How do you deal with relatives gifting you and your baby/kid lots of stuff you really don't want or can't use, even if you talked about it with them before, that your 3 month old in middle/northern Europe in winter doesn't need a Mediterranean summer coat for a 2 year old and we don't really care right now that you thought it looked cute and we also don't need 20 different plastic toys right now we live in a flat not a giant storage room.
That is super inconsiderate of people, yet everyone seems to do it. @Mojo_Jojo is currently dealing with an oversized dollhouse and I am wondering what to do with the rocking horse (its a dino, actually) grandpa made, but my kid hasn't touched in over a year.
We have tactically placed toys at family and donated some stuff to a local diner with the excuse that "he can play with it there." I think you just have to be ruthless and keep telling people what kind of gifts are actually appreciated.
Yeah, just keep clearing it out as some people will never stop.
Best you can do is try to direct their efforts to smaller things or getting tickets/taking child to places like zoos, museums, etc.
How do you deal with relatives gifting you and your baby/kid lots of stuff you really don't want or can't use, even if you talked about it with them before, that your 3 month old in middle/northern Europe in winter doesn't need a Mediterranean summer coat for a 2 year old and we don't really care right now that you thought it looked cute and we also don't need 20 different plastic toys right now we live in a flat not a giant storage room.
That is super inconsiderate of people, yet everyone seems to do it. @Mojo_Jojo is currently dealing with an oversized dollhouse and I am wondering what to do with the rocking horse (its a dino, actually) grandpa made, but my kid hasn't touched in over a year.
We have tactically placed toys at family and donated some stuff to a local diner with the excuse that "he can play with it there." I think you just have to be ruthless and keep telling people what kind of gifts are actually appreciated.
Along these lines can someone please tell my wife that no we DON'T need another [insert large toy here] and I DON'T care that it is super cheap
I've tried telling her, but she doesn't seem to hear me
Along these lines can someone please tell my wife that no we DON'T need another [insert large toy here] and I DON'T care that it is super cheap
I've tried telling her, but she doesn't seem to hear me
Same
"But he neeeeeeds a stuffed walrus"
"But it's giant. It's practically the size of his pillow"
"But he neeeeeeeds it and Santa always brings him a stuffed animal"
Sigh
The one about the fucking space hairdresser and the cowboy. He's got a tinfoil pal and a pedal bin
My mil bought two sets of Christmas presents. The first set was nice, and we did a quick get together with her before we left to spend Christmas with my parents across the country.
When we got back, she had gotten us more things, and it was like... We told her not to do that. But she just laughed and said she always liked getting new things as a kid. Yes, she grew up in a household with limited money, and got new things maybe once every couple of years. But my kids are spoiled, and do not need anything. More is just too much. Oof
If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing
I've started instructing relatives to gift experiences instead of physical things, because even in our very nicely sized house, there's WAY too many toys.
It's like, no, don't get her "blah", buy her tickets to go to the theatre, or the movies, or a museum or a zoo or something. Heck, take her instead of us going, and that's two gifts down!
In a roundabout way... It sucks that toys are just so cheap these days. Like, a toy car that would have been amazing to any kid growing up 30-40 years ago, is now just another item you get delivered at your doorstep from any number of webshops. I mean, anyone who goes "I wish stuff was this cool when I was younger" needs to take a hot second to consider "but is it something that this child is going to appreciate?"
Like with that fucking rocking dino: it's great, my dad made it from scratch with very limited tools, he drew up the designs himself, everything. He has put a lot of time into it, but it was all on a whim. There was no guarantee that Little King would be into it. Grandpa just made a dog-sized toy because he thought it was cool.
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lonelyahavaCall me Ahava ~~She/Her~~Move to New ZealandRegistered Userregular
edited January 2020
I really woudl like that walrus if you're offering.
I have an.. addiction to stuffed toys.
Edit: i know you're not offering but.... a stuffed walrus! How cute is that!
FiggyFighter of the night manChampion of the sunRegistered Userregular
On the topic of toys, the amount of Chinese knockoff garbage in stores now is insane. Was it always like this? Like, half the stuff Noah got for his birthday was branded "Fun Toy Games" or similar and lasted roughly a day before it was broken.
Just search anything in Walmart's toy section and it's 99% trash.
Experiences are so much more meaningful. Likely cheaper for the purchaser, too. Would like you to get him another plastic thing that will be lost of broken before you can blink or give him something he remembers doing with his family?
Or nothing. Seriously. Just show up and be part of my kid's life. That's why you were invited in the first place.
lonelyahavaCall me Ahava ~~She/Her~~Move to New ZealandRegistered Userregular
my father buys Ellie toys and things.
because he cannot be here in person as we live on the other side of the world, so he cannot enjoy the experiences with her, but he can watch her play with toys over skype (providing he ever answers the call...)
My inlaws who do live here give her whatever free or ridiculously cheap shit they stumble across on their way while remembering they have a grandchild and even then, only around christmas/summer holidays and never her birthday.
exhale
anyways, dad also sends my mom down for 3 months of the year so Ellie can spend time with her grandmother, and that's worth more than the toys to me.
Niko: Hey, you have something down there beginning with B!
Me: Do you mean P for Pants?
Niko: No, IN your pants! B for Bah-gina!
Me: No it’s Vuh-vuh-vuh for VAH-gina
Then he ran around going ‘VUH for Vagina! VUH for Vagina!’
[Post Darkwing Duck shenanigans where Bushroot kidnaps a love interest]
Me: Boys, if you ever have to kidnap and tie someone up to show them you like them, you don't really like them. Also, don't abduct people and hold them against their will
Middle Guy: Oh, I change my mind then
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Mojo_JojoWe are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourseRegistered Userregular
[Post Darkwing Duck shenanigans where Bushroot kidnaps a love interest]
Me: Boys, if you ever have to kidnap and tie someone up to show them you like them, you don't really like them. Also, don't abduct people and hold them against their will
Middle Guy: Oh, I change my mind then
*Makes notes furiously*
Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
We got an anti-nausea medicine with the tamiflu we needed last year. Considering her only flu symptoms were fever and throwing up, it worked out well.
(Which we had to pay full-price for, since anti-nausea medicines aren't covered by our normal medical insurance, but by the special cancer care insurance that we haven't set up since none of us have needed to use it. But it wasn't that expensive)
If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing
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sponoMining for Nose DiamondsBooger CoveRegistered Userregular
That's not a bad idea. Was it a liquid, or was it those little tabs you let dissolve on their tongue?
Those are all nice looking studies. But they do all say hand wash only.
Yeah, they say that. Every single one of ours has been tied inside a pillowcase and washed at 30. A few hours hanging out on a radiator and they're back to normal
The one about the fucking space hairdresser and the cowboy. He's got a tinfoil pal and a pedal bin
Welp...guess it's time to start toning down our language.
Mallory: *walks into our room one morning* What the hell?! Who cleaned up this room?
Wife: Dammit, one of the cats peed on the laundry again!
Mallory: Where? I don't see any damn pee!
Jack luckily has not picked up on curse words yet, but he DOES keep telling us to "eat my butt".
We were at the Field Museum a few weekends back, waiting for Mom to return from the bathroom. A man walks past, says "FUDGE"* fairly loud them turns around back out. Assume he forgot wallet or something.
Daughter says,"That's a bad word." Asking be how she knows it, she said it was Grandma. So far wife & I have kept it to crap and maybe a damnit, but I'm sure we'll slip up eventually.
*It wasn't '"fudge".
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KalnaurI See Rain . . .Centralia, WARegistered Userregular
Welp...guess it's time to start toning down our language.
Mallory: *walks into our room one morning* What the hell?! Who cleaned up this room?
Wife: Dammit, one of the cats peed on the laundry again!
Mallory: Where? I don't see any damn pee!
Jack luckily has not picked up on curse words yet, but he DOES keep telling us to "eat my butt".
We were at the Field Museum a few weekends back, waiting for Mom to return from the bathroom. A man walks past, says "FUDGE"* fairly loud them turns around back out. Assume he forgot wallet or something.
Daughter says,"That's a bad word." Asking be how she knows it, she said it was Grandma. So far wife & I have kept it to crap and maybe a damnit, but I'm sure we'll slip up eventually.
*It wasn't '"fudge".
The first thing I thought of was the song "MineCraft is For Everyone" by Starbomb.
I've mentioned before that Toby doesn't talk much. That's starting to change, but back when he'd basically not mirror anyone saying anything at all, there were a few (rather hilarious) bursts of language. Like when I died in a game and said "God dammit" and a few minutes later he was playing with blocks and his tower fell over and he mutter "got da'it" under his breath. Or the wife's usual which is "shit shit shit". He'd been told that he wasn't going outside right then, and we both heard him pacing behind the couch near the door and he muttered "sit sit sit".
Not unlike his proclivity for opening things we didn't know he could open, he doesn't do it often, but he does do it when it would be technically proportional to the circumstances. I've not heard him let loose with anything in . . . almost a year?
Speaking of speech, his clearest word he's learned basically flawlessly, or rather a phrase, is "Uh-oh". Being a 3 year old, his use of it is . . . helpful? At least it alerts us that something has gone wrong, as he's using it correctly. He's also finally saying hi and hello with moderate frequency (still no bye though). Though hi and hello and also hugs (said in a whisper) are said as aye, 'ello, and ugths (soft th) and it's adorable.
The funniest and most adorable was that the wife was watching Star vs the Forces of Evil, and she was in the latter half of the series where the last part of the outro music sings, "she is a shining star". Well, he started singing along with the last two words pretty reliably so the wife would finish an episode and the song would play out and then from wherever he was in the living room we'd hear in a high, chirpy voice, "siininn' staaaaaahhh".
It was the damned cutest thing.
I make art things! deviantART:Kalnaur ::: Origin: Kalnaur ::: UPlay: Kalnaur
Welp...guess it's time to start toning down our language.
Mallory: *walks into our room one morning* What the hell?! Who cleaned up this room?
Wife: Dammit, one of the cats peed on the laundry again!
Mallory: Where? I don't see any damn pee!
Jack luckily has not picked up on curse words yet, but he DOES keep telling us to "eat my butt".
We were at the Field Museum a few weekends back, waiting for Mom to return from the bathroom. A man walks past, says "FUDGE"* fairly loud them turns around back out. Assume he forgot wallet or something.
Daughter says,"That's a bad word." Asking be how she knows it, she said it was Grandma. So far wife & I have kept it to crap and maybe a damnit, but I'm sure we'll slip up eventually.
*It wasn't '"fudge".
Speaking of speech, his clearest word he's learned basically flawlessly, or rather a phrase, is "Uh-oh". Being a 3 year old, his use of it is . . . helpful? At least it alerts us that something has gone wrong, as he's using it correctly. He's also finally saying hi and hello with moderate frequency (still no bye though). Though hi and hello and also hugs (said in a whisper) are said as aye, 'ello, and ugths (soft th) and it's adorable.
The funniest and most adorable was that the wife was watching Star vs the Forces of Evil, and she was in the latter half of the series where the last part of the outro music sings, "she is a shining star". Well, he started singing along with the last two words pretty reliably so the wife would finish an episode and the song would play out and then from wherever he was in the living room we'd hear in a high, chirpy voice, "siininn' staaaaaahhh".
It was the damned cutest thing.
None of the triplets are particularly verbal, but for the middle boy he still didn’t have any words at all at 28 months.
Luckily, our oldest chose that month to want to watch Frozen every single day, and the middle boy started mumbling along to Let It Go by the fourth viewing.
So, take what you can get, whatever it takes is what I would say.
Tiny Wonder is just shy of 20 months and the only words he leans into with a real confidence so far are "D'Ow!" (No), "Eh-Yeeeh! 8-) " (Yeah/Yes), AdaDaDada (Dad/Mom, shortened-lengthened for effect/mood), "Aw-poe nun-shrew" (In response to an "Oh-no"; your guess is as good as mine [WIFE EDIT: "It's "Oh-no-what'll we do", how do you , *teach* him that and not *hear* that?"]), and "Towel" for "Towel", which probably speaks for itself by now. Everything else is different grunts, verbally. He is great with the few simple sign language cues we've practiced, and will constantly keeps you updated other very direct ways like kisses on the forehead on the striking you in the face
He has been very communicative since his birth, and we hold out every hope he'll get into language when he finally chooses to, but I wish he would start sooner than my other two did- it doesn't help that they often try to speak for him, especially since they're usually right, and you can tell he leans into it
You ever had one of those days where you're in such a hurry, as you pull out of the parking lot, your daughter appears next to you in the front seat to ask you a question because you forgot to strap her in.
I had one of those days.
Need a voice actor? Hire me at bengrayVO.com
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MichaelLCIn what furnace was thy brain?ChicagoRegistered Userregular
Hey, better than seeing her sitting in the cart corral.
You ever had one of those days where you're in such a hurry, as you pull out of the parking lot, your daughter appears next to you in the front seat to ask you a question because you forgot to strap her in.
I had one of those days.
Mallory screams bloody murder if you so much as put the car into drive and she isn't fully buckled in yet.
You ever had one of those days where you're in such a hurry, as you pull out of the parking lot, your daughter appears next to you in the front seat to ask you a question because you forgot to strap her in.
I had one of those days.
Mallory screams bloody murder if you so much as put the car into drive and she isn't fully buckled in yet.
My daughter does this too, followed by mad giggling once i do strap her in and "you forgot!" said in the same tone one night say "you are an idiot" or "who told you you should have children?".
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Yeah, just keep clearing it out as some people will never stop.
Best you can do is try to direct their efforts to smaller things or getting tickets/taking child to places like zoos, museums, etc.
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051
Steam ID
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Or at least I think that's how the saying goes.
Along these lines can someone please tell my wife that no we DON'T need another [insert large toy here] and I DON'T care that it is super cheap
I've tried telling her, but she doesn't seem to hear me
PSN/Steam/NNID: SyphonBlue | BNet: SyphonBlue#1126
This is why Mumsnet is a blight on the world. I assume this can only have come from there.
Same
"But he neeeeeeds a stuffed walrus"
"But it's giant. It's practically the size of his pillow"
"But he neeeeeeeds it and Santa always brings him a stuffed animal"
Sigh
When we got back, she had gotten us more things, and it was like... We told her not to do that. But she just laughed and said she always liked getting new things as a kid. Yes, she grew up in a household with limited money, and got new things maybe once every couple of years. But my kids are spoiled, and do not need anything. More is just too much. Oof
It's like, no, don't get her "blah", buy her tickets to go to the theatre, or the movies, or a museum or a zoo or something. Heck, take her instead of us going, and that's two gifts down!
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
Like with that fucking rocking dino: it's great, my dad made it from scratch with very limited tools, he drew up the designs himself, everything. He has put a lot of time into it, but it was all on a whim. There was no guarantee that Little King would be into it. Grandpa just made a dog-sized toy because he thought it was cool.
I have an.. addiction to stuffed toys.
Edit: i know you're not offering but.... a stuffed walrus! How cute is that!
Democrats Abroad! || Vote From Abroad
and then at bedtime, "Daddy, It was a good day today! No more fighting!"
Apparently they agreed between themselves that Thomas would clean up the play dough and Ellie would clean up the tools and there was no fighting!
Democrats Abroad! || Vote From Abroad
Just search anything in Walmart's toy section and it's 99% trash.
Experiences are so much more meaningful. Likely cheaper for the purchaser, too. Would like you to get him another plastic thing that will be lost of broken before you can blink or give him something he remembers doing with his family?
Or nothing. Seriously. Just show up and be part of my kid's life. That's why you were invited in the first place.
because he cannot be here in person as we live on the other side of the world, so he cannot enjoy the experiences with her, but he can watch her play with toys over skype (providing he ever answers the call...)
My inlaws who do live here give her whatever free or ridiculously cheap shit they stumble across on their way while remembering they have a grandchild and even then, only around christmas/summer holidays and never her birthday.
exhale
anyways, dad also sends my mom down for 3 months of the year so Ellie can spend time with her grandmother, and that's worth more than the toys to me.
Democrats Abroad! || Vote From Abroad
Me: Do you mean P for Pants?
Niko: No, IN your pants! B for Bah-gina!
Me: No it’s Vuh-vuh-vuh for VAH-gina
Then he ran around going ‘VUH for Vagina! VUH for Vagina!’
Me: Boys, if you ever have to kidnap and tie someone up to show them you like them, you don't really like them. Also, don't abduct people and hold them against their will
Middle Guy: Oh, I change my mind then
*Makes notes furiously*
It's a Jellycat Walrus. My vote for the octopus was overruled
When friends have children we always get them a Bashful Bunny from there because they're extremely soft and, more importantly, washable
Those are all nice looking studies. But they do all say hand wash only.
Am I the bad guy?
Aw.
Yeakinda
This shit-ass flu medicine the doctor gave is supposed to lessen the symptoms and reduce the duration of the flu by 1-2 days
While I don't doubt it'll do that, it also has the fun side effect of making the boy vomit every time he takes it
Doesn't seem like it's worth the hassle
(Which we had to pay full-price for, since anti-nausea medicines aren't covered by our normal medical insurance, but by the special cancer care insurance that we haven't set up since none of us have needed to use it. But it wasn't that expensive)
Yeah, they say that. Every single one of ours has been tied inside a pillowcase and washed at 30. A few hours hanging out on a radiator and they're back to normal
Mallory: *walks into our room one morning* What the hell?! Who cleaned up this room?
Wife: Dammit, one of the cats peed on the laundry again!
Mallory: Where? I don't see any damn pee!
Jack luckily has not picked up on curse words yet, but he DOES keep telling us to "eat my butt".
PSN/Steam/NNID: SyphonBlue | BNet: SyphonBlue#1126
The tabs. I'm not sure she quite let them dissolve properly, but they worked well enough
We were at the Field Museum a few weekends back, waiting for Mom to return from the bathroom. A man walks past, says "FUDGE"* fairly loud them turns around back out. Assume he forgot wallet or something.
Daughter says,"That's a bad word." Asking be how she knows it, she said it was Grandma. So far wife & I have kept it to crap and maybe a damnit, but I'm sure we'll slip up eventually.
*It wasn't '"fudge".
The first thing I thought of was the song "MineCraft is For Everyone" by Starbomb.
I've mentioned before that Toby doesn't talk much. That's starting to change, but back when he'd basically not mirror anyone saying anything at all, there were a few (rather hilarious) bursts of language. Like when I died in a game and said "God dammit" and a few minutes later he was playing with blocks and his tower fell over and he mutter "got da'it" under his breath. Or the wife's usual which is "shit shit shit". He'd been told that he wasn't going outside right then, and we both heard him pacing behind the couch near the door and he muttered "sit sit sit".
Not unlike his proclivity for opening things we didn't know he could open, he doesn't do it often, but he does do it when it would be technically proportional to the circumstances. I've not heard him let loose with anything in . . . almost a year?
Speaking of speech, his clearest word he's learned basically flawlessly, or rather a phrase, is "Uh-oh". Being a 3 year old, his use of it is . . . helpful? At least it alerts us that something has gone wrong, as he's using it correctly. He's also finally saying hi and hello with moderate frequency (still no bye though). Though hi and hello and also hugs (said in a whisper) are said as aye, 'ello, and ugths (soft th) and it's adorable.
The funniest and most adorable was that the wife was watching Star vs the Forces of Evil, and she was in the latter half of the series where the last part of the outro music sings, "she is a shining star". Well, he started singing along with the last two words pretty reliably so the wife would finish an episode and the song would play out and then from wherever he was in the living room we'd hear in a high, chirpy voice, "siininn' staaaaaahhh".
It was the damned cutest thing.
None of the triplets are particularly verbal, but for the middle boy he still didn’t have any words at all at 28 months.
Luckily, our oldest chose that month to want to watch Frozen every single day, and the middle boy started mumbling along to Let It Go by the fourth viewing.
So, take what you can get, whatever it takes is what I would say.
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So I did the dishes then sat down with a coffee in peace and quiet for an hour.
Bliss.
Party favors. Some parents like to watch the world burn.
He has been very communicative since his birth, and we hold out every hope he'll get into language when he finally chooses to, but I wish he would start sooner than my other two did- it doesn't help that they often try to speak for him, especially since they're usually right, and you can tell he leans into it
I had one of those days.
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Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051
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Mallory screams bloody murder if you so much as put the car into drive and she isn't fully buckled in yet.
PSN/Steam/NNID: SyphonBlue | BNet: SyphonBlue#1126
My daughter does this too, followed by mad giggling once i do strap her in and "you forgot!" said in the same tone one night say "you are an idiot" or "who told you you should have children?".