Every year I spend at least £100 on each of my 2 children and wonder what I have got for the money.
Ok thay have had the normal things being lads such as skateboards, bikes and plastic weapons over the years but that with cars and vehicles are quickly going out of fashion and aged too young.
Then last year after buying my eldest (then 11 year old) a mini hi-fi with cd's and my youngest(then 8) another load of action man toys I wondered what they would play with first.
Luckily I had already had an idea of purchasing a few cheap family videos and was surprised to see, that by Christmas afternoon, the toys had been discarded for a movie.
Out of all the presents that they had received combined with those off every body else the ones that have been worth their weight in gold has been the videos that I bought as a stocking filler.
Today videos can be purchased for as little as £3 from most local video rental shops. They may be ex-rental but after a few weeks they are knocked down in price. Toys can be broken and lost too easily but a video if taken care of can last indefinitely.
This year the main pressies on my list for the kids are the videos and the stocking fillers are the other toys.