I do the same amount for christmas/easter/birthdays, but if one needs new bottles I'm not going to buy my older one a toy to compensate. They get what they NEED when they need it and their wants are equal.

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Mommy To Brody(3 years) Mason(20 months) Orin (3 Months)

"It's easy to pass judgement, it's more difficult and more meaningful to love someone" Big Love


"Cholesterol won't stick if you have the right attitude"

I am not sure what I'll do with my kid's in the future, but my parents (really more mom) tried to keep everything even. Same lunch money, gas money, clothes money, gifts etc. So, if my brother needed new clothes I could pick out a few too, even if I didn't really need them. Of course, as a teenager this was great!

However, they still do this and I don't feel it is necessary. My brother and I are both adults, but are complete opposites. My parents spend a lot of money getting him out of trouble and then insist on giving me money (to put towards something concrete like a car loan...not just to spend) because they feel guilty spending money just on him. Then I feel guilty that they are spending money on me!!

Of course, that guilt may melt away when the baby is here and I am a SAHM on a tight budget : )

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~ Jen
http://halfpintjen.blogspot.com/

I think it's nice that your parents want to make it equal...why not invest the money or tuck it away into savings for a rainy day? My parents did the same thing when my sister and I got married and then my older sister didn't end up getting married, so they wrote her a check for what they would have spent on her wedding. I thought it was a really nice thing to do for her.

For my own kids, my own mother and MIL also buy the same thing/similar thing for both of my kids or spend the same amt of money. Whether it's just a day they're out together for any holidays or birthdays. I would call that gifting though...not necessities like underwear, socks or tshirts. But that's how I'm looking it and those things, I buy for my kids, no my mom or MIL but every family is different.

No one has really addressed the fact that some kids get hand me downs my DD has so many outfits that if in the future I have a son I will need to buy clothes for him. I think it is important to buy only what you need for your children and keep it equal only when it comes to gifts.

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Kimberly Proud Mommy to Bethany Rose April 2006 &

Organizer of the Coupon Clippers of Tacoma

Things are never equal between my kids. We do spend the same amount of money on each child for gifts but otherwise we only buy what is needed for each child when they need it.

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DS-17
DD-14
DD-6
DS-4

I do NOT do equal things...whether it be clothes or items they need OR "prizes",etc. My kids need to know that the world is not an "equal" place...and that when they get things, it is special for THEM. JMO.

I will add, though, that yes, at Christmas, we DO do the same number of gifts...because we take turns opening!! It isn't necessarily the same amount of money on each child, though.

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Yup.. I totally agree. I tell them it all works out in the end..

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~@~ Carla ~@~

I only have one kid, but if I had more, birthdays & christmas would be kept fairly even, everyday necessities would be on an as needed basis.

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:love: