My ex (bless his heart) has a bad habit. Now, he's a wonderful father to my two sons (who aren't even his biological children--long story there!). He just tends to spoil them rotten with expensive gifts that he can't afford.

He was spoiled as a child and only ever had the best of everything, so it's really all he knows. I just find it inappropriate to spend so much, especially at Christmas, on the boys.

Here's a good example: this year he's buying our nine-year-old Beats headphones that cost $170. Seriously. He can barely pay his rent, and the kid doesn't even listen to music that often. Why, oh, WHY buy him $170 headphones????? He's NINE!!!!

We've been going back and forth on this for the past few days, and he isn't budging. I don't want my kids associating Christmas with outrageous gifts instead of love and family. I don't want them to grow up thinking they must have high-end everything.

I'm from a frugal family, and we've never spent more than $50 on each other at Christmas. I'm buying my nine-year-old a $20 game and a couple toys this year. He'll love them.

Am I being unreasonable by wanting my ex-husband to tone it down? Is it just a matter of two different styles of parenting? Any advice is appreciated!

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