Christmas Present to Return

I think, if it was a gift, you should have graciously accepted it. There are literally thousands of cheap second hand wooden accessory on ebay, plus the cheaper target bridges and signals work fine.
My son was into Thomas for 5 years, and to be honest the wooden stuff has outlasted all the plastic.

Don't know if this is an option, but if he spends time at her house, what if you suggest she keep it there for him to play with. Let her know that you love it and wish you could add to it, but you can't and since she can spoil him, she should. It would be a special treat he only gets to play with at her house that way, too.

The Thomas the Train wooden stuff also works with generic sets sold at Target, Walmart and the like. Those are a ton more less expensive. In fact Target will get track bits and vehicles in their dollar section!
Michael's stores carry Thomas stuff. I keep an eye out for their store ads with coupons and have bought many of the character trains and such as 50% off because of coupons.
Except for the "face characters" your son won't know the difference in the bits and parts.
That was retchid of your MIL to do but you can make the best of a bad situation pretty easy.
We know Thomas very well around our house ;) All 3 of my kids love Thomas..so do I ;) We've found ways to make it work over the years.

how old is he? If he is really young, he will enjoy the set as it is.. and for every gift giving opportunity, remind MIL she started the set she can add onto it.. As for the bridge, how about doing what we always did, just use books and magazines to drive over, or big pieces of paper and color them to look like tracks..

We never had a full set of anything growing up and I never missed it.. I always dreamed a a Barbie dream house, never got the real thing, but I built my own Barbie "apartment complex" out of boxes, crayons and tape,, I loved that thing.. All of the Barbies had their own "apartments" doors windows.. card board and block furniture.. I cut out magazine photos of lamps and glued them to cardboard to make them stand up.. I used a toy jewelry to make "chandeliers".. I spent hours on that thing.. Loved every minute of it..

All of the wooden sets work with the Thomas sets. Trust me. You're making a big deal out of this. Accept the gift graciously and add the cheaper manufacturer's pieces as you wish in the future.
Your son is not "stuck" anywhere....you're causing him to miss out on the happiness of his gift!

One idea:
Why not let your son keep it and tell her that for his birthday she can buy the "extras"....Tell her you are thankful for the gift but unfortunately you cannot afford the "extras" and your hope is that she'll continue adding to his set for special occasions for the next year or so. Explain to your son that the set is complete the way it is and that he should be very thankful if any other pieces make their way into the house......You could also check out yard sales, craigslist, or ebay for some "extras" that you could buy for much less than what they are sold in the store.

A second idea:
If you really do not want the set, take it to Walmart.....they exchange quite a bit without the receipt....or explain to the store that you want to exchange it for something of equal value and see if they let you do that....If they carrry the item it should not be that difficult to allow you to make an exchange because they will resell the set you are returning.

There are cheaper wooden train tracks and accessories that will fit the Thomas tracks. I forget the brand but you can buy them at Toys R Us, Walmart, Target etc. I too, refuse to spend the ridiculous amont for the Thomas set and have bought our son those tracks and they fit perfectly with the Thomas set a friend of mine gave him. You don't need to return them, just buy the cheaper tracks, or tell him that's probably all the Thomas stuff he will have.

Hmmm, I think I would have let him keep and play with the set he was given as is (unless it was just one piece and not a set?) You said "set" which leads me to believe it was the train with tracks just no "extras"? Was your son disappointed at the lack of extras?

Well, your MIL may have been insensitive to go against your request and to tell your son you will add to the set, but it's a gift. Personally, I wouldn't have taken it back and certainly wouldn't have let her know that I am taking it back. We got my DD the figure 8 basic wooden set. For now, we are using wooden blocks etc to build bridges around it. As one other mom says, she never got a full set of anything growing up -- nor did I. I am told that you can get generic add-ons from Target. Also MIL may think that she can add on over the years, makes gift-giving easier!

I do sympathize with you, have been in financial problems myself and my family gave me collectible jewelry for my birthday -- I'd have to spend thousands to finish the collection, and money or clothing would have been more practical. But it's a gift. So I try to appreciate the sentiment.

I had the basic Thomas set plus the Target set, both from garage sales and they totally worked.

You should accept any gift she gives and say thank you. Once you have it, you may do whatever you like with it. If you want to return it but can't, then sell it on Craigslist or something. Look for extra pieces on there if you decide to keep it. But it isn't up to you what people buy your kids, and it is rude to bug her about it. Not to mention pointless. People gift what they want. As for her telling your son you'll buy him more, just set him straight nicely, and without bad-mouthing her. For example, you could say, "Hmm. Grandma said that? Well, maybe she misunderstood me. We're going to return this and get you something that's easier to play with."

Matybe you can find some thomas stuff on craigslist for less.

If your husband has done what he can there is nothing more you can do. I would say if she won't let you have the receipt then take the stuff to her house and leave it for him to play with there. That way when he wants more stuff it's up to her to buy it.

Just tell her in flat out words...we have to buy groceries and pay for electricity instead of buying toy bridges for $65.00.

Tell her in examples of numbers, I do that quite often with the kids. They have no concept of money yet. It's like, "I can buy a weeks worth of groceries or a single toy from the store, which do you want us to buy?"

it was wrong of her to buy something u told her not to but it doesnt make it less tacky to ask for the receipt. where did she buy it, most stores these days will at least give you an exchange or store credit during the holiday return season

Why don't you call the store? Almost any store can pull up a receipt if they are given a name and address. You obviously won't get money back but can exchange or get store credit. Stores want to make it more easy for you because they want your money to remain in their store. Call them. If they say no return without a receipt ask to speak to a manager and in the most friendliest way explain with a little humor how you need to return the wooden Thomas but will but will exchange for other items. I've been in retail for over 20 years through many different return policies and I always made allowences for people witha specific situation.

If it is the wooden set, you may be fine. Let your son play with it. He will have a blast. My boys 2 and 5 love theirs. Here is the key...All of the wooden train sets work together. Imaginerium from Toys-R-Us and all of the other wooden track are all the same. We get off-brand parts for the train track and when special occations come around, and we need Thomas trains, be go on ebay and get them much cheaper than at the store. We have had our set for 3 years now and it is played with every day. It really will be enjoyed and it holds up much better than the take alongs brands. Best of luck.

Does she plan on buying your son the extras to go with the set? Also how much of a set did she get him? You can buy big boxed sets of the wooden Thomas trains and smaller sets, but some of them have a good bit of the track in there and are very entertaining on their own for kids. Especially if she plans on getting him some extra trains and pieces for it on special occasions. We started my oldest out with the basic, figure-8 Thomas wooden set and about 3 trains. He loved it! He played with it all the time. That was Christmas and then for his birthday in March, he got some more trains and one more small track extension set that cost around $25. The next Christmas my mother bought him the round house that was $65 and we've added more trains and some of the blocks and extenders, but that's it. My boys are now almost 5 and 2 and they still love it! We still don't have a bridge. Make sure you look closely at what she got him, because he may be able to really enjoy that on its own for a long time and ask her if she plans to get him more stuff for his birthday.

If he can't really enjoy what she got him on its own and she never plans to buy any more stuff for him, then see what you can exchange it for at the store. In order to give monetary refunds, stores require receipts, but if you will exchange it for other merchandise, they're usually fine if you don't have a receipt. If your MIL thinks you're just trying to get the money back to use for yourselves -that may be why she's angry.

Ugh. Sorry for you about that. Why can't people just add gift receipts to everything? I could go on about that all day.

Anyway... If you are stuck not being able to return this item or getting a credit somewhere useful, how about ebay or Craig's list? At least you could get something for it.

Or... if you keep it, look around on ebay or Craig's list for gently used pieces to go with the set.

Good luck!

i would just let the boys enjoy the train set as it is, but dont worry, all of the wooden trains sets from walmart, target, etc are compatible with each other, and speaking as a parent of a boy that was h*** o* his toys and had both plastic and wooden trains sets, the wooden ones are more durable, break less easily than the plastic ones. and since you can get the cheaper tracks, you can better afford the name brand trains, or you could go to michaels and get plain wooden trains and have the boys paint them (great party idea).

I will never ever buy Thomas the Train items.As for your MIL she bought it for her grandson so what,you both told her you wanted to stay in the family of Thomas stuff but now are not wanting to accept the present because the items are too expensive you should of not told her that you wanted to stay in the Thomas family "excuse me" you did say no wooden train sets but Thomas is still expensive & suggested something else.Your son will have his birthday just buy what you can in regards to Tomas items,have a themed party of Thomas maybe like myself if getting a themed invite I typically go off that theme so maybe he'll end up with more Thomas items to add to his collection,but I wouldn't suggest them if someone asks what he is wanting for his birthday because of the price of their items.We all fall into hard times it's not what we have in our homes that makes us happy it's our family in our homes is what makes us happy..

My response may be different than the other commenters. This issue isn't about the train set. It is about a family member getting a gift that you specifically told her was impractical, and then bringing your son into it by talking to her about what your and your husbands responsibilities should be.

I find it fascinating - the issues that come up with parents-as-grandparents. Many of my friends have dealt with a whole range of issues. I think we have to give the grandparents some slack in a lot of areas, but this really crosses the line. You do not want her to be bringing your son into disagreements you may have in the future, especially about money and how it relates to the quality of your parenting. Perhaps it is time for you and your husband to have a formal sit-down conversation with her about your financial situation, how you want to teach your son about money, and therefore, why your advice about presents was important.

I realize this is easier to suggest on a blog than to actually do, but some of my peers have done this with their parents over serious issues and there has been progress. Also, your husband should be the one speaking, MILs and FILs have a tendency to give less credibility to the DIL/SIL.

Honestly, if she doesn't get it, I would say put the gift she gave you on Ebay. Maybe that is harsh, but your story really upset me and I feel for you.

my kids had a basic wooden train set and loved it. We never added to it. It was a small crazy 8 and they either made a circle or crazy 8 with it. They had fun with it as it was.

I would let him play with it. You don't have to buy extras for it but if your MIL wants to continue buying extras for it let her buy them. Just let him know that is grandma's special gift and she misunderstood about you buying more pieces for it.

If you did want to find cheap pieces.. check thrift stores, garage sales, craigslist, and ebay.

I feel your frustration at your MIL getting exactly what you told her not to. My mother is the same way. I just thought I would add that the cheap wooden train sets work perfectly with the Thomas wooden sets. We bought my son a cheap set at Target 180pcs. for $10 and one Thomas train for $5. Cheap bridges and accessories will work perfectly fine with the set she bought. Perhaps you can let grandma buy the real Thomas stuff and you can bought the cheaper version.

Can the table be played with as is? We have a train table (not Thomas) and there were plenty of parts for the kids to play with. We have since purchased extra track and stuff, but it wasn't necessary. Also, are the non-Thomas parts compatible?

If you really didn't want to keep it, could you return it for store credit? Or, maybe sell it on Craigslist. If you did want to keep it, you could probably buy extra pieces on Craigslist.

I long for the good ole days when you got a gift and that was what you got and you played with it and if too expensive for added pieces make some or use other things. I was glad to hear on the replies you got that you can get pieces cheaper at Target and other places. I would accept this gift graciously and as long as it is not worse than this I would ignore your mother in law's decision and think that maybe she is trying to give him the gift you can't afford. Get the cheaper pieces if he likes the toy. If not let him play with it and be the end of it.

Wow. She told your son that mommy and daddy can buy more train stuff? I would tell your son that the wooden set is from grandma and if he needs anymore pieces for the wooden set then he'd better go ask grandma. I would tell her the same. Tell her you cannot afford the wooden pieces and that it's fine if she wants to do that for him since he is her grandson. However, you will not be buying supplemental pieces to the set. If she started it, then she has to add to it. If she doesn't like that, then tell her you need the receipt.

I had a similar situation, his parents got the wooden set, so my parents felt bad and got more pieces for it. Then the next holiday, they bought the plastic pieces and told me the wooden was too expensive. Well, they are not interchangeable and I was pissed. I reminded them they started the wooden set, but that didn't help.

I couldn't return the plastic without a receipt, so I decided to sell it on craiglist and found some great used wooden sets at really good prices. Then I found garage sales over the summer. Most of the wooden set is really good quality, so even 2nd hand it's in really good condition. Note, there were yellow train cars that were recalled (just plain accessory cars) so if you get them, just toss them.

Sorry this situation sucks, but we love the wooden set and all but a few pieces (5) were purchased 2nd hand.