Six years old and not excited about Christmas

The worst is yet to come, when he reaches teens you're in a world of trouble..

On a serious note AP, the only people of any worth or merit that I have met in my life have all had to struggle, and build a life for themselves and their loved ones. Spoilt kids, (it's not their fault) are the product of stupid parents, soz about that.

tbf i don't think a 6 year old would be 'spoiled' by 4 major holidays a year  -   i'd imagine he'd be quite stressed and fed up with the whole idea .

4 holidays a year, absolute torture, .

Sort him out an apprenticeship with this lot... he would be the perfect age and size and would make a decent living for himself once he's worked off that model speedboat you got him last year.
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http://www.guildofmasterchimneysweeps.co.uk/Blog/

Go on Amazon and buy him puzzle books, games to play which make him think, wooden puzzle things etc.

I do for my grandchildren ... they have everything and hols too but I feel it is my duty to make sure their brains work (in fairness to parents they are very diligent about school and "homework").

They are 8 and under ... (kids, not parents)

Too many kids and parents these days whose brains don't work ... just too lazy to think.

Buy them draughts (and chess whan they're old enough) and teach them ...

PS Almost forgot ... this Chrismas you could get him a Junior barbecue set!

Clouseau .

Poker books are god for numbers and making money in future m get him stuck into them

good*

Disown him. As you say, it's not your doing.

Open a betfair account for him and stick a couple of hundred in.... show him how it works and let him have a dabble. You never know.... he might be a natural..

Or get him a snooker cue.,...... oh no, better forget the cue.., they say that snooker is a sign of a miss spent youth

mememe....that's a brilliant idea.

I could get him a "Games Compendium" as an alternative to yet another pair of football boots!

James poo pood the idea of Premium Bonds, but I could get them, and a tangible gift too.

It's actually very difficult to get a balance on things as I think it's a bit competitive.

James is bust after a very expensive divorce. "Nettle Face" and her latest prey are minted and never do stuff by halves!

Example....in-between a skiing holiday and some other swanky holiday they "slummed" it at "Center Parc" by having the four bed,
four bath, and four balconies "Treehouse".

James on the other hand had a week in Madeira, a week in a lodge in Wales, and four nights in a "regular" lodge at "Center Parcs".

So, in fact Lucas got six holidays and a fair few weekend treats like "Digger Land" and I know he loves every minute.

I also am sure he prefers being with James, as he gets to do his footy (James is a coach) and other big boy stuff.

Anyway I'm of to track down a "Games Compendium".

Aunty,
great thing about Amazon you can read what buyers think of game/puzzle before you buy.

GL

The lad is keen on space stuff isn't he ? There are a range of 3D puzzles on Amazon (just search on "3D puzzle apollo" or something similar) and have a look at the reviews. They are often quoted as suitable for 8yo and up, so it'll keep him busy for a couple of years.

my nephew was football mad to the exclusion of everything else,i always struggled at xmas & birthdays.one xmas about 8 yrs ago bought him an astronomers telescope,hes 17 now & astronomy has become an absolute passion in fact he wants to pursue it in some way as a career,he always tells me it was the best present he ever had,you can buy decent ones for around £150.failing that on a football theme how about buying him a few old programmes on e bay from famous matches,interesting to collect will probably appreciate in value & youll never be stuck as to what to buy him in the future.

@ mememe..... yes and it's a bloody good job you can read the reviews, as I've been spared many a mistake.

@ Degs yes he is, and I'm very impressed with your recollection! Your idea is fantastic, except that they are going to be far too advanced for him,
so that his dad would finish up doing it!

The metal ones look great but, again, the reviews confirm they are too difficult.

Amazon are not my best friends at the moment, as I ordered some whisky glasses on the 8th, that should have come yesterday.

They arrived in the Leeds depot at 03:30 yesterday and were on the van at 08:15.

Then a crappy excuse that bad weather had held them up, and delivery now could be as long as the 13th.

A bit sh!te when I am paying for "Prime" next day delivery!

Also two more items should have come today, but one is now coming tomorrow, and no sign of the other one yet!

I would get him a Bar Football Table. All generations love them and he would have great fun playing his friends and relatives. Plenty on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Smoby-N%C2%B01-Football-Table/dp/B0153LI1B0/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1449767315&sr=8-14&keywords=bar+football+table

too common for `nettle face`

you could just picture her if there was a bar football table on Chtistmas day.

OP "and please don't lecture me, as the situation is not my doing"

May well not be but it seems you're just compounding the situation. Sounds like a really spoiled brat who will just expect another, more expensive, material possession that he can use for a day or two and then forget about it. Premium bonds ffs.

Have you given any thought toward going somewhere and doing something rather than "I've spent £100 quid on you so job done"? With all the stuff you put in the OP I can see why the kid doesn't enjoy Christmas.

How about a sail in his dad's yacht AP?

Part of the problem is the need to celebrate xmas more than once, with parents, family  and grandparents. This is repeated on birthdays.

Whether this is because of separated families or by parents/grandparents who feel the need to make up on past failures or less wealth im not certain of.

There must be places in Yorkshire with cloth-capped working class people and cobblestoned streets with terraced houses... Take him and his school-friends there for the afternoon and let them loose on the local populace with top of the range water pistols.

Give him a sock with an orange and an apple in it, see if he's still not bothered then.
Seriously it looks like both parents trying to outdo the other.
You're building up trouble for the future so why not have a sit down and try to scale things down.

It strikes me that its not the kids fault that Christmas is ruined. Its all you bloody adults! What on earth are you thinking about? He gets so many expensive gifts and holidays that he probably thinks that he has a terminal illness!
He is SIX years old FFS! Stop trying to buy his attention. I can't imagine anything more sad than this farce. 

buy him a goat to give to an African family and let him know what it's like to have nothing.

I seriously think it's a problem in western culture of spoiling children. they get things without actually having worked for it. they don't actaully like all the attention, it goes against their usual programming. people are supposed to earn status. nowadays children are born and they immediaetly have the highest status in the family. it's really crazy and doesn't do them any good.

AP : Amazon are not my best friends at the moment, as I ordered some whisky glasses on the 8th, that should have come yesterday.

Surely 6 is too young to start on whisky !

An engineer I used to work with (he joined the company at 23) was an absolute genius and has now left and is doing a PhD in Neutrino physics. At the age of 7 he started to watch open university videos (his choice). He has virtually zero social skills, is very stubborn, doesn't suffer fools gladly and could be difficult to work with when he was under pressure. He always questions EVERYTHING that anybody says to him. He's now 27 and as far as we can make out, still a virgin with no signs of wanting any sort of relationship at all. His parents divorced some years ago.

Just an interesting case really.

Sounds like he has asbergers syndrome

Possible, but I don't think so. He's also a strict vegetarian, is as thin as a rake, but quite strong as he does this climbing sport where he uses his fingertips to climb walls/mountains etc.

Maybe on the autistic spectrum

He has amazing computing skills - no time for Microsoft products and his speed of typing on the keyboard is something to be seen AND he can look away from the keyboard and hold a conversation with you at the same time as typing. Extraordinary!

I wouldn't be looking to compound the race to the bottom Aunty. All you can do is set a good example, be firm, be fair, be loving and help instill good values. As you say those that get everything value nothing and leave you feeling cheesed off when they don't appreciate things. Either the sponsor a child in Africa route may be informative or sit down with them and explain you're going to do something really special. You're going to save money for them in a special account putting all the money you'd waste on presents they don't look twice at and they can see that money grow over the years and then when they really needs it later in life it will be there for him. That's what we do for our nephews and nieces. They always get cards but get so many other presents on special occasions from extended family they don't seem to miss any they don't get from us. We make sure we shower them with love and attention when we are with them and hopefully in fifteen or so years when the world is looking a harsh place to them we might be able to smooth their path into adulthood with a nice windfall.