christmas....

[bvas81]

hello my fellow twins and multiples moms and dads!
I wanted to ask everyone how they handle christmas..
is there a money limit you have per child?
do you buy two or multiple purchases of one thing for each child?
i want to get my boys a tool station but i'm not sure if i should buy one or two... i also want to get them a tool box, two to be exact. but the tool station idk...
i'm thinking one.... but i can already hear the "but i want to play with the drill"....
lol!

[craftyashley]

My girls are a bit younger- but we still have the "sharing" issue. We are getting them a set of wooden blocks. (there's enough in there for both to play at the same time) And a few other little (identical items- we tried the different color or look- bad idea). Then we are getting them a big item. This year I think it will be a kitchen. Like this one- http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2574166

[bvas81]

oh neat! the wooden blocks is a good gift idea. tons of fun!
why was the different color a bad idea?
we do the different color thing with my boys. one usually gets red or green and the other gets blue or black. that's it. they know their colors so i don't have to hear them fight about whose color is whose. they know already. if we do get identical things as far as toys, like a Woody figure from toys story, on the bottom of his shoe we colored it red and the other was blue. so when they reach for it, they always look at the bottom. it has saved us from the debate.
even their shoes. we put a sticker (again, 1 red and 1 blue) in each shoe. it's starting to help them when they put them on too, because we put them on the inside, where if they put on their shoes they are facing eachother, so we tell the boys to connect the shoes. for us the key is to make it a constant color for them and they know. Sorry, this was about christmas and i went off track.

[craftyashley]

My girls have taken crazy to a whole new level. They only want EXACTLY what sister has at that moment. Then when sister is done playing with it- the other one is totally not interested in it either. Very frustrating.

[darplocho]

My boys will be 19 months at Christmas. Since birth we haven't been getting them matching toy gifts at all. The only matching things they have are things like clothes or furniture. As for toys, we've only been buying one of each since they were born. To be honest, it usually doesn't cross my mind to buy two of the same thing when I'm toy shopping. Haha! I'm usually thinking of what variety I can get them. Also, I think I just expect them to share because that's what my sisters and I did. So far there hasn't really been a problem. They tend to like different things. Once in awhile they'll both want the same item, but we can easily distract one of them with something like a colorful plastic spoon. :) They usually only get doubles if the gifts are from someone else. For bigger ticket items or large items I might get two things, but I make sure they're different styles. For example, when I wanted to get them rocking toys, I got one of those big plastic puppy-shaped rockers and also a three-in-one tricycle that could transform into a rocker. And like craftyashley, we'll get them sets of blocks or sets of cars with plenty to share.

This Christmas my husband and I are getting off easy...our boys have so many doting aunties and grandparents that have already told me they're sending really neat things like an indoor play set with a slide, a laugh and learn table, a double canopied wagon, etc. So we decided we'll just get them smaller, practical things like pajamas, shoes, and maybe some books. I think that if they weren't being sent so many gifts, then my husband and I would settle on one or two big items (like the indoor slide play set) and also some clothes and smaller toys. Knowing us, we wouldn't spend more than $200-300 on both boys together. We're also still of the mindset that the kids are so young that they don't really care so why bother spending so much...especially when they get so excited for things like plastic spoons.

[bvas81]

We too haven't always got them the same thing. Especially pricier items. like swings, rockers, yadda yadda! But some of the smaller things we have. and like i said we usually get different colors. I'm sure it may be harder for girls because mostly every girls loves pink!! lol! I'm glad that what you decided to do has worked for you darplocho! It worked with us for a while but we sooned realized different colors was the way to go. Now, if one of my boys can't find a toy we know who lost it and who didn't. so like that they won't say "no, it's mine." they know already if you loose it your stuck like chuck. so they def. try to put up their stuff where it belongs, heaven forbid we loose a Woody!! lol!!