Calling all grandparents! For those of you who plan to give gifts to your lovely grandkids here are some words of advice from the daughter of the best Oma (grandma in German) in the world. Your daughters and sons REALLY APPRECIATE the effort you put into giving gifts to their children (your grandchildren). It gets expensive for us to buy everything for our kids and you all take up some of the slack when you buy things for our children throughout the year. So thank you for that! 
HOWEVER, (I say this with a big smile!), please ask your daughter or son what would be best for you to get the grandchildren. Ask for a list of the items the kids want and they are not planning on getting for them, clothes included (as much as they hate them, they need them!). (Mom, I love you, and I have to tell this story to make a point!) :). There are many well-meaning grandparents out there (my mom was included in this category for a while) who buy a lot of nice things for the kids but none of which they need (particularly clothing items). We end up with many duplicates of things we have when the child really needed something else much more important, which you wouldn’t know unless you asked. I have several friends who are very frustrated (for lack of a better word) because their kids get a lot of things they don’t need or want and they don’t know how to tell you what would be more appropriate. Some friends even prefer you give their kids savings bonds for college. You never know what they might really need, so asking would be great!
Over the years I’ve started giving my mom lists in October for Christmas ideas for the kids. She’s been listening (!) and giving them things from those lists. EVERY time she calls me during the day there’s no doubt she’s out shopping and has run across something on sale and was wondering if one of the kids need it! She’s so funny, I have to laugh because now when she calls during the day I ask her immediately when I answer the phone “You’re out shopping again??”. Ha ha! We laugh because it’s ALWAYS true!
Now she and I have it down to a science. The kids get what they need or want and she’s not wasted her money. And I’m happy because everyone wins.
Like I said, we LOVE your intentions, and it would be most helpful if they were steered in the direction of things that our children really need or want. We don’t want you to waste your money so I say this out of love and respect for you, your time and your money. Thank you so much for loving us and our children!
P.S. If it’s possible to include a gift receipt that would be great! That will allow us to easily exchange sizes, colors, etc. if needed. But if you can’t and you’re able to ask first, you’ll help eliminate the running around we moms have to do exchanging things. Just another tip! Thanks for reading!
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