Buying gifts for grandchildren

You can get Tshirts that say something like, ' Grandchildren are the compensation we get for being parents'. My DS & DDIL are very nice about anything we get for the grandsons but funnily enough, the toys that make loud noises and the drums, tambourines and whistles always seem to end up at our house for them to play with when they are here

When I was on Skye there was a lovely craft shop that sold beautiful handknitted baby clothes, would have bought the lot but knew they would never be worn by GC

I agree with the poster who said "They will learn; it may take a few weeks, but it will come". My DD was very fussy about clothes when our only grandson was tiny; if I bought him anything she didn't approve of, she was always very polite about accepting it, but he was never seen to wear it. They disappeared into the big charity shop black hole! As we used to look after him regularly, I kept lots of things here that I had bought from supermarkets and changed him into John Lewis or Next or (scandalous waste of money) MiniBoden, before he went home. Eventually, she came round to the fact that supermarkets sell really quite nice, good quality clothes for kids, and now shops in them regularly for him. As for knitting, I knitted a lot for him when he was small and DD was quite happy to put him in my handknits (you can get really cool patterns for kids now). However, GS will not now wear anything knitted ("they itch me, nanny" or "it's too hot!"), so all last year's aran and cable sweaters remain unworn. I hope your son and daughter in law comes to realise the effect their ingratitude is having on you. You stick to your guns and don't let this spoil your enjoyment of your grandchild.

You might find some nice gifts from this site:

Lovely Little Gift Shop

Fortunately my daughter's main requirements are that clothes should fit and go in the washing machine. (Admittedly we are both fairly obsessive about colours and have both been known to re dress the poor child if his father has got him ready!)
Actually she was a great example of not wasting money and time on baby clothes. When she was born my MiL gave me an exquisite set of dress, leggings, jacket and shawl, which she had knitted in finest lambswool to a very complicated pattern. As soon as I felt up to it I painstakingly dressed her in all this finery and we went to show off to Granny in London. As soon as we arrived she threw up an entire feed over the lot and we spent the rest of the day in a haze of baby sick and wet wool pong. I don't think she ever wore any of it again and it was back to the Babygros.

Babies have no knowledge of clothes so you are really buying presents for their parents. I am afraid I would simply stop buying anything for this rather nasty pair.

I was lucky, when my first grandchildren were born 29 years ago (seven months apart - two daughters!) their mothers were delighted with my knitted cardigans. I remember how long it took to make complete suits of leggings, jackets and hats! When some of them were teenagers, they actually asked me to knit jumpers for them - very fine wool for the girls, with tiny beads sewn in. Their friends wanted them too.
Many grandparents buy expensive wooden toys when young children actually prefer brightly-coloured plastic. And I have never known a baby who could play with a three-foot high teddy bear.

I told my daughter about the mother sending back the clothes and she couldn't believe anyone could be so rude. GS has survived happily in 2nd and 3rd hand clothes, some have been backwards and forwards between the same sets of parents several times. Any new clothes she was given for him were a bonus.

MY daughters made friends with five other mothers at a Mums and Toddlers group and baby clothes went round and round amongst them. By the time my daughter had her third child, she recognised some clothes coming back that she had first had new! She is still in contact with all the other mothers 29 years later.

My DiL is a resourceful mum. GD (quite small or her age but now growing fast) has inherited some lovely outfits from taller children. GS is a big lad and can't so easily fit into other boys' clothes. His clothes often go to his two younger cousins. Ebay is frequently a source of good clothes.