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December 2010 Moms
theuntaggablek
member
Gifts for LO that aren't your style?
theuntaggablek
member
Anybody get any? What do you plan to do with them?
I'm not talking safety-hazards here, just things that you wouldn't choose for your kid to play with.
I have a love-hate relationship with tech toys, and so would never choose to give my kid a leapfrog, but his aunt & uncle did, and he loves it. I plan to use it for the flight home, but not sure what its fate will be when we get home.
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Re: Gifts for LO that aren't your style?
Leapfrog toys make me want to gouge my eyes out. They only serve one purpose and it always seems like you have to buy more things to get any use out of them.
Hazel got a leap pad 2, but the batteries died within 3 days. Of course there is a rechargeable battery pack... for a mere $40, not to mention that a game cartridge is $26. Even on sale they are such a ripoff, especially since I really couldn't care less. She also got a leapfrog tag jr. or something, but it only came with one book, so I guess I'm supposed to buy more books...?
If the gift givers don't insist she rip open the packaging in front of them I happily donate these types of toys to toys for tots. I did that a lot last year, but this year I watched on in horror as every single toy that my kid really doesn't need was opened so she could play with it right then. Uggghh
A few times during the year, I box up the majority of the playroom into giant tupperware containers and swap it with ones that are already in the basement/attic. Then when I get a chance (rarely), I sort through the box so that we are only storing what we actually want to keep for the kids. The rest gets donated or listed on craigslist.
Any money that we get from toys or kids stuff that we sell (except clothes) gets divided and put into their individual savings accounts. Any money from clothes is usually used to buy more clothes or things that they need anyways since I normally only sort through it when I know that we need to buy something.
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Wow, you are so organized!
Avery got a couple toys that she just doesn't need (how many baby dolls can one toddler play with?!?!). I'm actually planning on storing a couple things away to give to her little sister in a couple years. Is that terrible? Or I may re-gift them to someone else.
Ugh, that sucks. Lately I've been getting flyers in the mail from various organizations looking for donations, and they do not require "new, unopened" toys like toys for tots, so I think I'm going to start throwing random toys in with my clothing donations. You could also bring them to salvation army or even directly to a shelter somewhere. It's a shame that they insisted on opening everything though
My in-laws go WAY overboard for each birthday and Christmas, so I have a stock pile of toys Noah hasn't played with (some still from his first birthday!). I completely meant to donate them to Toys for Tots this year, but with me feeling crappy, I never got a chance. I guess they will hang out in our storage room for another year!
Some things Noah gets, just like Ken&Kendra said, are not things I would give to him to play with, or they are duplicates. It drives me crazy when people don't give gift receipts. Or they tell you, "Oh, just let me know if you don't like it and I'll give you the receipt" But really, how awkward is that?! "I'm sorry, I'm not dressing my child in that outfit because he'll look like a hillbilly. Could I please have the gift receipt?" Because Noah gets so much, I would LOVE to be able to return some things and put the money into his savings account. Sorry, I went on a little bit of a rant there...
If they are things that are not opened and are duplicates or something I do not want them to have, I usually keep them to regift-tacky I know.
But their toys that they have lost interest in or outgrown- I sell at my MoM Club resale twice a year,along with their clothes. I take that money and buy them something fun- that is more costly than I want to spend out of my household budget.
I love the idea of taking the proceeds and putting them in their savings' account!
I think this gift will just be a "rainy day" toy...but this post reminded me of the box of not-my-style toys I boxed up last year and intended to donate. Guess that's on the to-do list for 2013.
I re-gift them too. Why not? If there's no receipt, not much else you can do.
When this happens to me, I just say, "Oh can I have the receipt? I need to exchange it for a different size. Wow, it will sure be easy because I plan on getting the same exact thing, just a size up/down" Then I return and buy whatever I want.
I do all of these things too. People seem to really enjoy buying my kid super tech-y or tv-related toys b/c they think I don't "let" him do these things. Sorry, my kid likes blocks and play food more than tv right now. What's wrong with that?
We rotate toys from the basement too.
I'm a serial regifter and donater. I also box up anything that's not quite age appropriate yet but she will like at some point and rotate that stuff in....that way I'm not buying stuff throughout the year given that Christmas and her birthday are back to back.
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I definitely regift and donate. The kids have so many toys and lots of clothes so I have an ongoing by in the basement for stuff.
My MIL is notorious for buying things that just totally confuse me. For LO's 2nd birthday she got her a stuffed toy that giggles - the packaging said for ages 3 months +.
I mean, come on! Of course, she never gives me a receipt and immediately takes tags / packaging off and plus, honestly, I think she would notice if certain purchases weren't around so we just keep them but they definitely get rotated to the basement playroom shelves really fast.
I personally can't stand stuffed animals and they have given LO at least 5 obnoxiously large stuffed animals so the last time I actually did say that we did not need ANY more stuffed animals. There is no point to them! You can't even donate them!
Okay, sorry I sound like a total b1tch.
I get frustrated because we don't have a lot of extra $ so I put a lot of time into LO's birthday and Xmas lists because it's the one time of year where we can ask for things and I really try to ask for things that fit a person's gift giving style (for example, my mom just wants Amazon links whereas my SIL wants to shop at Target for things that aren't too girly).
So, after putting in all that time and effort when I get something totally off the wall I do get a little petty about it.
And with my IL's living out of town, if they buy a hideous outfit, I just put her in it once and send them a cell phone picture and then it goes in the donate pile when it's clean!