When your dc don't like a Christmas gift

[plain jane]

Or atleast if they don't like it as much as you thought they would, and you still have the receipt, what do YOU do??

 

**By this, I don't mean in a complaining, I wish I got something else sort of way, just a "meh, thank you for the thought/gift but I'm not that thrilled about that." If the dc are complaining about their gifts they get my lecture on being grateful.:angry: :lol:

 

I'm undecided whether I should return the gifts that were "misses" to the store and exchange them for other items or if I should simply be grateful the dc aren't asking for more, pocket the extra money and buy myself something nice.:D

Edited December 28, 2008 by plain jane

[jensway]

I would return the gift that they weren't that excited about and get something else that they would like better. Doesn't sound like they are being ungrateful--which I would handle the way you do with a lecture. It's just that they probably had something else in mind that they might like more or get more use out of.

[elegantlion]

I don't usually exchange unless its defective or didn't fit. We usually buy toys, etc, from a list that we have gone over with him several times. That eliminates a lot of the disappointment. Items that weren't on the list are usually practical.

 

This year ds requested a Zune and got it. The neighbor girl got an I-pod, so he has already said, "I-pods may be cooler", but we're not going to exchange it.

[Tree House Academy]

I definitely wouldn't pocket the money. I would take it back and let them go with me and choose their gift. My kids got some money for Christmas, and they have enjoyed the toys they picked for themselves as much or more than the ones that they LOVED that I picked out. :)

[abbeyej]

If you're talking toys or books that you've put thought into and they will likely grow to like, I say "keep". For clothes, I'd exchange for something they're more likely to wear (that meet both their standards and mine, lol).

[Melissa in FL]

I think it depends on a lot of different things. If I had bought my dc PLENTY of other things, then return it and keep the money. My dc get a ton of stuff, plus money from grandparents, Aunts and Uncles. I'm returning two things this year, a Wii game they already had, and a Rays shirt because both my dh and I purchased one so we have one extra. My kids got plenty of other wii games, so the returns will not be used on something else.

 

If we only gave dc a couple of gifts, I would give them the money to choose something else. To take it further: if we did the "something you need, something you want, something to read" categories, then I would make them choose something from that category.

 

If it was something like a book and my dc just wasn't interested in that particular one but would still like a new book, then I would probably also let them choose something else.

 

Also, if it was a big gift (like dd's Karaoke machine) I would let them help decide on a replacement. I guess also if it was a little gift, I would probably keep it and see if the interest picks up at a later date. Sometimes we have bought a filler gift that they had no interest in at Christmas (with so many new things competing) that has been a wonderful toy when discovered in the middle of the summer.

 

I guess I'm not much help, but I think it depends a lot on the circumstances of the individual family.

Melissa

[ChristusG]

I agree with Melissa in FL. I think it depends on the type of gift. We had a gift that "missed" this year. My kids (ages 4 and 1) LOVED that Spike the Ultra Dinosaur that they've seen for the past two months in the stores. I wasn't going to get it.....but I finally caved a few weeks before Christmas because I thought they would be ecstatic.

 

Well......they werent LOL. Actually, my one year old is terrified of it LOL. They didnt complain about it or anything. They just didnt play with it. So last night I asked them if they liked it or if they wanted to return it to the store to get something different. They wanted to return it.

 

So today we went to Toys R Us and returned it. It was kind of pricey, so we only let them have back half the money of the dinosaur (they had already gotten PLENTY for Christmas). So my 4 year old was able to choose two movies, two Leapster games, a Webkinz, and a Little Petshop all for half the price of that dino. Our one year old didnt get anything because there was really nothing to get her that she would enjoy.

 

I usually would not pocket any of the money from a gift, but in this case it was a very pricey gift and I had already gone pretty overboard on Christmas this year anyways.

[coffeegal]

I figure some gifts are hits, some are misses, and no gifts are returned unless there is a serious problem with the gift. Win some, lose some. :mellow:

[coffeefreak]

I said other because I haven't ever had any "misses." We always know what our kids want and will enjoy, so they don't ever get upset. They're still young so that might change:001_smile:. Now, other people have given them gifts that get that response, and I tend to take them back and either give them something else or the money. Why have something laying around they don't want? If it was something I gave them, I don't know what I'd do:confused: Did they change their mind, or did you go out on a limb?

[Natalieclare]

I don't have enough room in my house to keep around things with little purpose. So, I'd probably take it back. But I am not insulted if my kids don't like something that I like. In fact, I signed a couple of packages "From Your Doomed Mother" because I got my teen girls clothing without knowing their opinion on the items. I remember my mom picking out some clothes for me that I thought were hideous. So I had to laugh at myself for potentially doing the same thing to my girls. It turned out they liked the clothes.

 

But one of my daughters didn't like the bare minerals kit I got her-we're going to take it back and have fun shopping together to pick out something different. (She's decided she doesn't want to lock herself into makeup yet. Fine by me, I had mistakenly thought she was looking for a green light from us.)

[chaik76]

I voted other. As a child I received gifts I didn't enjoy and just put a smile on my face.

 

As far as I know, my oldest son hasn't ever received anything he doesn't like...he makes a Christmas list, and that is what we and the rest of the family buy his gifts off of. So, except for the clothes (mentioned below) every gift he gets will be something he particularly wants.

 

Wait...he doesn't like receiving clothes. I don't buy practical gifts for Christmas, so I don't buy clothes. But the in-laws do. He just says thank you and moves on.

[chaik76]

Or atleast if they don't like it as much as you thought they would, and you still have the receipt, what do YOU do??

 

**By this, I don't mean in a complaining, I wish I got something else sort of way, just a "meh, thank you for the thought/gift but I'm not that thrilled about that." If the dc are complaining about their gifts they get my lecture on being grateful.:angry: :lol:

 

I'm undecided whether I should return the gifts that were "misses" to the store and exchange them for other items or if I should simply be grateful the dc aren't asking for more, pocket the extra money and buy myself something nice.:D

I think if you return the gifts, the children should either get to choose new gifts, or they should receive the cash from the gifts.

[Rosie_0801]

If they wait a polite interval, I don't see why they shouldn't put it up on ebay and get something else with the money. I'm not one to remember what happened to the reciept though.

 

Rosie

[fivetails]

We don't really return gifts unless there is a serious problem with them - ie, clothing item is too small/too big (with no possibility of growing into it in the near future) or it's broken/not working.... those situations don't happen very often. I wouldn't consider returning a gift that was just not a screaming fave, y'know? I don't know...just doesn't seem right to do that when someone put a lot of thought into the present.... for instance, hubby got me a lovely, soft, fluffy housecoat for Christmas - he knew I wanted one, badly.....so he went out searching for just the right lovely soft fluffy housecoat, braving not only the mall, but La Senza itself LOL....and he got me one...a bright red one. Bright ruby red. Um, I really don't like red. REALLY don't like red. As in, I own nothing else red at all. But guess what I'm sitting here wearing? And loving, cuz it's like wearing a hug...a bright ruby red hug, yes, but still. ;)

[PrairieAir]

Honestly, this just doesn't really happen at our house. I have dc that are very easy to please:D

 

There was one time that I bought a few clothing items for oldest dd and she wasn't so sure about them. I told her we could return them and she could get something else. Clothing is a little different, IMO. She never did return them and only wore them a few times. I wish she had let me return them and gotten something else, but now she has outgrown them and youngest dd wears them, so it isn't a total loss. There was also one time when I bought jeans for ds and they were too short because he'd grown about 2 inches between the time I bought them and the time he got them (less than a month!). Of course we exchanged those out.

 

The only time the kids get something they don't really care for or know what to do with is the ridiculous family gift exchanges where we have to buy a $15 gift that will work for anyone. That almost never works out. I sure wish we could just put all that money together to help a needy family at Christmas! Then there are the little things from dh's uncle on the other side of the family. They go to Dollar General and grab whatever 5 minutes before the party. That's always a little puzzling, but at least sometimes it's something somewhat useful like gloves. We just say it's the thought that counts, but we're not quite sure what the thought is. This brings out my rarely seen pessimistic side which says that the thought is, "Gee, I guess I have to get you something." Oh well. It's good practice in being gracious and thankful and we certainly never expect anything anyway. It would just be so much better to put all that money spent on junk toward something that would really help someone else.

[dirty ethel rackham]

If we have the receipt and we have the time, we exchange it. If the giver's feelings might be hurt, we encourage them to appreciate the thought and get over it. It may be regifted in the future to a needy family after the requisite time has passed:)