Mum spends £100 on each kid's Christmas gifts - saying she refuses to spoil them
A mum has hit back after she was criticised for only spending £100 on each of her children for Christmas this year, insisting she doesn't want to "spoil" them.
Samantha Mary, 35, decided to set a budget for main presents as well as stocking fillers this Christmas for her one-year-old son, Jack, and nine-year-old stepdaughter, Isabella.
She spent £20 on stocking fillers - stuffing them with items like scrunchies, car toys, and shower gel - and £80 on main presents. She bought her son a railway set and toys for his kitchen set and found her step-daughter an art set and a Lilo and Stitch vest and pants.
Samantha Mary with her son Jack (Samantha Mary / SWNS)Samantha, a primary school teacher from Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, said some parents on TikTok labelled her presents as "essentials" not gifts. But Samantha says they are things she knows her children will love and she doesn't want to "spoil" them.
"We thought about how much we wanted to spend. I felt £100 was a realistic figure. Christmas is getting out of control. There is pressure to do Christmas Eve boxes and elves on the shelf. It gets bigger and bigger. We want the children to be grateful for what they have. Less is more. We don't want to overspoil the children," Samantha explained.
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This year, Samantha and her husband, Richard, 40, who works in local government, decided to set a budget. "We're in a living cost crisis. Things cost more. We're being conscious of what we spent," she said. She spent September and October picking up the presents from supermarkets, Primark and Amazon.
An exmaple of what she's bought one of her children for Christmas (Samantha Mary / SWNS)Samantha filled her son's stocking with biscuits, a water bottle, chalks, a bouncy ball, a book, a puzzle and a vehicle set. For her step-daughter, she chose scrunchies, biscuits, shower gel, a Christmas cup, sweets, a stamper set, hair clips, and a Lilo and Stich brush.
For their main presents, Samantha got an art set for her step-daughter for £30, a body warmer, some Lilo and Stitch pants and vests, a Disney bag, fluffy leggings and a hat. Her son received a railway set, kitchen set toys, a book, animal puzzles, bouncing bunnies, Play-Doh and blocks.
Despite being pleased with her purchases, Samantha faced criticism from other parents on TikTok. She said: "There were a lot of people against it. I have put essential items like shower gel in the stockings. Christmas is about so much more. It's about what the children want as well."
Samantha wouldn't choose to splurge on something like an iPad for Christmas or have a high budget for their gifts, even if she could afford to. She explained: "If you spend a lot of money that becomes an expectation. But it's up to parents what they spend on their children."
She prefers spending time with her children doing fun activities in the build-up to Christmas, such as seeing the Christmas lights. She added: "I have memories of the things we have done rather than the gifts. It's about having that special day."
* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story. You can report any errors to [email protected]
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