about the smoking and drinking but I do know a lot of people that would put the fags or a nite out first, over everything.

Andrew33 · 23-10-2010 8:44am

I remember getting a second hand record as a christmas pressie when I was a kid and we didn't even have a record player!

Start off by telling them the good news, that they're not going to be sold for medical experiments etc...

MarkR · 23-10-2010 8:47am

If you can give an idea of what the kids want, it might help.

D4RK ONION · 23-10-2010 12:21pm

To those making light of the subject, please take your attempts at wit elsewhere. This is a sensitive issue and one I imagine is going to affect a lot of families this year.

Any more "funneh" comments will earn infractions. I don't like to give them out, so please don't give me any reason to.

D4RK ONION · 23-10-2010 12:25pm

OP, as someone has already mentioned, the internet is your friend. Try to convince your kids to ask Santa for surprises, because he isn't sure how much money he has this year. My parents always used to tell us they had to pay Santa for some of the toys he brought us, and we bought it!

Go onto ebay, you're sure to find some fantastic bargains on the likes of DVDs, lego, dolls etc. Aldi and Lidl often have some very good deals on toys and stuff, it would be well worth buying as much as you can in there.

littlebitdull · 23-10-2010 12:33pm

I think most - if not all - parents are in a similar boat this year.

I would deffinately go down the ask santa for a suprise this year, and bargain hunt like mad.

A friend of mine a few years ago was in the process of moving house, and had done all the christmas shopping ahead of time, as the house move was going to be in early december. All was prepared, and put away safe ready to be taken out on christmas eve.

Except that on christmas eve it could not be found anywhere! All of the Santy stuff missing... so you can just imagine the panic in the house, and barely any shops still open.

So they made do with the little they could find and scrape together on the night. And do you know in all honesty the kids were just as happy the next morning. Her elder two - aged 14 & 15 at the time were astonished - but the two youngest ones - aged 6 & 8 - were as happy as any other christmas morning.

So it was a lesson learnt for her.

Following that lesson I cut back dramaticly last year. And Santa brought many necessities to this house. Including duvet covers, dressing gowns, pyjamas - stuff which I would not normally wrap up from Santa ..... and they were recieved with as much joy and excitement as any of the more expensive items I had purchased other years.

bradlente · 23-10-2010 1:42pm

A 4 and 6 year old wouldn't appreciate the extravagance of pricy presents as much as say a 10 year old or a teen.Ebay as suggested by someone earlier is a great idea.

storm2811 · 23-10-2010 1:47pm

I'd agree to try and get some second hand presents or maybe just a lot of little ones, cheap enough like.

Next year though if they're in the same situation they could try out a celtic hamper catalogue(I think that's what it's called). You pay a few euro a week for the stuff and it's usually paid off by Christmas.

renelounger · 23-10-2010 2:03pm

i have a six year old and a two year old and last xmas found it very hard. so both kids asked for suprises and i did up little hampers. the two year old got colours, toy cars, bob the builder picture for room, socks, sweets etc. the six year old got things for baking, ingredients from tesco, cook book for kids, art supplies. most of the presents were bought in the 2 euro shop but when you put them in a basket with a ribbon they look great. we spent xmas day baking fairy cakes, painting pictures, etc. it was a great day and year for us. there are more important things than the big presents. its what you make of the time you have with the kids that they will remember.:D

phasers · 23-10-2010 2:08pm

I think I'd say some thing about Santa deciding that surprises are much more fun, and then just keep an eye on Adverts/ebay/Smyths for good deals!

Smyths have a "bargain bin" in their shops a lot now where they sell cheap toys that have damaged boxes or were return items, it could be a good place to watch. €2 shops are also deadly, especially for younger kids.

Bubs99 · 23-10-2010 2:13pm

I agree with some of the others, the internet is great for loads of cheap and funky little gifts rather than one big expensive one.
Instead of ebay, try www.play.com, it is the best and you dont have to pay for postage either...ever. Theres so many things to buy on it plus you can sell too.
Good Luck.

candy-gal1 · 24-10-2010 8:21am

Sorry to hear that

, imho you can just say that Santa has beeb running out of equipment so it will have to be a small present this year.

Paige Turner · 25-10-2010 11:23pm

D4RK ONION · 26-10-2010 1:02am

Adding a thanks isn't enough, that's a fantastic post Paige Turner. GG

:)

dolphin city · 26-10-2010 9:35am

so okay, first of all the kids are only 4 and 6 - they're babies. They do not need top of the range stuff - they will be happy with whatever they are given if you put the right spin on it. A simple explanation at this age is enough - Santa didn't have time to make the Big fire engine, but gave you this instead. They will love anything Santa gets them at this age. They don't have the sense to know otherwise. It all depends on the parents and what they are telling them.

Second of all, they are not your kids - so how do you know that their parents have not got everything sorted already for them. Also, if you are that worried about it, could you not purchase something for them?

Third - I don't think hitting up friends and family for 5 - 10 Euro is a good idea. You don't know how other people are struggling at the minute and asking them for money for presents for very small children is a complete waste. The kids won't know any different from what they receive from Santa. Keep the asking for money for when the electric or heating gets cut off.

efb · 26-10-2010 9:47am

Again with the SVdeP.

We buy presents in work for them and they do a great job.

They're there to help, not judge and thank all that is good those days are gone with the Celtic tiger of the snobby nouvoux riche.

I grew up in the 80's and my dad lost his job it was tough with 6 of us.

I knew at 8 and only asked Santa for something small.

Tell ur friend to talk to the older kids. At 8/9 they know who Santa is.

dolphin city · 26-10-2010 10:45am

i thought the kids were 4 and 6 - did they age a few years over the weekend?

Hells Belle · 26-10-2010 11:11am

Mine are 3 & 6 and as we are going away early next year we've had to majorly cut down on the presents. I've told them Mammy & Daddy have to pay Santa and the elves to make the presents and they can have 1 big present each (€50 or under) and 2 small presents (under a tenner) and thats it. My house is overun with plastic tat as it is!

They are both fine with that in fairness to them and I'll keep them so busy Christmas day with baking, colouring and jigsaws that they won't notice they didn't get 15 presents each.

ilovesleep · 26-10-2010 3:41pm

Thats very tough indeed.
some ideas that i hope might help:

ask santa to do a treasure hunt and hide any gifts. Or maybe if santa was to leave gifts under the tree he could lock the room afterwards and do a treasure hunt with the key.

have a board game the family can sit down and play on xmas.

maybe santa could leave a dvd and popcorn.

Will definately donate to SVP after reading this thread.

Best thing to tell kids when you can't afford presents?

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