I do one gift for birthdays and they get an activity/experience the day of their actual birthday. For DD2's birthday I got her the Little People Princess Castle and we took her to the aquarium.
We also did an experience for her birthday. We went to Build a Bear and she picked out a bear. No outfits or sounds and it cost us 15 bucks or so. I plan on spending much more for Christmas (want, need, wear, read gifts). We had fun as a family. DD was a bit young to appreciate the experience and was a little scared of the fluff machine (similar to our vacuum noise which she doesn't like), but we started a tradition. :-) She got so many presents from friends and family; she didn't need more.
I didn't get her anything since I spent enough money on her party. She got PLENTY of gifts from family/friends and she will never know. In the future I will get her a few gifts and spend less on her party.
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DD got one present from us (her parents) and a book from her brother. Then the rest of the family gifts. Cost was $35 plus $200+ for party.
For Christmas, we'll have 4-5 things from santa plus a stocking. We'll probably wrap a big box of diapers too so the pile looks similar to her 5yr old brother's. Cost will probably be around $100-$125.
We didn't have a party so there were only presents from us (I think 5? - all pretty small stuff) and the grandparents. (And both sets of grandparents were pretty restrained, too - maybe 3 or 4 presents each.) I'd eventually like to transition to more celebrating with experiences than presents. Part of the reason I wrapped up so many things for her is b/c I thought she would have fun unwrapping them. Nope. Oh well.
mama&baby
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Re: How many presents (poll)
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We're doing the same. She'll get one gift from us, and we're also going to the zoo on her birthday, weather permitting.
- Ava - 11-29-11
- Violet - 10-9-13
We also did an experience for her birthday. We went to Build a Bear and she picked out a bear. No outfits or sounds and it cost us 15 bucks or so. I plan on spending much more for Christmas (want, need, wear, read gifts). We had fun as a family. DD was a bit young to appreciate the experience and was a little scared of the fluff machine (similar to our vacuum noise which she doesn't like), but we started a tradition. :-) She got so many presents from friends and family; she didn't need more.
DD got one present from us (her parents) and a book from her brother. Then the rest of the family gifts. Cost was $35 plus $200+ for party.
For Christmas, we'll have 4-5 things from santa plus a stocking. We'll probably wrap a big box of diapers too so the pile looks similar to her 5yr old brother's. Cost will probably be around $100-$125.