What do you buy your adult children?

nuttywoman

What do people do about xmas presents for their adult children? Do you give them money or buy surprises?
We always get them surprises more or less ( they do give us hints,lol ) because they say xmas would`nt be xmas without them.
val:p

meadowcat

£100 and a smallish surprise - About £20.

Counting_Pennies_2

As an adult and receiving gifts from my parents and my inlaws, I know for sure what I appreciate, and what niggles a bit.

I hate being asked to give one suggestion for a present, which my parents insist on, and then being told they have got my present several weeks in the run up, to the point I feel I have to thank them even before the event, and then I have to give a fake surprise thank you on the day!

My inlaws give a lovely mix of presents; scarfs, perfume, books, something for the house, a tool or towels, and maybe something small to go on the Christmas tree, as we slowly collect new ornaments each year. There is normally one item bigger than the rest to make you feel special, and then a nice collection of smaller items which I always look back on later on when I am using them and think fondly of receiving them. I am still asked for a few suggestions, so there are a few items I have longed for, and others a surprise

My husband is also given a cheque by his parents for him to put towards something special for himself.

alanalea

A few years ago my mum gave me a huge box, inside was a smaller box and a smaller one... There were 8-10 boxes and inside was....... A BOB THE BUILDER CD - I was 19 :rotfl:


This year, my parents are paying for a Glastonbury festival ticket so my husband and I only have to pay for one, Assuming I can get a ticket in April :j

maplegirl2011

my partner has a 19yr old from a previous relationship. she works and lives with her mother. we have 4 other young kids to buy for so i spent about £140 each on them and about £70 on the 19 yr old. i thought this was a reasonable amount due to the fact she works and was 19. well she was fuming on xmas day and was asking how much so and so's present was etc.now i haven't seen her since xmas day (since we moved house 18 mths ago from the road next to her boyfriend and no longer give her money we don't see her). she never got my partner anything for fathers day and the smaller kids said she has said when dad gives her a xmas present she'll get him a fathers day one.
now i am livid about this but partner obviously has the my kids can't do no wrong attitude. my problem is i don't know what to do this xmas.i have done the shopping for the smaller ones and got lots of bargains,so it looks like they have had alot spent on them but they haven't. i don't think she did too badly last year because she has her mums presents aswell, but i don't want to have arguments this xmas(she walked out last xmas before dinner).
any opinions ?

RHYSDAD

charb wrote:

my partner has a 19yr old from a previous relationship. she works and lives with her mother. we have 4 other young kids to buy for so i spent about £140 each on them and about £70 on the 19 yr old. i thought this was a reasonable amount due to the fact she works and was 19. well she was fuming on xmas day and was asking how much so and so's present was etc.now i haven't seen her since xmas day (since we moved house 18 mths ago from the road next to her boyfriend and no longer give her money we don't see her). she never got my partner anything for fathers day and the smaller kids said she has said when dad gives her a xmas present she'll get him a fathers day one.
now i am livid about this but partner obviously has the my kids can't do no wrong attitude. my problem is i don't know what to do this xmas.i have done the shopping for the smaller ones and got lots of bargains,so it looks like they have had alot spent on them but they haven't. i don't think she did too badly last year because she has her mums presents aswell, but i don't want to have arguments this xmas(she walked out last xmas before dinner).
any opinions ?

With all due respect, she sounds an ungrateful little wretch.
However, i do go along with the view that you should treat everybody the same where children are concerned. This said, she is working and able to pay her way so a reduced amount doesn't seem that unreasonable, it's not like you only spent a tenner. Personally i would call this little madams bluff and ignore this extremely childish behaviour. You expect that from a 10yr old, not an 'Adult' woman. Better to spend her money on;

http://www.saddestnumber.org.uk/

She should be grateful that at least she HAS a family.

Good Luck

astonsmummy

My mum always asks what i want - this year, she's got me a pair of earings from barbados (comes back today) woo hoo!!!
I know what i'm getting but wont get it until xmas day, she also gets knickers, smellys etc.
The same with my sis she askes what one thing she wants then gets litle token gifts.

astonsmummy

RHYSDAD wrote:

http://www.saddestnumber.org.uk/

She should be grateful that at least she HAS a family.

Good Luck

How sad, I work wth the elderly provding care in their own homes, and for alot of them we are the only people they get to see on a daily basis, some have no families at all, i feel for the oldies who dont even get that and go weeks even months without any decent contact.
As long as i'm alive i'll never let that happen to my mother, or my nan but theres no chance of my nan being lonely, she's always got one of her kids living with her! She's one of the lucky ones.
The saddest thing iis, alot of these people DO have families, but they dont care or bother with thm.

Loobysaver

Counting_Pennies wrote:

I hate being asked to give one suggestion for a present, which my parents insist on, and then being told they have got my present several weeks in the run up, to the point I feel I have to thank them even before the event, and then I have to give a fake surprise thank you on the day!

I have this too. My Mum has been known to ask me what I want and then buy it right in front of me. Perhaps I'm being a big kid but it spoils the surprise of pressies for me. Last year I didn't tell her anything I wanted thinking I'd get a nice surprise - well it back-fired big time on me as I ended up with no pressies and just got handed £20 and told to go buy my own present as she didn't know what to get me!!!

This year I've asked for pyjama's!!

squibbs25

MIL asked last year what we wanted (joint pressie) i mentioned a NICE set towels for me and hubby. She bought us....................a 4 place dinner set :rolleyes:
Hubbys nanna's gift..........................part 2 of the dinner set :rotfl: :huh:
(At least they must have MSE'd.....BOGOF )

Why ask what you want and get something different?!!!

My own parents tend only to get the adults a token gift, as they spend on the grandchildren :rolleyes:


Squibbs

gingin_2

I have asked for a deal or no deal board game, oh is getting a dvd. We don't expect much from them, they spend quite a lot on the children and we stay at theirs for christmas where they push the boat out with food and wine and decorating the house so it really doesn't matter to us.