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How often do you buy your child a toy?how often do you think it is ok to without overspoiling them? I really don't buy my dd much throughout the year(maybe 1-3 times) ,except at christmas but i sorta wanna start doing it a little more cuz she is a kid :)
well sometimes you have to, because like clothes, they grow out of toys too. Just make sure that it is for a good reason! I will get dd a new toy as a reward for something she has done. Been trying to hold off now though that it is her birthday next month, and now she walks around telling the world it is almost her birthday!
2 times a year we go to the big children's thirft sale and get DD a bunch of clothes and toys, everything is dirt cheap because it's used and the people dont want to have to come pick up what didn't sell.
Other than that she gets toys on holidays (small toy for valentines, spring toy for easter, obviously Christmas) and then on her birthday.
Every once and awhile if we see something while shopping we'll buy it, but nothing huge.
Although our living room looks like a daycare and we only have one DD, it's amazing how fast toys pile up, especially after going to the thrift sales (everything is so cheap, it's hard to not buy it. lol)
It is hard to resist buying them stuff all the time isn't it? I SO want to buy my boy things to make him happy every time I see something, but of course I don't want to spoil him. We tend to use them as rewards too.
Recently I saw some soccer things marked down at Superstore and bought them today. He's starting soccer this September, and they were a good deal. But he didn't automatically get them. I told him there was some kind of soccer reward if he were super good all day. And it's been fairly effective! :)
Z
We try not to buy DS very many toys because we have like 3 bins full from our parents who frequent yard sales and get him toys for when he's older as well. If we see something while we're shopping that isn't ridiculously priced, we'll consider it. Recently, I just got like 200$+ worth of toys for free on kijiji (mostly little tykes stuff, and all in great condition).
we buy him clothes and toys if someone gives us money specifically to spend on him or if its his birthday/christmas... I have a cousin that had twins a few years before i had ds so a few times a year they bring us some free toys/clothes. its really nice because we only have to buy something if we really want him to have it. (I insisted on buying cookie monster clothes and some toys i thought would be cute for him.) he has clothes for up until hes 5.
francine-i looved the cookie monster clothes,lol.By the time they were out my dd had outgrown all the sizes they had.
and to everyone--the toys totally pile up quickly!! We have 2 toteboxs full, a toybox downstairs,one is in our room now, 2 at her nanas of mostly her old toys(some newer),left a few toys up at my parents cottage (should fill it with more) to make some room in the toteboxs here because they are breaking,lol. Have to bring more to the other side of the families to now. I am running out of places to put them all. Well I am sure she has outgrown some i can put away though when i get to it.
I really don't buy her hardly anything which is pretty surprising. I guess it's cuz she is a first grandchild and has great grandparents/aunt/uncles/cousins etc. around as well. It sounds like a lot but even i am getting sick of the same ones,lol. I can't imagine buying a real toybox,they wouldn't hold enough,lol.
Both living rooms here look like a daycare and I only have 1 too! I'm getting pretty tired of walking on those little pieces.
I'm always more excited than dd is over toys. She is 18 months and prefers to play with anything but her toys. I bought her a small kitchen to stash away for christmas and bf opened it...I have utensils and such everywhere.
I only but things occassionally and save most toy purchases for a specific season/holiday. My DS is only 14 months though. I am sure once the child gets older there demands grow. LOL!
I have found "re-cycling" helps. I have deliberately put toys@ the bottom of his toy box (because he doesn't go down that far :)) and bring them out the next week. Yes he still get bored with his toys, but not so often. I have already begun packing up the toys that he "outgrew".
I think it is best to buy toys for children regularly according to their age group.Toys develop the sense of imagination and creativity within a child.
You fear that child may get spoiled, but it depends, if toys are good enough and come into educational category, then what more do you need?
A child must be exposed to all kinds of learning situations.
My DS is 15 months and so far hubby and I have only boughten him two things... Megablocks table for his birthday (got it for $8 back in November LOL) and a Cars Ball pit/play yard. The ball pit was a just because gift, I was walking by toys r us express in the mall and it was a complete splurge at $55. My aunt is always picking him up stuff at the second hand store so we never really felt a need to buy anything for him. It piles up WAY too quickly, we've had to downsize twice already and somehow his toy box is already overflowing... lol.
He has been obsessed with cars and trucks since he was about 10 months old, he drives them all over the furniture making engine noises and crashing them into the cat and dog. Luckily he got about 24 different tonka chuck and Cars2 vehicles for his birthday. They're really the only thing he wants to play with other than the keyboard his aunty bought him. :P
We really stick to birthdays and holidays for toys, I think that it keeps those times special for them when we don't always buy them things....books though are a different story, I am all over reading with the kids and they love it, so when it comes to books I say bring it on.
DD is still really little, but DH and I agreed to buy her toys at her birthday and Christmas, and perhaps for Easter as well since DD's birthday and Christmas are really close together. Books we agree kids can never have enough of, so we have no problem spoiling her with books.
Quite often actually. My DH is a bit of a push over so any time we go to the store as a family, he buys them something. Last weekend he bought her a new bike outta the blue.
Christmas and birthdays, and on the odd special day out (like if we go to a festival or something). With my kids, I found that the more that they got when they were younger, the more they wanted and the worse their behaviour was (gimme gimme gimme, I want it NOW, ETC)....so I put a stop to that and now they only get what they need.
They appreciate what they have now, and I am not giving away toys that were bought for them that they never played with.
When my son turned 5 I told him i would not buy him toy's anymore. Instead he get's $5 a week for his allowance. (only if he's good) and if he wants something he has to save for it. So other than christmas and birthdays I don't buy him anything.
Hmmm not too often....they have a grandmother who goes to a lot of thrift stores and yard sales and when she sees stuff that's a good price, she buys it for them. To be honest, they have *a lot* of toys that she has given them, so I haven't seen the need to buy much for them. And what I do buy is usually used or on sale because I can't stomach paying full price for most toys so I don't really keep track of it. For us, we don't celebrate birthdays or holidays, so mostly if we see something we know the kids would enjoy and we're okay with them having it and we can afford it then we'll get it for them. But it probably works out to 5 or 6 times a year for regular toys, and 1 or 2 times for "big ticket" items like a swing set or something. I buy them a lot of activity books and craft activities from Dollarama too...
So does mine! Ha ha! I only have one too.Quote:
Originally Posted by bargain_hunter_lola
we just started doing this. my 5 year old is really starting to get into lego and that stuff is expensive. he is also getting kind of mouthy so we told him if he wants more lego he is going to have to buy it himself and if he wants to get his allowance and be able to save up for it then he better behave!
Quote:
Originally Posted by jayne_a
Usually I stick to holidays/special occassions as well for the most part. Every once and awhile I will buy a toy for something new to play with(ie/summer water toys, etc)or as a "treat".
my son (just turned 2 this month) is into playing in the sand, colouring, painting and playdoh and puzzles. Therefore since i have another one on the way in 6 weeks, i took half his bday presents (he got over spoiled by family) distributed some between both grandparents places then put some in a container out of reach at home. Hope to bring them out over the time from now until xmas to give him that bit of extra when the baby comes but not overkill. There are only so many puzzles and bubbles one kid can have open at at time.
I never buy my daughter toys since she gets so darn many for christmas and her birthday . If i wanna reward her we go out and buy a dress, or some pretty shoes or some hair stuff instead. Since she goes through those things alot quicker than her toys.