Kid's Buying Christmas Gifts for Friends

[Merika]

If you have kids....or have been around teens....you know they have this thing of wanting to buy extravagant gifts for their friends or boy/girl friends. Have you ever had to deal with it?

[Merika]

Isis' boyfriend will be going off to bootcamp. She wants to buy him a gold Marine pocketwatch with special engraving. Problem is....Isis doesn't have a job. HAHA!

As she was explaining this all to me....I was just looking at her in the car like she was from the MOON or something!

[Fayebelle]

HA! We took my 13 yr old cousin to the mall last wkend to go Christmas shopping and I mistakenly turned her loose w/my BF! She bought a $40 video game for her friend/crush! I was all over my BF like "What were you thinking!?" He's like "I don't know how things work for a 13 yr old girl!"

I hope the boy likes it!

We live like an hr from the mall so by the time I realized it was too late.
Plus it was for a crush which brings in a whole new level!!! If he refuses, doesn't like it, can't keep it, or GOD FORBID- accept then ignore her- her heart will be crushed!

[Stone]

I remember being young and I had to buy gifts for my b/f to, but my mother made me work it off.... I was always the faimly gift wrapper

[Fayebelle]

I've been working since I was 12 so aside from family gifts- I had to buy my own

[Merika]

I wonder if it's appropriate at that age, when they break up and you know they will, to ask for your 'gifts' back!

I don't know....maybe the guy will find another sucker to spend even more money on HER gift!

All those video games are sooo expensive though and it's the main thing kids want these days. My 12 year old son (who also posts on here as Sn00py) got in a whole lot of trouble for trying to figure out a way to get a $57 dollar video game the easy way. We are lucky he's not in jail....still......lol!

[Fayebelle]

I think when I have kids they can each have $30 to spend on friends If they are smart they'll choose a great friend and get them a good present If they are resourceful they'll choose 3 pals and find unique gifts If they are shallow they'll pick a bunch of pals and be forced to get them some crappy cheapo gifts that won't matter too much if they tiff in a wk

[darkangelism]

There are legal ways of getting games for cheap. When new games come out they usually have a deal where you can trade in a few old games and get the new one free. So go to a different store and buy $10 worth of old games to trade in.


I dont see any harm in teens buying other teens presents as long as it is their money.

[Merika]

Originally Posted by darkangelism

So go to a different store and buy $10 worth of old games to trade in.

Yes the word "BUY" being the operative word for Sn00py....as opposed to "TAKE".....haha!

He'll probably be on here tonight and read all these. I tease him about it at home too. Call him 'jailboy'....

[Duke]

I've yet to see a new, anticipated, sucessful game title that you can buy for $10.

[darkangelism]

Madden games have a trade in 3 EA sports titles get new madden free the week of release, so my friend has gone and bought two year old sports titles for $2 each and gotten madden for $6.

[Duke]

That's because these games come out with new renditions every year so your able to do that. There are no other gaming genre's that allow you to do this sort of purchase.

[Merika]

Back to the topic......HAHA!

I came up with a plan to make up a list of chores. Each chore is worth $1-3 dollars. I will write down the chores on little slips of paper which will be folder in a shoe box. The kids can grab one at random....do the chore....and get paid for it. The more they do....the more money they make for their part of the 'gift purchasing'.

There will be a cap on how much they can make....since I only have so much money.....but I thought it was a good idea to come up with a plan after reading the posts on here.

My kids having to earn their own money = HAHA!

[Duke]

That's a good idea.