Santa Present Sabotage

[mommylamb]

I love my mom. She's a wonderful person in so many ways. And incredibly generous with my children. I have to say this before I make this totally petty vent.

I keep Amazon lists for both kids. Yes, they are wish lists so that people like my mom can get ideas about what to buy them. But they are also reminder lists for me so that I can remember the things I want to buy them. It is hard for me to think of things for DS2, especially big things, because I feel like we already have ever toy on the planet in my house. But, I had listed this cute ride on toy on his Amazon list. And put in the note section "Santa Gift. DO NOT BUY."

I went to click on it today to read a review again, and it came up with the "someone may have bought this for you" message. I know she just started her Christmas and Hanukkah shopping (we do both). I'm sure she just didn't notice the note, because she wouldn't have bought it if she had known it was his santa present. But seriously, Santa doesn't know what to get this kid now, and if Santa makes a donation to DS2's college account, as Santa would like to do in light of the fact that there are no real good "big" options for DS2, DS1 will get suspicious.

I know I could tell her and just give her the money and have it still be the santa present. But I don't want to make her feel bad. Back to the drawing board.

And yes, this is the ultimate in first world problems. Sorry.

[mikala]

My mom does things like this too.

I'd let it go, make a private Santa wish list and let us help you brainstorm an awesome second idea.

[Reader]

My mom does this, too, but on purpose. I know this is the BP, but when this happens in our family (I have 3 boys), I usually go with something large but cheaper for the smallest son who has all of his brothers' hand me down toys. Ex: a giant truck, a cardboard playhouse something that says "wow, it's huge" but not necessarily expensive. If you want to keep things equal you could just put the rest that you would have spent on the ride on toy in the college fund.

[brittone2]

MIL does this. She will ask DC what they want, but they give the same list they give me. She won't say a word and then buys whatever item. This year we picked up the AG dolls Molly and Emily early since they are being retired. When we were on vacation in Sept, MIL must have asked DD what she wanted, because a few weeks later at her house I see Molly and Emily circled in the AG catalog at MIL's house. I suggest to DH we ask her about it when DD is not around. Sure enough, they were already purchased. Soooo, there went that idea. We are now returning ours, or selling on CL to save ourselves the shipping costs.

It is frustrating. MIL doesn't do it intentionally, but I wish she'd run it by us, kwim? She never asks us what the kids want, she asks them when I'm not around, and therefore I can't let her know that they gave me the same list.

I'm sorry :(

[123LuckyMom]

My mom does this kind of thing, too. Once I did speak up and ask if we could be the one to give the item to DS. She agreed. What I do now is put those kinds of items in my cart and then click save-for-later. I figure if they're in the wish list, they're free game. I like the idea of the big-but-not-expensive gift.

[mommylamb]

What I do now is put those kinds of items in my cart and then click save-for-later. I figure if they're in the wish list, they're free game. I like the idea of the big-but-not-expensive gift.

That's a good idea. I just took something off DS1's list that I want to get for him and did that. I will do that in the future. I had never noticed the Save For Later button.

[crl]

Sorry. That is totally something my mom would do. I hope Santa comes up with a great idea!

Catherine

[YouAreTheFocus]

Watch out, Save For Later can get out of control, mine is several pages long!!

Fwiw, my mom is often Santa (or Mrs. Claus or Rudolph :)). DS's most wanted present last Xmas was "the real Buzz Lightyear" and my mom really wanted to buy it for him, but she wrote Santa on the label. Of course she's our Xmas side, obviously wouldn't fly if she was our Hanukkah side!

[westwoodmom04]

Sorry Op, it is hard to think of that illusive "big" present. I had the opposite problem, same result, with my very sweet MIL. I use to tell her what I had bought and what they still wanted. She'd go to the store and forget which toy was in which category. There were two or three years in a row where my kids would open duplicates of presents they had gotten from Santa just a few hours earlier. Eventually, I learned and stopped telling her what I had already bought.

[curiousgeorge]

OP, I am sorry. That is so hard! I know this is the BP, but just wanted to offer one sort of crazy gift suggestion.

I have two boys and also get hand-me-downs from my sister's older two boys. So, I know exactly what you mean when you say it's hard to find something for DS2. So, last year I figured since he wasn't that old he wouldn't notice and just left it at that.

Well, my mom showed up with a "Santa gift" for DS2, who is about a year older than your DS2 (04/11 birthday). I looked at her like she was crazy when I saw it. She said that he needed a big wow gift from Santa and this was it. So, under the tree it went with a "Santa" tag.

He LOVED it. He still plays with it every chance he gets. It has been named. It is by far the one and only gift from Christmas that he still plays with all the time. It is an outdoor toy, and he fills it up with rocks, sticks, cars, balls, etc. and pushes it all over the neighborhood. Everyone knows who he is by that truck. So, I'll just throw it out there and let you tell me I'm crazy, but I just had to share in case you just need something big (and it's not cheap...but I swear we will get YEARS of play out of this!).

http://www.amazon.com/Wader-37909-Giant-Dump-Truck/dp/B00030MNSY/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1382662167&sr=8-5&keywords=giant+dump+truck

[trales]

My mother does this also, but I am pretty sure she does it on purpose. She also claims certain themes, such as I am the american girl grandma, no one else can get her those. Ummm . . .NO.

[KrisM]

Sorry you lost the Santa gift! Very frustrating!


That's a good idea. I just took something off DS1's list that I want to get for him and did that. I will do that in the future. I had never noticed the Save For Later button.

An added bonus is that if the price on anything you have saved for later changes, you'll be notified when you go into your cart. Last year, I had Lego Mindstorms in my cart and just caught it one time that it had dropped significantly.

[MamaMolly]

http://www.amazon.com/Wader-37909-Giant-Dump-Truck/dp/B00030MNSY/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1382662167&sr=8-5&keywords=giant+dump+truck

Holy crap! Your mom rocks!

[AnnieW625]

I would explain the situation to your mom and tell her that you have no other gift ideas for DS2 and that you were planning on buying the gift for DS2 and you still want to give it to him.

What about a Cozy Coupe or one of the push cars instead? My DD2 loves the push car thing that I got for free from a friend, but I was planning on buying her one anyways because DD1 had always played with one at playdates.

We also have gotten tons and tons out of this Little Tikes set:
http://www.amazon.com/Little-Tikes-Hide-Climber-Swing/dp/B00B0DWCUC/ref=sr_1_5?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1382726117&sr=1-5

[Still-in-Shock]

I know this is the bitch post, but I do have a suggestion. When you get the lists from your children, or when you make your lists, why not give those lists to your parents/in-laws then? You can tell them your plans at that time, and then they can feel involved and maybe help you come up with other ideas.

My MIL used to complain about shopping for my nieces and nephews, because she didn't like the Xmas crowds and she was intimidated by the internet. I think she sent my BIL to shop for her some years.
My sister has complained about my own mother's shopping efforts, so I am not expecting much from her.

I'm not sure which is worse, knowing to expect nothing or expecting to get duplicates of nice stuff.

[TxCat]

OP, I completely know the feeling. Both grandmothers complain that they never know what to get. So I give them ideas, but then they both complain that those suggestions aren't big enough or special enough. So invariably, what happens is that the "big" presents come from the grandparents ( sometimes they'll say it's from Santa), and DH and I end up doing the small, unexciting presents. Totally first world problems indeed, but annoying nonetheless.