Success after IF

How does your family exchange Christmas gifts?

I have two sisters that have three kids each. We all give gifts to each other's children but don't do gifts for each other and spouses. I would like to change how we do things but am not sure of the best solution. So how does your family exchange Christmas gifts?
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Re: How does your family exchange Christmas gifts?

  • We pull names out of a hat. The kids do their own and the adults have their own.
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  • Dh's side of the family is HUGE - 5 siblings all with kids. We used to buy for everyone, but it just got out of control. Now each couple draws 2 kids names out of hat and we set a price limit. This year it is between $30-$40 per child. We started off at $75, but that is just too much for everyone to swing anymore. Some years each couple draws another couple's name and buys for them too, but we eliminated that this year. Everyone buys for Dh's parents, but some years we pool our money and do a bigger gift.

    My family is much smaller, but we still draw names and have a $50 limit. 

    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker TTC since Dec '04 Severe MFI-diagnosed 12/06 3 failed Fresh IVFs FET #1 - BFP!! 2 blasts tx on day 6. Beta #1 8dp6dt = 56, Beta #2 = 600, Beta #3 = 5600 My Blog Image and video hosting by TinyPic Image and video hosting by TinyPic
  • As far as how to do it, one year Dh just started talking to his siblings and it turned out everyone thought we needed to find a way to cut back. From there, it was pretty easy. Some years we all get together to draw names and set a budget, other years we do it via email...

    ETA: If it is Baby's First Christmas - everyone buys for the baby. For many years we were the only couple without children, but that is just the way the cookie crumbles. Sometimes, our siblings have given us a little something, since we give, but don't get and that was always a nice surprise :)

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  • We put everyone's name in a hat (kids and adults mixed) and draw.  Everyone's name goes in except my Mom (my Dad died 8 years ago).  She wants to buy individual gifts for all of us.  I have two sisters so the three families get together and get my Mom one gift from everyone.  We have a $10.00 limit for the name draw gifts.  It makes it challenging but we also have to be really creative. 
  • Good question!  Because this year I'm quitting my job, my sister is getting married at the end of January, my mom hasn't had a job in a year, and my lovely 20yr old brother is having a baby in March.  Needless to say, we need to save money.  We were talking about drawing a name as well and setting a limit.  It's nice to see how many others do that.  However, we're the only ones with a child, so I guess we'll just draw siblings' names.

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  • All the kids get gifts.

    We do an Elfster exchange for the adults

    On DH's side, we exchange gifts with his mom and grandmother. We used to pick names for the extended family (VERY large), but we ended up swapping GCs, so we stopped the madness. Now the kids pick names and exchange gifts.

  • We buy individual gifts for our parents.  Last year, we did a gift card exchange with everyone (our parents and siblings).  It was fun and we made it a 50 dollar gift card to places we knew most everyone would be interested in. You could steal someone else's card too...I was excited that I got the babies r us card since I was pregnant but SIL stole it as she was pregnant too...This year I know we will still buy gifts for our parents and our new nephew but I think we are still doing the gift card exchange.
  • On DH's side (he's the youngest of five), we just buy for the kids and the limit this year is $10 (nine kids now with the addition of Elizabeth).

    On my side, we buy for everyone, but with a small family, that just means my brother, my sister/her husband, my parents and one niece.

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  • Well there are a few ways.

    For our immediate family we all buy each other gifts. There are no little children though. Just our parents and brothers.  

    These are all extended family

    My Mom's side we don't exchange gifts, but people bring stuff for the little kids and Buszia

    My Dad's side everyone's name gets picked by another family member. There is only one small child and the Aunt's will buy her separate gifts.

    Dh's Mom's side only the cousin's exchange names. Again no small children. 

    Dh's Dad's side we don't participate in this because almost everyone is out of town and you get shipped a gift and it's pointless to me if you don't exchange gifts in person. JMO  They do cousins only too on this side though

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  • On my side, every one buys for the kids (there are only three now) and the adults (parents, sisters, brothers, in-laws) all draw a name from a hat. The limit is $50 and we send around a list of what everyone is asking for/suggestions. We also do a white elephant exchange with other extended family members with a limit of $15/gift.
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