Parents should be the best people in the world at buying gifts. After all, they know their children better than anyone, particularly at a young age when it is easy to gauge children’s interests and they’ll happily speak with their parents about any and all subjects.
As much as parents do need to be taken to task sometimes for buying a particular gift, if a child is so tunnelled into wanting the latest gadget, it is often impossible to make any difference at all.
After all, who wants to open a toy that looks amazing one morning, only to be told that it must stay in its box because it will be worth much more in years to come? As if any child is going to take notice of that!
However, there still exists a catch-22 situation where parents don’t want to pay the extra money through fear of the same thing happening, so stick to the tried and tested routines where if a child gets bored ‘at least they didn’t spend much.
As much as we’re saying parents are bad at buying presents, many do a great job, which is not to say their children get everything they want, but what they do get is well received and excellent for its purpose.
However, parents are notorious for being decidedly dreadful when it comes to buying great gifts. We’re not just talking about buying what your children have specifically asked for, either.
Blame the Parents
As children, most of us have a hard time accepting that our parents know best, or at least that they act in our best interests at all times.
We’ve all been in a situation where we thought we were getting a particular gift, only to open something and see that it wasn’t what we wanted or expected. However, this isn’t necessarily a problem. As long as a gift has a meaning and purpose, it will generally be accepted.
The problem is that parents will then start trying to give an awkward explanation about why they’ve chosen a particular gift and go on to sell the benefits of it. Many parents struggle to remember when they were children themselves, and unwittingly turn into their own parents!
Great Expectations
While you never want to target children and say that they’re being unrealistic or shouldn’t ask for certain things, modern society now means that children are readily asking for things like iPods and games consoles, where in the past dolls from A Girl for All Time and similar traditional toys would be at the top of wish lists.As much as parents do need to be taken to task sometimes for buying a particular gift, if a child is so tunnelled into wanting the latest gadget, it is often impossible to make any difference at all.
Collectible Items
There’s nothing wrong with parents purchasing collectible items for their children. However, if parents want to buy these, then they ought to do so outside of usual gifting occasions like Christmas and birthdays.After all, who wants to open a toy that looks amazing one morning, only to be told that it must stay in its box because it will be worth much more in years to come? As if any child is going to take notice of that!
Buying for Now
Some parents don’t believe in spending a lot of money on toys because they think children will quickly get bored of them. At this point, parents will feel they’ve wasted their money. Of course, this is understandable enough, but what they don’t often realise is that if they’d spend more on something more engaging, they wouldn’t be in this situation.However, there still exists a catch-22 situation where parents don’t want to pay the extra money through fear of the same thing happening, so stick to the tried and tested routines where if a child gets bored ‘at least they didn’t spend much.
As much as we’re saying parents are bad at buying presents, many do a great job, which is not to say their children get everything they want, but what they do get is well received and excellent for its purpose.
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