One Grandma’s Smart Advice for Gift-Happy Grandparents This Season

The holiday season is a time for family, joy and love. With this often comes an abundance of gifts—especially from doting grandparents. From over-the-top toys to holiday outfits, grandparents often go all out to show their love. But while their intentions are heartfelt, all those presents can sometimes clash with parents’ wishes to keep things simple or avoid clutter. Luckily, one grandma is sharing her advice for respecting parents’ gifting boundaries while still indulging in the joy of spoiling the little ones.

In a now-viral TikTok, DeeDee Moore—the grandma behind @morethangrand—delves into the all too common struggle between doting family and friends who want to love on their favorite little ones and parents who want to keep clutter to a minimum. “Too much stuff from grandparents is at the top of the list of topics that parents struggle with,” Moore begins.

She highlights the underlying tension, explaining, “75% of the parents that we surveyed wished grandparents would respect their wishes about gifts. Parents have many reasons they don’t want too many gifts from grandparents. The one most often cited and most often waved away by grandparents is the sheer volume of stuff. Parents often don’t have the physical space to accommodate the toys indulgent grandparents buy.”

To illustrate her point, Moore paints a vivid picture: “Say your grandson has four other grandparents and four aunts and uncles. Each of these people get him one gift for a second birthday. That’s already nine gifts plus something for Mom and Dad. We’re up to 10,” she says. “But if all of those grandparents buy him three things, and two of the aunts get him a little extra something, that’s 22 presents for a 2-year-old who would be just as happy with a box.”

So, how can you still indulge your need to spoil? And what should you do when you come across that too-adorable-not-to-get gift? Moore offers a sweet solution. “While your grandchildren are faced with getting too many gifts, many children are in the opposite situation,” she says. “Take some of the things you bought to Toys for Tots or another organization that provides gifts for less fortunate families. That is the true spirit of giving.”