Over-extravagant Christmas present akwardness

marisco_2

Up until the point of giving a very generous gift, your relationship with these neighbours has been equal and one of give and take. I appreciate that giving to their children was done with the best of intentions, but I would be surprised if they don't feel a bit awkward about it. I hope things can be smoothed out when you see them again.

bestpud

alarafan wrote: »

Thanks for the answers. We will wait to speak to them in person. We had included a card which said something like -we just wanted to thank you for all your kindness'. They can get hundreds (thousands, millions?) of free books.

Doing the maths, even with paying for the lessons, we pay much less for childcare on Mondays than other days and over a year it is more than £120.

You'd expect it to be cheaper as they aren't a business and are only providing a meal as extra to their normal expenses.

They may not even know how much you pay for childcare and not having to pay swimming lessons for 2 children would make a big difference to a less well off family.

You are looking at it from a different angle if you know what I mean?

Bogof_Babe

Are you sure they have access to wifi, in order to load books onto the e-reader? If they are not very techie savvy they might not know what to do with them.

Frith

It was a really thoughtful gift and will be useful for their children.


BUT... I barely spend £60 on each of my children. I would feel embarrassed if someone (especially not family) spent that much on my sons out of the blue.

paulineb_2

It was a lovely gesture, i wouldn't feel bad about it for a second

Sad day when you need to feel you went over the top considering how much they do for you

Lequirk_2

I would consider such a purchase, from people i am not very close to, to be very extravagant indeed. I would feel awkward that i may be expected to reciprocate the gift giving, at possibly considerable expense to myself.

I fully appreciate the whys of your purchases and the reasoning behind it, but i think you should perhaps ensure they know this was a one-off, or you might just be making a financial rod for your own back. If you live more or less cutting your cloth to your means then, yes, it was an extravagant, though generous gesture.

ska_lover

To be completely honest with you OP - A gift that expensive would cause me embarrassment, as I would be unable to afford to reciprocate a similar value present - which is the socially 'done' thing - I believe. You have only got to look on this board to see the 'giving to receive' threads springing up. To be honest with you,even if I had £120 to spare, I would be spending it on my own family

Appreciation can be shown in so many other ways without throwing such money at it, a nice bunch of flowers for the mother would have done the trick nicely

I am not saying that is how your neighbours feel, that is just how I would feel about it. You haven't actually seen them yet, so could be all is well and they are very grateful

*max*

What kind of Nook did you buy? I bought the Simple Touch for £29 a while ago, and it stayed that price for a long time. Not so extravagant if you put it this way... Even If you paid £60 each for the same device, I'd just tell the mum casually "Well, did they like their Nooks? I got them for a such a bargain, you wouldn't believe!".

And then review your bargain hunting skills!

Macca83_2

I'm sure you meant well. It sounds like an extremely thoughtful gift but if they couldn't afford to spend that kind of money on their own children then you've put them in a very awkward position. I spend about £30per family member because that's what I can afford. I'd feel pretty lousy if the next door neighbour put in a token present that cost more

specialboy

To be honest it sounds like you are expecting them to come and thank you, they may not even realise that they are an expensive present.