Any other families doing this?

[katymf]

So this year we are super strapped for money. We have decided that we are just getting DS gifts this year. We can't afford anything for our parents or brothers/sisters or even our nieces and nephews. It will be a strange Xmas this year seeing as how no one else will be opening up any gifts. We have told everyone were not getting them anything so therefore we are not expecting anything which is fine. As long as DS gets his stuff thats all that matters. Do any other families just buy for there LO's?

[aldermother]

Yep. DH and I bought a camera last month because ours broke. We can't afford to buy gifts for each other now or anyone else really for that matter. So the boys will get just a few things.

I will also get one of my sisters a gift. I have 7 siblings and for the past 20 years we have had a name draw. We select one name each year to get a present for just one sibling. It's worked out great! We don't have to struggle to get everyone something. But I have never been able to afford anything for my nieces and nephews, I may handmake something small, or regift something like-new to the littlest one.

[Belbaby3728]

We buy for our dd, my niece and two nephews. Then the adults in my family all do a Yankee swap instead of us all getting gifts for each other. That is this year. In past years we have drawn a name from hat and had a 30 dollar limit. But we all decided this year is for the kids as money is tight for many of us.

I wish my DH's family was the same, but his sisters are quite selfish. Perhaps because they aren't married/no kids? I don't know. They probably won't be happy this year as we aren't buying. We don't expect anything ourselves.

[adjroberts]

I made presents for all of the kids, told all of the adults no presents this year. We will see how it goes.

[ARogers]

We do something similar in our family. We get gifts for all the kids. Right now my brother and SIL will get gifts because they don't have kids, but as soon as they have LO's we will get gifts for the kids not adults.

[acwakip]

That is what our family does. My mom buys for her kids and grandkids. My MIL only buys for her grandkids. We used to draw names and exchange gifts for adults and kids, but that ended up being nothing more than a giftcard swap.

Of course, the grandkids in my family are mostly in their late teens/20s now. My kids are the youngest.

[nw2bargaining]

Now that I have had baby number 2, this is what I will be doing from now on. The only person outside of my children I feel I need to buy for is my mother! You do what you have to do and don't feel bad.

[Mom2Connor]

I wish our families would respect this. We have reqested for several years now to stop the gift exchanges. They won't stop gifting and we feel so awkward and uncomfortable not gifting them.

DH just has his mother and brother - his brother tells us every year not to buy him anything. I think he really is ok with that. He still gifts us and DS, it makes me so uncomfortable though to not swap.

His mom - we get her a giftcard somewhere usually. There is nothing she wants/needs, so we get giftcards to places she likes to eat out.

My family we ONLY buy for immediate family. I have a HUGE extended family on both my moms and dads sides, and we see many of them regularly. My mom, dad, and usually my brother and his son are who we have bought for in years past. My brother is like the PP's sisters - not married, only has his son a few nights a month and usually pawns him off on my mom/dad/me so he is very selfish about gifts. He never asks what we might be interested in, buys stupid stuff (last yr he was all excited because he got us a "huge box." Um ok? It had TP and paper towels in it (supposed to be a funny joke I guess), meanwhile we spent a good chunk of $$ on him). This yr after some really crappy stuff he said to me, I doubt we'll even see him and we aren't buying a darn thing for him. I asked him over a month ago if we could skip the gift swap between us and him this yr and he said do whatever you want.

I'm sick of the constant gift swaps. It's too expensive, too many people in my family are ungrateful (my mom is the only one is acts grateful) and I'm just over it. We basically just bought for DS this yr and small things for the others.

[Shimpie]

The rule in my family is gifts for children only. A lot of the birthdays in the family are late in the year, so it's actually difficult to find a Christmas present for someone I just gifted 2 weeks earlier.

ETA: Nieces and nephews get presents too. It's manageable since there are only 3 of them.

[ivparker]

No, we don't do that. We still gift to our neices and nephews. IMO, it would depend on how much you are spending on your ds. If money is so tight that you can only spend $20 on your ds, then sure, don't feel guilty about not buying for your neices and nephews. But if you you can spend $100 on a 1 year old, I would forego buying my son a gift and buy small gifts for the neices and nephews just so there is peace. Your 1yo will not know any different.