Do you 'save' toys for birthdays and holidays?

WinesNotWhines

Do you generally give your kid new toys and other playthings on birthdays and holidays, or do you buy/give them throughout the year? I know some people rotate toys in their kid's collection, but I'm talking about toys that are brand new to him/her. What about books?

Hey Jellisy

I save most of what I buy in the fall for holidays, but the rest of the year I give them to DD and DS.  I do it for a few reasons, some toys are seasonal and with winter holidays and January and March birthdays, there would be no opportunity for summer toys and also because DD changed so much, as did her interests, that I needed to rotate in age appropriate toys.  This won't be an issue with DS since we have so much already.     

VARedhead

I try to spread it out. DD's birthday was in September, and we are still holding onto a pretty big present for a "rainy day." Of course, Hanukah is coming soon and she'll get a bunch of new toys, but I haven't quite figured out my strategy yet for them.

ch ch ch chia

Yes.  I've also been known to rewrap, and regift her stuff back to her. 

Also, the toy bins are kind of like compost piles.  They need to be dumped out, fluffed, and rotated every once in a while. 

MrsPhilDunphy

ch ch ch chia:

Yes.  I've also been known to rewrap, and regift her stuff back to her. 

One of C's favorite Christmas gift's last year (a Weeble playhouse) was something he'd already opened for his birthday. I snuck it downstairs and rewrapped for Christmas. 

Hey Jellisy

I didn't see the books part at first, I probably buy 2-3 books a month and DD and DS get them right away.  Again, they are seasonal, developmental, or responding to an interest recently expressed.  Plus, I love books and so does DD.  DS, well, he likes to bang things.  One day...

tomandcourt

Sometimes, yes. For birthdays/Christmas he gets a lot of stuff (especially from the ILs, ahem) and a lot of times we'll hold some of it back until later. And if we find something for him that we know he'll love but is kind of bigger, we'll get it if it's on sale and stash it away.

I wouldn't say J only gets toys for holidays though--if we see something we think he'll like, we'll get it. We got him an umbrella a few months ago when he saw it at the store. and it's still one of his favorite things.

QueSrah

ch ch ch chia:

Also, the toy bins are kind of like compost piles.  They need to be dumped out, fluffed, and rotated every once in a while. 

Awesome, and so true!  I'm pretty sure we didn't give DD all of her birthday presents (in Oct.) because she had gotten so much - between her actual presents and my old toys that my parents are always bringing with them.  I find myself doing a lot more saving holiday gifts for a rainy day than saving things I've bought randomly until a holiday/birthday.  DD just has so much already that she doesn't need more...

tracy042206

Books I will buy throughtout the year but I really don't buy toys other than birthdays and holidays.  We have a nice rotation though with Molly in April, Maggie in August and then Christmas in December so we do get fresh new toys throughout the year at well spaced intervals.  Maggie still doesn't ask for things so when I see she likes a friend's toy or something I just put it on her amazon list.  This is part of the reason I do not feel badly going a little overboard at Christmas (kids are getting about 7 or 8 presents each not including stockings) because it is really the only time of year I get to really give them the things I know they will like and what I want them to have - I only have 2 or 3 people at birthdays use the amazon list and I only get them one small thing since the party food and hosting the in-laws for 3-4 days is expensive.

When they were under 1 or so I totally regifted them some of their own books and they only got 2 or 3 small presents from us at Christmas that they may have already played with. 

bh2720

I really try to save any bigger toys for xmas or birthdays. he's wanted a "real" guitar since this summer and all summer we helped him improvise with either the Guitar Hero guitar we have or a spatula ;-) However, Santa is bringing him a "real" (toddler sized) guitar this Christmas.

But DH and I do get him some new smaller things occasionally as rewards for good behavior or if it has some education benefit. Like we got him new placemats that are a map of the world and a map of the US and we would work with him to learn the continents, countries and states. After he learned a bunch of them, we got him some big map floor puzzles to help reinforce everything. So yes, they are "toys" but we rationalize that we are not spoiling him because he's learning ;-) right? lol

I don't like the idea of buying him new stuff all the time. I don't want him to expect that every time he wants something he's going to get it. I have relatives whose kids get something every time they go to Target, so pretty much every week they get a new toy or two. as a result they have mountains of toys and they think that getting new toys is no big deal. this will not be happening in our household ;-)