Christmas Presents + In-Laws....

Discussion in 'Other Conversation' started by Meg2006, Dec 28, 2011.

  1. Meg2006

    Meg2006 New Member

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    What do you get when you add Christmas Presents + In-Laws? Is it fantastic or kind of a bust?
    This year we went to DH's Mom's house (basically 1 level w/ a small bedroom on the second floor) and she had invited a few people so all in all there were 11 people in her house (Nobody gets along anyways since we had to listen to 2 fat jokes about me, and watch Dh's 17 y/o brother slap the butt of his 14 y/o girlfriend, and back talk galore). So it may have been in bad taste of us, but we gave a short list of things that Pat couldn't have (soft items he can chew up). Apart from acting like a total spazz-monkey (lots of decorations, lights, it was loud, crowded, and an autistic kids nightmare basically), so one big present the boys got from them was a nerf rocket set. Pump up the launcher and launch the nerf rocket...thingy. Gone 1 hour after opening package and 20 minutes of play. Pat ate it. Literally. Chewed it up...ate it. *sigh* So DH said next year we'll invite them over to our house so that wont be a problem (we didn't decorate really except for a 4 foot tree for Pat). Other than that things were great. We got alot of blankets from the inlaws, and educational things fro the boys, and pajamas. How was your Christmas?
     
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  3. ABall

    ABall Super Moderator

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    I don't have inlaws to deal with..... they are dead.

    my own mother lives in town and we no longer spend holidays with her.

    but she was really bad at picking gifts.

    My son loved that rocket thing ..... but he was 10 when he got it...... my daughter on the other hand CHEWED on all of the NERF footballs!!!!
     
  4. Shelley

    Shelley New Member

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    Chewed up Nerf footballs...boy, that took me back! My older brother's Nerf balls always had chunks out of them. And, no, it wasn't because *I* was chewing them. I think it was pet damage. But I can honestly say I don't know that I've ever seen a whole Nerf football except one that was still in the plastic wrap. :)

    As for in-laws, I stopped having anything to do with mine about 9 years ago. They used to give a ton of gifts, but they were all cheap junk. They were very big on quantity rather than quality. I think they liked to look good by having a bajillion presents, but they were mostly stuff from dollar stores. That was, of course, amusing in its own right since they owned a jewelry store!
     
  5. Naturallia

    Naturallia New Member

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    My son is a chewer too. I'm glad to know he isn't the only one.
     
  6. azhomeschooler

    azhomeschooler New Member

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    My son was a foam chewer until about 3. The worst was always at playdates at someone elses house. I always had an eye out for foam toys, but there were times where I would not notice until it was in his mouth. I always felt horrible.

    Gift from in-laws are always great since dh tells them beforehand exactly what to get. My mom is the one that you never know what you will get. She finds the most bizarre, and odd stuff. This year it ended up being origami kits that even I had a hard time with, but we are using the paper for other purposes. She also got a beach towel that is really cool because it has the name of all 50 states on it in a flag design.
     
  7. Birbitt

    Birbitt New Member

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    We live so far from my inlaws that they just send a card and money for us to buy for the boys. My Dad and his wife however live nearby and they always choose great gifts, though they do ask me ahead of time what their favorite things are. They generally stick to games, legos, educational stuff, and books for the older ones, and clothes and cars/trucks and books for the little one.
     
  8. Lindina

    Lindina Active Member

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    We also don't have an in-law problem about gifts. No in-laws. (When we did have, my dad always gave us money, and dh's mom always gave clothes, which were greatly appreciated.) WE are the in-laws to my dil and sil. Mostly the grandkids love our presents, even if they're not expensive. DGD's favorites this year were a small dollhouse with 4" family, and a sort of "paperdolls" (Melissa & Doug) that's reusable plastic-stick-to-the-background (we used to call them colorforms...). The DGSs (age 6 and 2) got all vehicles of several different kinds, from wooden (Melissa & Doug again) car-transporter truck, to remote control 16-wheeler, with cars, trucks, and motorcycles in between. For the grownups, we get a book, shirt, etc., to open, but the "real" present is a gift card. We're - none of us - "the rich relatives", and dil's parents aren't either, so the fact that there's anything at all to open for Christmas is big. Doesn't matter if it comes from WalMart or the Dollar Store. This year I also made DS a bowl of my potato salad ... which he is quite capable of making himself, but "when I make it, it doesn't taste the same" as mama's.

    The Melissa & Doug stuff was all on deep discount at the teacher-store.
     
  9. leissa

    leissa New Member

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    My MIL keeps it simple and just gets everyone gift cards. She's also not the "needy" type, so no pressure to show up if we've got other things to do. Her belief is that she has raised her kids, she's done, free to spend Christmas in an RV park 3 states away if she wants to.(I LOVE that woman!) MY mom however, has a shopping gene and it shows itself at Christmas!! The woman can't pronounce the word "budget" and gets a serious buzz watching the kids count the gifts. It's an addiction. 4 Nerf guns. for 1 kid. And that was only about a third of his haul.
     
  10. shelby

    shelby New Member

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    I gave all my sisters, and sister in laws gifts that I made. They loved them, which I am glad since I was worried. I had to do lots of returns and exchanges from gifts my sisters give the girls. The clothes were to small.

    My in laws don't give any of us gifts. My mother in law loved her gift, which she needed. I was glad that she liked it.
    My mother decided to give the girls some stuff, but my girls did not know what to think, the other grand kids got more from my parents than they did. sigh... Thats my mother!
     
  11. sixcloar

    sixcloar New Member

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    We live too far away to be with our families on Christmas. My FIL passed away several years ago, and we don't get gifts from my MIL. My parents just send money, so this year we took the whole amount and bought a Kindle Fire rather than dividing it up among us. I have one sister that sends us a restaurant gift card and the kids each a $10 Target card. (They love that, of course!) The others of our siblings (my sis, dh's bro) don't give us gifts. We do give gifts to those who don't reciprocate. I like to teach my children that Christmas is more about the giving than the getting.
     
  12. Lee

    Lee New Member

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    We had a great Christmas. My inlaws always get us very thoughtful and appreciated gifts. We all try to exchange homemade gifts as much as possible.
     

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