Do you exchange gifts with EVERYONE in your family? I am trying to make it where we only get the kids gifts, but my in-laws don't like the idea.

We always say we're just buying for the kids but everyone ends up buying for everyone. It's hard comming up with new ideas every year, especially for the inlaws. Their taste is so much different then ours.lol

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Amy mommy to Ash,Zach&Alexis


MyCoupons Is #1 for Holiday Shopping

No not all the time. I really think Christmas is for the kids.

We used to buy for everyone. I JUST got the family to agree to buy for the kids and then we'll draw names and every adult gets another adult. I wanted just kids but I was the only one. We draw names and then we buy a $50 value gift and everyone buys for the under 18 year olds

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Proud to say I haven't shopped at a Wal-Mart since Sept 2003

We used to but then the family just got to be too big. Then we decided on everyone buying for the kids and then the adults would draw a name and the gift price was $50. It got to where just about everyone was just buying $50 gift cards to different places, so we decided to stop drawing names. Last year we did Dirty Santa (which was ok but no one really played the game and just kept what they got!). So this year we decided no gifts and buy for the kids only.

Now for my personal family, ie, my son and his wife, my other son and my husband's mother, we are exchanging gifts.

The other is for the family get-together only.

It can become VERY expensive if someone doesn't just step in and say something!!!

I would love to buy just for the kids, however, DH & I are the only one with kids, so I don't think that would work out too well. DH's family is super hard to buy for, so I would love to come up with something, but I'm not sure what. My family is small -- just my parents and my sister -- and pretty easy to buy for so we enjoy exchanging gifts with them.

Sarah..........mom to Jason & Devin

I stopped giving gifts to family members when they became too lazy to send thank you notes out for them. I'm kind of a stickler for good manners when it comes to stuff like this. I always give my kids a package of Thank you notes and a book of stamps for Christmas so that they can immediately write their notes out to Grandma, and a few of my friends who give them gifts.

Great idea - for the Thank You cards. I will give my kids some too. I am a HUGE stickler for writing Thank-You's! I think it's important, and it teaches the kids good manners!

Thankfully, the only kids we buy for now is our own. We used to exchange gifts with all the kids and adults in both sides of the family and it got ridiculous. DH side of the family is huge. We all decided that the grandparents will buy for their grandchildren and that is it. On my side of the family I buy for my parents and grandma and they buy for us.

I really enjoy the holidays more now, no stress of trying to figure out what to buy people-not spending a ton of money and I honestly feel the most precious gift is not the ones that are bought but rather the time spent with loved ones.

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#3 Gone To Race In A Better Place...

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I just buy for the children in my family, there are 13 of them! I am spotting getting my brother-in-laws anything becausse they never get anything for my family eventhough they are attended Christmas dinner at my house. Last year one left his gift from us...guess he didn't like it! My Father in law is really hard, I usually give him a framed picture of my children and a giftcard so some place to eat.