Christmas gift help

[ellie]

I need the advice of wise DU'ers. My husband has several nieces and nephews, all under 10 years old. These children are very, very spoiled. I have never received a thank you from any of them for the gifts I have given them over the years. I am not a cash machine and am getting pretty sick and tired of it. Every year his family has a get-together, usually right after Christmas, to open presents. We only buy for the children. I was thinking instead of getting them a toy, I would adopt, for each family, a wild animal, like a wolf or a jaguar. That way, they can check up on their new family "member" all year.

What do you think? My husband would rather not deal with it and says to me, "Whatever you want to do."

Thanks

[malta blue]

1. I think it is a GREAT idea

That way you won't feel like you are wasting your money on people who otherwise seem ungrateful.

[Connonym]

2. If it makes you uncomfortable you should stop

Giving gifts is supposed to make you feel good. If the joy of giving isn't there and they don't seem to be appreciative, I would stop.

Speaking as a parent, *I* was freaked out by the number of presents my kids got from my sisters and brothers. Possibly your brother's family feels the same way. I eventually asked them to stop or at least cut back. My kids are no less happy at Xmas as a result.

I think the zoo adoption thing is a good idea. (I personally love http://www.heifer.org/ where you can donate a work animal but I'm not going to jam my politics down your throat, :hippie: )

[AllegroRondo]

3. Great idea - our local zoo does adoptions also

and you can go visit your adopted family member and see how they are doing.

[seaglass]

4. Do you know them well enough to know if they'd like it?

How would they check up on their animal if it's wild? Do they have some kind of GPS attached? Excuse my ignorance, I'm just trying to picture how this works. Is it like when you "adopt" a child that you get pics and updates of progress through the mail?

[ellie]

5. Sorry for the confusion

it was in an e-mail I received from the Defenders of Wildlife. I guess they wouldn't be able to track their animal, the fine print says that the adoption is symbolic. But still. I like the local zoo idea. I will check to see if our zoo does that.

[Sequoia]

6. I like that idea.

You just know if you get them a toy they'll toss it aside in a month or so.