As my three girls (now 7, 5, and 3) get older, I find myself struggling more and more with giving them Christmas gifts catered to their own interests without jealousy arising. I feel pretty okay about honoring specific big, different requests for each girl (a special LEGO set or doll), telling them they each had the opportunity to ask for the special thing they wanted, but i keep feeling trapped into buying three of a lot of smaller things... as an example, my oldest wants a cheapie LED watch that looks like an Apple Watch from Justice- when I showed it to my five year old and suggested we pick one as a gift for the seven year old, she immediately said she’d like one, too. At $5-$7, fine...not a huge big deal - but then I know the three year old, who can’t tell time, will feel left out..so do I get her one as well? And for St. Nicholas day, I got sequin slipper socks for the big girls that don’t come nearly small enough for my three year old (who has also rejected every pair of slippers I brought home for her this fall..) I feel like this is a hissy fit waiting to happen, but might be a good “test run” to assure myself that I don’t have to get everyone everything this year! When it comes down to it, it just feels greedy and wasteful - ie., they all play with all the LOLs anyway, so do they all really need to open a full set at once?!?

I know they eventually just need to learn to deal, but I also don’t want ugly crying on a Christmas morning.

I’m sure I can’t be the only one who struggles a bit with this - wondering how others handle it (and how they address it with the kids!)